ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Thursday called for strategic reforms in skills training to boost labour force participation and overseas employability.
The committee met for the first time at the headquarters of National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) with Senator Zeeshan Khanzada in the chair.
The committee took stock of various vocational and technical training programs/courses imparted by NAVTTC for employability and job opportunities for skilled/semi-skilled professionals as well as intending emigrants, to evaluate their effectiveness and to ensure the programmes designed for emigrants are on a par with the demand of the national and international market needs.
Senator Zeeshan expressed concern over the limited number of skilled individuals in the country, pointing out that only 2 million people out of a population of 70 million were skilled.
He remarked that the labour force per capita was alarmingly low and questioned the NAVTTC’s role in addressing this issue.
The NAVTTC told the committee that Pakistan’s labour force participation rate stands at 44.9% (2024-25) with regional counterparts such as Bangladesh (58.3%) and Vietnam (73.69%).
Furthermore, NAVTTC briefed the committee on key findings regarding employment outcomes of skilled individuals.
According to the data shared, the overall employment rate stands at 53%, with 38% of employed individuals earning more than PKR50,000 per month, 18% earning between PKR31,000 and PKR50,000, and 27% earning up to PKR30,000.
Additionally, 17% of respondents declined to provide income information. They further briefed that the students will be given loan by Punjab Bank and National Bank on the guarantee of NAVTCC.
Following this, NAVTTC showed international employability comparison of skill training. It was shared that according to a tracer study (2018–2020) of public training institutes, the employment rate in Sri Lanka stood at 54.5% (1 year after completion of training). In Bangladesh, according to the data from 2020–2021, the employment rate was 39% (2 years after completion of training). For Pakistan, according to 2025 data, the employment rate was 53% within (6 months to one year after completion).
The chairman committee stressed the need for NAVTTC to intensify its efforts and enhance the effectiveness of skills training to improve employability outcomes — both domestically and internationally. The committee was also told that no recent labour survey had been conducted, with the last one taking place in 2021.
The NAVTTC informed the committee that quotas were fixed for all provinces, and if a province was unable to fulfill its quota, it was reallocated to another province.
The members also highlighted that there was still very low awareness about the training programs being offered by NAVTTC, especially in rural areas and other regions where people remain unaware due to the lack of proper outreach and publicity.
The chairman committee stated that there was a large population of labourers in our country, yet no training had been arranged for them.