Government to set up national technical and education authority: taskforce to submit report to Prime Minister

The task force on Technical and Vocational Education headed by Federal minister for education Lieutenant General Javed Ashraf Qazi (Retd) will submit its final report in the first week of May to the Prime Minister. Under the proposed plan, National Technical and Vocational Education Authority will be set up at tehsil and district level through out the country, sources said. It was learnt that the meeting is expected during the first week of next month in this regard.
The government has planed to launch a five-year programme by July this year and a sizeable amount will be allocated in the next fiscal budget, the sources informed.
The financial implications would also be discussed in the meeting to allocate sufficient funds in the annual budget to be announced in mid June.
The National Technical and Vocational Education Authority (NTVETA) will be established with a board of directors headed by an educational expert from private sector while the Prime Minister will directly supervise the project.
The task force comprises Major General Shahid Mukhtar Shah (Retd), Director General National Institute of Science and Technical Education (NISTE), Dr Fared Khawaja, DG Technical Education, Sikandar Mustafa, Chief Executive Millat Tractors and Sajid Hassan, Secretary Education.
The sources said that technical education centers would be established in accordance with the industrial needs of respective tehsils and districts of every province.
All the provinces have been asked to submit their industrial labour requirements keeping in view the present and future needs of the industrial and technical requirements of their respective areas and to tackle the growing unemployment problems.
The programme that includes technical education in all traits is expected to generate more jobs in the country and those who would complete training will also be assisted by the government in starting small businesses in the later stages.
Under the project, the provinces will provide land, while federal ministry of education will provide funds for the construction of buildings.
The latest equipment would be installed with the joint funding of education ministry while international donors would provide the latest equipment, the sources further said. The provinces would pay the salaries of the teachers.
Students of middle, secondary and higher secondary grades would be enrolled in these institutions to be run in morning and evening shifts so that those students, who are enrolled under the regular education system can be accommodated as well.
The teachers of these technical institutions will be given free training at National Institute for Science and Technical Training Education (NISTE).