Islamabad

The project of transforming the National Institute of Science and Technical Education (NISTE) into the Skill University is going to become a reality as the government has approved a roadmap for its complete execution till next July with an aim to meet the growing demand for workforce for multi-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

According to the roadmap, the vice chancellor for the Skill University would be appointed in December and all the faculty members would be recruited in January-March next year.

Some of the faculty members would be sent to the foreign countries for various training programmes to enhance their skill and practical knowledge about the growing industrialisation at the international level.  The curriculum or syllabus would be prepared in April-May in coordination with a group of educationists and technical experts who have in-depth knowledge about the rising demands in the industrial sector.

Laboratories and other necessary infrastructure would be developed in June after which admissions and regular classes would be initiated.

The NISTE has huge building measuring 228 kanals of land and it used to offer some technical courses and provide training to teachers. However, after 18th Amendment, when the education was devolved to provinces, the functioning of this organisation was restricted to only few short technical courses.

Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal who floated the idea to transform NISTE into the Skill University said there is a need to prepare a skilled workforce that can meet the growing demands of the CPEC-project.

“We should introduce demand-driven courses without ignoring the supply side so that is why two new universities are also being set up in Balochistan. Our youngsters have a potential to open up new avenues for them but there is a need to provide them with guideline and opportunities,” he said.