Chairman Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (Tevta), Khalid Mahmood has said that the government was giving top priority to technical and vocational education and training in Pakistan and funds were being allocated for the purpose.
He said this while briefing a five-member delegation of Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) during a meeting here at the Tevta Secretariat. He said industrial sector in Pakistan was suffering from shortage of trained manpower and owing to it the sector facing problems in benefiting from the global opportunities of emerging business and trade. He said that the Tevta, was making efforts to bridge the gap of trained manpower.
"We need foreign assistance/guidance to compete in the global market and enhance the skill standards," he said. Tevta is offering demand-driven skill training courses at its institutes with the identification of market/industry. He said Tevta had planned to train master trainers all over the Punjab province and a comprehensive plan was under way to train all the teachers according to the latest teaching methodology.
Senior JICA Advisor Akim Hara said keeping in view the global and local perspective, the Japanese government has decided to provide technical assistance to strengthen TVET sector in Pakistan.
TEVTA Secretary M. Arshad Bhatti said that the Punjab government was committed to the development and revolutionising the technical education system. An amount of Rs 1638 million has been allocated under the head of Annual Development Plan (ADP) 2007-2008 in comparison to Rs 750 million last year for new and ongoing development schemes, he added.