‘TVET sector needs to focus on women’s self-reliance’

LAHORE:National Vocational and Technical Training Commission chairperson Ms Gulmina Bilal said that the TVET sector needed to focus on women to give them confidence and self-reliance to stand on their feet, especially in the rural sector.

She expressed these views at the Hunar Foundation’s certification ceremony of the 5th TVET Cohort of female students at a local hotel on Tuesday. The certificates were given to 273 female candidates in the final cohort.

CM Punjab Taskforce on TVET Chairperson Adnan Afzal Chattha was the chief guest at the ceremony. He apprised the audience that the govt has chalked out a plan that includes many initiatives, including for women, minorities, transgenders etc to give them vocational training in culinary, IT, beautician and skills in many other fields. The Hunar Foundation in collaboration with the British Asian Trust, launched a project, Driving Women's Economic Empowerment in April 2022 for three years. This project aimed to train a total of 2,100 women with industry-aligned technical and vocational skills, fostering financial independence, self-reliance, and sustainable livelihoods among women in three years.

Country Head of the British Asian Trust, Kamyla Marvi Tapal, CEO Arfa Karim Group, Tabinda Islam, TVET, Climate & Sustainability Expert Kamran Kashif, CEO of Skills for All Sikandar Hameed Lodhi, CEO, Punjab Skilled Development Fund, Ahmed Haleem Khan, and Head of HunarCare, Dr Para Butt were also present on this occasion.