NAVTTC's centres linking skilled workforce with industry

The National Vocational and Technical Training Commission's (NAVTTC) initiative for establishing Job Placement Centres with dedicated resources is linking Pakistani skilled workforce with employers in both national and international job markets.

In addition to this, 104 Job Placement and Vocational Counseling Centers (JP&VCCs) have been established across the country for the benefit of youth, NAVTTC Chairman Syed Javed Hassan said this here on Friday.

In an exclusive talk with APP, he said that skill profiles of more than 570,000 Pakistani youth were available on this job portal. NAVTTC was providing free of cost facility to both youth and Pakistani industry to bring them closer and realize the dual objective of employment for youth and quality skilled workforce for industry, he added.

Realizing the emerging needs, he said, the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) has taken numerous initiatives for implementation of National "Skills for All" Strategy, which was a comprehensive road-map to uplift TVET sector in Pakistan.

For this purpose, NAVTTC is formulating skill development programmes, funded by public & private sector and other international organizations i.e. ILO, British Council, JICA, TIKA, Korean HRD, Department of Foreign Assistance Ministry of Commerce, China etc, he said.

NAVTTC chairman further said that as the CPEC project and other global emerging advancements were bringing technological innovations to Pakistan which required greater preparedness of youth in highend and high-tech technologies. Therefore, keeping in view such needs, a detailed market gap analysis has been conducted by NAVTTC, both for identifying the demand for such high-end trades and the available institutional capacity for conducting training courses in these trades.

Sharing the further details, he said that a wideranging skill development programme namely, "Prime Minister's Skills for AllHunarmand Pakistan Programme" under the umbrella of Kamyab Jawan has been formulated and was being implemented by NAVTTC.

The programme, Javed said, targets two major categories of interventions including, human resource development through youth skill development and upgradation of TVET infrastructure at par with standards of local and international job market.

NAVTTV have also taken numerous steps for the enhancement of quality of training, i.e provision of training in accordance with national and international job markets in the most demanded trades especially in construction and hospitality sectors etc. It also included training programmes launched in Conventional, High-Tech / High-End, cutting edge technologies and industrial occupations.

More than 100,000 youth will be equipped with technical and vocational hands-on skills, he mentioned.

"To cater the needs of the modern industry both nationally and internationally, with specific focus on the expected requirements for CPEC projects, NAVTTC is introducing Skill trainings in High-Tech / High-End and cutting edge technologies aligned with 'Industrial

Revolution 4.0' and the courses such as Mechatronics, Robotics, Industrial Automation, Internet of Things (IoT), Cloud Computing, Free Lancing are being introduced in state of the art universities, institutions and Industries".

He said that curricula of more than 100 trades have been completely updated and brought in accordance with demands of local and international job markets with technical assistance of development partners.

For the first time in history of Pakistan, a comprehensive accreditation regime for TVET sector has been introduced under which more than 400 TVET institutes and 1,500 training programmes have been accredited, he said.

One of the major reasons for non-performing TVET sector in Pakistan was the absence of strong industrial linkages. To overcome this deficiency, special emphasis has been laid on giving pivotal role to industry and private sector for TVET sector development in the country, he remarked.

For this purpose, three Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) have been established in the Construction & Hospitality, Renewable Energy and Textile Sector.