Asian Development Bank (ADB) would sign a loan agreement of 16 million dollars with Pakistan in January next year for "Restructuring of the Technical Education and Vocational Training (TEVT) System" project in Balochistan. Official sources told Business Recorder here on Tuesday that the total estimated cost of the project is 22.9 million dollars, of which the bank would provide 16 million dollars and the remaining would be arranged locally.
The loan has a term of 32 years, including a grace period of 8 years with an interest rate of 1.0 percent during grace period and 1.5 percent per year thereafter.
Sources said that Balochistan's department of education and department of labour and manpower would be the implementing agencies. Planning and development department of Balochistan would be executing agency.
They said that restructuring of TEVT project would help the department of education and department of labour and manpower in Balochistan to reform technical and vocational training programmes.
Talking about the objective of the project, sources said that it aims at reducing poverty by promoting technical education and vocational training among youth giving them employment opportunities in line with market needs.
Sources further said that other objectives of the project were to restructure and strengthen institutional capacity, efficiency and autonomy of TEVT institutions to improve quality and relevance of the programme and to enhance access to quality vocational training particularly to the rural women and poor.
The project would help departments of education, labour and manpower in Balochistan in restructuring and strengthening its institutional capacity to provide quality TEVT.
Sources further added that the project would help these institutions to improve their planning and management by giving them autonomy to provide quality and relevant technical education. Training of teachers, providing them learning resources, introducing competency-based training (CBT) and improving quality control would strengthen the TEVT programmes.
The sources said that the direct beneficiaries of the project included about 10,000 students in four polytechnics, and 10,000 students in 14 training centres. They further said that the project would benefit more than 150 teachers and principals in polytechnics and about 600 teachers and principals in training centres. Beside this 250-institute management committee (IMC) and centre management committee (CMC) members and more than 20,000 students in livelihood training programmes will be benefited.