Murtuza Ali holds a bachelor’s degree from Karachi University, and started his career with Descon in 1984 as a young executive. He has an extensive and diversified experience spanning over three decades in Descon and has served in various positions at the corporate level as Head of Commercial, Head of Supply Chain, Head of Administration and Head of Manpower Services, General Manager of Interworld Travels and DTI - Descon Technical Institute.

At present, Murtuza Ali is the President of Manpower and People Services, responsible for selecting, hiring, and mobilizing skilled manpower and specialized workforce who play a pivotal role in project execution in Pakistan and overseas. He heads administration of sites and permanent facilities of Descon in all geographies. Additionally, he leads DTI as General Manager.

Following are the edited excerpts of a conversation BR Research had with Mr. Murtuza Ali as the GM, DTI:

BR Research: Tell us about DTI and its role.

Murtuza Ali: DTI is a flagship CSR project of Descon. It was established in 1998 with the objective to bridge the gap between education and unemployment by providing technical and vocational skills to the youth of Pakistan. Our main target has been the under privileged areas of the society. This is because of lack of education in these areas and the bad habits youngsters indulge in as a result. So, our aim has been to reform the school/college dropouts, or those who have not been able to get education and give them technical training so that they can earn a livelihood for their families and contribute positively to the society.

In the last 22 years, we have trained around 30,000 people in different trades.

BRR: Where does Pakistan stand in terms of technical and vocational trainings?

MA: Clearly there is a huge gap between what is being offered in Pakistan (in terms of technical and vocational trainings) and what the modern industry requires. The level of skillset required by the changing local and global market is not available in our country. Pakistan is a major exporter of workforce for the world and as the skill requirements in the international market are changing drastically and rapidly, with rising globalization, technological advancements, advanced techniques, and newer tools, there is a strong and immediate need to move away from old courses and outdated training methods. In order to bring about a significant impact, serious attention and investment is required in the area from concerned authorities in the TVET sector.

It is a common perception that China has low-cost labor. Tim Cook recently explained that it is because of the ample supply of well-trained workforce available in China and the fact that they have massively developed their technical and vocational skills over the years.

What is needed to improve the situation in Pakistan, is a coordinated effort at the government level to identify the markets that need to be targeted and address the existing gaps to meet the required demand of skilled work-force.

BRR: Is it a misconception that technical and vocational jobs are less attractive? What must be done to increase the acceptability of technical and vocational training to boost career?

MA: It is unfortunate that we, as a nation consider manual labor/work to be beneath us. Whereas physical and manual work is much respected around the world. People do not understand that a person with the right skillset can also earn a decent living. Efforts need to be put in to change the mindset of treating technical and vocational trainings as ineffective.

This brings us to a bigger challenge. The industry-academia linkages seen across the world are missing in Pakistan. We must realize that these trainings are simply basic theories applied in practice. Thousands of graduates enter the job market every year, without any prior practical exposure. To address this issue, DTI is working on collaborating with some engineering universities. However, similar efforts need to be made at a national level to bring about the necessary scale of change.

BRR: What kind of courses and programs are offered at DTI, and how are these designed?

MA: Since DTI is Descon’s initiative, we have mostly been into electrical, mechanical and civil engineering trades. Our flagship trade is industrial welding, done at electrochemical plants, refineries, fertilizer plants and other hi-tech industrial sites. What DTI is proudly offering in its welding courses and curriculum is of international standards.

We also offer courses and trainings in applied electrical systems, civil, pipe fabrication, millwright and carpentry. Furthermore, we offer various courses in health, safety and environment.

DTI is accredited with NEBOSH – a UK based organization that offers world class training in safety – since 2016. Recently, we have been awarded the NEBOSH Gold status, which is a first and only in Pakistan. The NEBOSH International General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety (IGC) provides a broad understanding of health and safety issues and is an important qualification for anyone looking for a career in HSE. We also have International accredited courses with IOSH-UK, and HABC for occupational health and safety standards.

BRR: How does DTI reach out to people for technical and vocational training?

MA: Currently we advertise trainings on DTI’s social handles. We have 2 modern campuses, in Lahore and Sadqabad. We offer two streams of programs: funded and self-finance. Anyone can apply for trainings under the self-finance program. The other kind is the donor funded program where we receive government allocated funding through organizations like PSDF, NAVTTC etc. The application forms for such programs are available online as well. For donor-funded programs, we also advertise nation-wide if required, to meet a certain criteria.

BRR: Does DTI also help with job placement?

MA: We have a formal placement office within DTI to facilitate graduates in placement. We connect them with the right industry and organizations. Additionally, we serve as a feeder for skilled workforce for Descon. DTI has a strong track record of many of its trained graduates getting selected by Descon Engineering’s clients, both locally and overseas.

It is pertinent to mention that it is not just the technical aspect of trainings that we focus on, rather we take a holistic approach. We also teach soft skills to our students that help them in job interviews, work ethics and social interactions. A Pakistani welder is still considered to be unmatched in terms of skillset. What keeps our workforce at a disadvantage is their attitude towards work. This is where we work closely with our students. These skilled workers finding employment overseas contributes significantly to our foreign exchange in the form of remittances.

BRR: you mentioned that DTI has trained around 30,000 workers over the past two decades. Do you see growth picking up in the next decade or so?

MA: Given that 70 percent of our population is less than 30 years of age, the potential to grow in the area is huge. But that entirely depends on how we guide our youth, and once again, this has to be an effort at the national level. I am happy to see the government beginning to take initiatives in this area recently. However, there to needs to be an action plan on war footings. Most importantly, the mindset that manual labor/work is an equally respectable profession, needs to be instilled in us as a nation.

BRR: What are DTI’s plans for the coming years?

MA: Descon has just been awarded the top manpower exporter from Pakistan for the last three years. What goes in its favor is easy access to well-trained skill force through DTI. We want to continue to export a well-trained workforce for which we are working diligently.

We have two formal schools in the offing for welding and safety, each within DTI. We are in discussions with a US based company renowned for welding, for affiliation with our welding school. This will give a boost to our qualified welders trained at DTI as they will have an additional international certification when they go in the international market. Our aim for such affiliations is to increase the demand and acceptability of our trained manpower.