LAHORE: Chairman Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA) Ali Salman Siddique called for establishing modern labs for imparting quality technical education.
While talking to Business Recorder Ali Salman said that the world focus on giving technical education to their youth while in Pakistan majority of the students were enrolled in general education.
Punjab has become the first province to pass the “Apprenticeship Act 2021” to provide skilled youth with better economic opportunities to the industry according to its specifications.
The government has replaced the 60-year old Apprenticeship Ordinance of 1962 by bringing fundamental changes from being applicable only to the manufacturing sector to now covering all sectors of the economy. He also said that the student base increased from 90,000 for the past ten years to 220,000 in two years through launch of CM’s Hunarmand Nojawan Program & E-Learning.
Ali said that TEVTA for the first time started giving technical education through internationally recognized system in 120 Countries of the World called Competency Based Training & Assessment CBT&A Skill Mythology in 140 Tevta Institutes in 37 Trades. After three decades Ali said that TEVTA converted the mode of instructions and examinations in English for our Flagship Diploma of Associate Engineer DAE Program.
He also said that the authority launched for the 1st Time Online Courses in Hi Tech Skills for 20,000 Students whose average earning is Rs 36,000 per month with PKR 70 million private-sector Funding. He further said that the authority had procured equipment of over $6.0 million through World Bank funding for CBT&A Courses. TEVTA had also established New Career Development Division which has ensured Employment for 56,000 plus Students even in Pandemic.
While giving details of the Apprenticeship act chairperson TEVTA said that it is a dual system for training a new generation of practitioners of trade or profession coupled with on-the-job training at industry/companies & technical education in institutes.
This system is widely used by developed countries and the apprenticeship act 2021 will follow the European dual-track training system to bridge the gap between industry and Tevta. The act will provide youth with approximately 100,000 employment opportunities every year.
Ali Salman Siddique said the Apprenticeship Act was a critical step towards the realization of the vision 2023 which focuses on quality demand-driven skills with economic opportunities for the trainees. He said the trainee would not only be given technical and vocational education in their institutes but also on the job training in the industry.
He said in the past apprenticeship law was used as a tool against the industry but Tevta through its new skill the ecosystem created a direct linkage with the industry through sector skill councils and public-private partnerships to empower its decision making process.
He said this new industry and Tevta nexus would further, strengthen by empowering the private sector skill councils to regulate the Apprenticeship Act. He stressed the need for a major awareness drive to make businesses and organizations in Punjab aware of the benefits of apprenticeships for employers. He vowed to constantly expand and convert all their 350 plus vocational institutes onto the apprenticeship model on the footprint of German and British Apprenticeship Models.
He said the Act would also resolve the problem of the industry for the requirement of customized skilled manpower. “If we get customized skilled manpower and can govern the process through the sector skill council it will resolve our issues and greatly help in the economic growth of the country,” he said.
Ali further said that the TEVTA with a social media outlet will train 10,000 students in micro-entrepreneurship. He also said that in this regard recently a meeting regarding the implementation of Facebook’s project ‘She Means Business’ initiative. The social media giant is expanding its women-empowerment-focused initiative to bolster the financial inclusion and resilience of women-led businesses in Pakistan.
President Dr Arif Alvi inaugurated the programme on Tuesday under ‘Hunarmand Nojawan’ which students will be trained in using digital platforms to launch and grow their small businesses. As many as 3,000 women entrepreneurs have been trained under the initiative in 2021.
Siddique said the 10,000 people would be trained under this partnership and it would create a positive impact across Pakistan. Highlighting the need for women empowerment, he said women empowerment has been a critical aspect of our skill ecosystem and the global partner would help make a difference in the lives of 3000 female students and their communities.
Chairman TEVTA Ali Salman Siddique said that recently authority launches new website which is its first-ever interactive website under the Digital transformation of Punjab. He explained the features of new website and said that the newly launched website would be one of the largest designed website in Punjab as well as most Hi-Tech in the Government Sector as the new website has changed communication from the focus on management previously to a student under the new communication policy.
The Chairman TEVTA added, “Moreover for the first time TEVTA has highlighted its Faculty Potential boasting of 21 PhD and 200+ Mphil. The Website further has research publications of the faculty and TEVTA’s specialized institutes under service centers.”
He said that this is an important day in history of TEVTA and critical for the image uplift of TVET Sector. He further commented that TEVTA not only offers conventional skills such as Mechanic, Electrician etc. but Hi-tech Skills such as Artificial Intelligence, Data Sciences and Data Modeling and that’s exactly what TEVTA has showcased in this New Website.
Representative from Punjab Information Technology Board Saima Sheikh said that this is the largest ever designed website in Punjab and it is the vision of the chairman we are just showcasing whatever is happening at TEVTA.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022