There are a number of bodies when it comes to skills development in the country. At the federal level is the National Vocational & Technical Education Commission (NAVTEC), which came up with the National Skills Strategy 2009-13.

Granted, it was a step in the right direction but the implementation was extremely patchy. According to critics, the NAVTEC fell short of its objective of providing a roadmap for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector in Pakistan.

As a result, the lack of structure has prevailed and the addition of provincial bodies has just made matters more confusing. In Punjab for example, Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA), the Punjab Board of Technical Education (PBTE) and the Punjab Skills Development Fund (PSDF) have divided the sector amongst themselves.

This column has already talked about the need for improving coordination between these various provincial bodies and the federally run NAVTEC. Let’s take a closer look at the provincial bodies in Punjab. TEVTA is responsible for instructing vocational and technical trainees and has more than 350 institutes, while there is also a Punjab Vocational Training Council, which is Zakat funded and delivers vocational training through 150 institutes.

The PSDF is run as a Section 42 company, a structure which the Punjab CM Shahbaz Sharif has grown particularly fond of. Established with the support of the Department for International Development (DFID), the original aim was to function as a “skills-financing agency to promote delivery of private training”.
Even though the institutional framework is there when it comes to PSDF, there has not been much traction. One reason for that is the lack of interest shown by manufacturing firms in working with the institution. Seeing the state of other government run technical and vocational institutions that should not come as a surprise.

However, the explanation for this mistrust is in fact, inability of the PSDF to conduct micro level analysis of firms to determine the exact problems associated with skill training. It can respond in general terms but lacks the finesse for deeper diagnosis. This might change soon as PSDF has gotten an international consulting firm to help it in developing the tools required for these types of assessment.

As BR Research has previously mentioned, the real task at hand for these TVET bodies is to plug the skill shortages in sectors such as ready-made garments and textile. As each product demands a separate set of skills, a thorough gap analysis would be required to make any meaningful interventions by the host of government bodies.