National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) launched a country-wide awareness campaign for accreditation of institutes, imparting Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Pakistan. The awareness drive, supported by the TVET Reform Support Programme, was kicked off in two information sharing sessions held here on Tuesday.
Heads, principals and managers of TVET institutes from all over Pakistan participated in these sessions, wherein basic information about the newly-introduced accreditation system was shared. NAVTTC Director General Accreditation and Certification Syeda Adeela Bukhari and Raja Saad Khan, National Deputy Co-ordinator TVET Reform Support Programme threw light on overall accreditation system and reforms in the TVET sector in these sessions, respectively.
Main purpose of the awareness sessions, which will be held across Pakistan, is to appraise the heads and principals of the TVET institutes about the newly-developed accreditation system, procedures and its importance. Spelling out steps of the accreditation process, Ms Bukhari explained that NAVTTC has established standards and guidelines that serve as basis for measuring the performance of the TVET institutes and programmes. TVET institutes seeking to be accredited are given guidelines and standards to prepare for accreditation and based on these very benchmarks the institutes submit an application to NAVTTC.
Based on the information, furnished by the applicant institute, a team of assessors perform on-site visit and evaluate the institute or programmes on the basis of set standards. Findings of the field team are then put before a Technical Committee of the Accreditation wing of the NAVTTC for final decision on the accreditation, she explained.
Ms Bukhari argued that it is high time for the TVET institutes to get accreditation so that their trainees have better prospects of jobs not only at home, but also abroad.-PR