Like other parts of the globe, 'International Youth Skills Day' is being marked here today (July 15) with a resolve to equip the country's youth with modern and employable skills in order to ensure sustained socio-economic growth of the nation. To mark the day, different functions will be held in which necessity of equipping the youth with skilfull education.
According to UNDP, young people between the age of 15 and 29 (or 29 percent of the population) makeup 41.6 percent of the country's total labour force while further four million are being added to the workforce every year. Furthermore, 29 out of 100 young people are illiterate and only 6 percent have more than 12 years of education. Another alarming stat is regarding youth unemployment, according to its report; only 39 of 100 youth are employed (32 of them males and 7 females).
High job insecurity, skills mismatch and growing youth unemployment therefore put increasing pressure on the existing education system which is already marred with severe gaps in service provision. The humungous challenge of the 22 million children out of school is a grave one but a far graver often overlooked one is the state of the 28 million in-school children. Less than 15 percent of these students ever make it into colleges or universities for lack of access or affordability and it is the 85 percent that constitute the famous youth bulge of Pakistan, not the lucky few.
Technical and vocational training offers a solution and the day comes to shed light on its significance. "Vocational training is one of the most underrated and neglected sectors in the country. We can greatly help Pakistan by imparting technical education and skills to the youth," said Mujahid Khan, CEO Aman Tech, one of Pakistan's largest not for profit vocational training programs. Aman Tech focuses on market aligned strategically designed vocational training programs catering to local and global job markets. It is based on the premise that vocational training institutes must work in tandem with different industries to assess their needs and focus on in-demand trades and technologies only.
"Projects under CPEC are also creating significant job opportunities for both skilled and unskilled workforce. Stakeholders in government, industries, and training institutes should collaborate to create skilled workforce aligned with current industry requirements," he added. Talking about Aman Tech's contribution, he said that the organization is offering internationally certified 6 months courses in 12 different trades like mechanical, refrigeration & air conditioning, electrical/electronics, automobile, fabrication welding & pipework (robotic welding), cad cam, cad civil, auto body repair technician, auto paint repair technician, mechatronics, stitching machinist (females only), and Offset Printing.
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