LAHORE: Given the low rate of literacy in Pakistan there is a need to devise a programme that is capable of preparing people without college degrees for career-oriented jobs. Mid-level skills could be imparted to people who can read English.
The penetration of mobile technology across Pakistan has forced at least the youth to send and receive messages in English. These youth could be trained to operate high tech machines and produce products according to the required specifications.
To achieve this, the government would have to collaborate with the private sector to impart the needed skills. Private sector employers would willingly collaborate as they are facing acute shortage of skilled workforce. Private sector entrepreneurs are facing acute shortage of mid-level jobs.
In fact, they are not even satisfied with the level of competence of the youth even at the entry level. This is the reason they hesitate to upgrade their technology. They do not want to ruin their costly technology by allowing unqualified persons to operate them. The state should seek collaboration of the private sector not on individual basis but through their sector specific associations.
The collaboration should contribute towards the cost of training, either by providing industry platforms for practical training or contributing directly to the cost of training. This collaboration is in the interest of both public and private sector. The government would benefit in the form of increased quality employment and enhanced economic activities.
The private sector would be able to increase its productivity and efficiency through qualified workforce. Currently, both federal and provincial governments are not producing quality skills. They are simply training youth in low skills that mostly are not needed in manufacturing or services sectors. They do claim high employability, but the matter of the fact is that less than 20 percent of the skilled youth rolled out by the government institutes are offered jobs in industry. The rest are self-employed.
The majority of self-employed are destined to remain poor throughout their life. We need to promote skills that ensure not only immediate decent living, but also a clear upward career path.
We have been establishing vocational training institutes throughout the country on the set pattern of imparting similar training courses. It would be more prudent if the planners study the needs of the region and the professions that are needed in the area.
The state, in collaboration with the private sector should identify the sectors that have high growth potential in the area. They should then evaluate the gap between supply and demand as well as the current state of education and skills in the workforce.
Best workforce-development solutions occur when leading employers come together to address the talent problem for an entire sector. One such example is the stitching training institute established at Gujju Mata, Lahore in consultation with a leading garment exporter.
The exporter facilitated the state by getting state of art stitching equipment at highly discounted rates from the supplier. The institute trains 100 women in stitching ever four months and all get employed.
The government could run the institute in three shifts to train 300 workers per four months (training male workers in the night shift) so that more workers are gainfully employed. Businessmen are reluctant to contribute in the training programmes if they see no benefits. The planners would have to convince the private sector about the business viability of the training programme.
The training courses should be linked to business performance, informing the private sector stakeholders about the cost of programme recruitment and training, employer productivity and quality outcomes, retention, and speed to promotion.
Only those students be enrolled that meet job-licensing requirements, such as having a high-school diploma, or having job-appropriate literacy and numeracy levels.
Skill training is basically the responsibility of the provincial governments that can deploy effective strategies to ensure efficient use of resources. They should have a clear view of all funding and efforts available for targeting the potential trainees in a given area.