M Ishfaq Mughal
FAISALABAD. Technical Education and Vocation Training Authority will establish as many as 20 centers of excellence across the province to overcome the acute shortage of highly trained and skilled manpower while international donors will provide latest machinery worth 189 million dollar to these centers, said Mr. Ali Salman Siddiqui Chairman TEVTA.
He was addressing a meeting in Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) here today which was also attended by Major Retired Shahnawaz Badar Chairman Punjab Vocational Training Council (PVTC). He said that current apprenticeship law was introduced in 1962 which has become outdated and is not compatible with the current needs of the industrial sector.
He said that draft of new apprenticeship law has been finalized and after its enactment by the Punjab Assembly, TEVTA will transform its entire institutes on the latest apprenticeship model. Regarding proposed sector skill councils, he said that these councils will be consistent with their specific sector individuals and hence would be able to redress their genuine issues on top priority basis. He said that GIZ will also help us in producing ten thousand master trainers.
He said that FCCI should finalize its sector skill councils positively within two weeks so that its problems could be resolved within the next six months paving way to start training courses in that particular sector as early as possible. Regarding technical universities, he said that four universities have been established while another technical university could also be established in Faisalabad. “However for this purpose positive nod from Punjab Assembly will be required”, he added. Mr. Ali Salman said that TEVTA has evolved a new strategy for skill eco-system to produce skill manpower by removing missing links between industry and training institutions.
The skill council will be established under this system which will provide Competency Based Training Assessment (CBTA) courses. The diploma holders of these courses could get jobs not only within the country but also in other 130 countries where this course is acknowledged. He said that Faisalabad will have a center of Excellence while a surgical center could be established in Sialkot according to their specific skills.Major Retired Shahnawaz Badar Chairman PVTC said that this council is working with District Boards of Management which are industrialists related to that particular District.He said that Faisalabad city has three while there are 12 PVTC centers in this District.
The BOM has been mandated to introduce need-base courses while its syllabus is also decided by the concerned industrialists for the immediate absorption of passed out students.Earlier Engineer Hafiz Ihtasham Javed President FCCI welcomed the guests and said that predominantly Faisalabad is an industrial city and is considered as heaven for the skilled workers.
He told that this city is contributing 20-25 percent share in total economy of Pakistan while its share in textile export is 65 percent. He appreciated the Government policies and said that despite Corona, our industrial sector is growing at a comfortable level. “We made exports of 2 billion dollar during the month of October”, he said and added that this tempo was maintained in November which witnessed growth of 7.5 percent. He said that the new textile policy is in the final stage which will give a quantum jump to our exports. He said that Pakistan is getting hefty export orders despite the global slump and our industrial units which were running with only 40 percent of their installed capacity are now working in two shifts. Some export oriented units are making arrangements to start a third shift and hence, they are facing shortage of trained manpower.
He said that TEVTA and PVTC must expedite their efforts to ensure easy availability of skilled manpower in abundance. He said that in proposed textile policy, the export target will be fixed at 25 billion dollars by the year 2025 from the existing 13.5 billion dollars. “For this purpose we must train our work force on modern scientific line”, he said and added that more technical colleges and a university are deemed necessary to fulfill this need.A question answer session was also held which was participated by Mian Javed Iqbal, Mian Furrukh Habib FederalParliamentary Secretary and Ms. Firdus Rai MPA. Senior Vice President Chaudhary Tallat Mahmood offered vote of thanks while Vice President Rana Ayub Aslam Manj presented FCCI shield to Major Retired Shahnawaz Badar Chairman PVTC.Former President Mian Javed Iqbal also presented a memento of FCCI to Mr. Ali Salman Siddiqui Chairman TEVTA.
