‘Objective curricula can end poverty’

LAHORE

Vocational training and technical education institutions in Pakistan to eradicate the unemployment is very negligible while PVTC and Tevta are working in Punjab while in other provinces no effective work is being done on this front.

These views were expressed by the experts in Jang Economic Session on ‘Role of vocational training institutions in unemployment eradication’. The panellists were Sajid Naseer Khan, Dr Ikram-ul-Haq, Mian Fazal Ahmed, Farooq Tariq, Huma Aziz and Raja Adeel Ashfaq while hosted by Sikindar Lodhi.

Sajid Naseer Khan said that imparting youths with vocational training and technical education could help to eradicate poverty, extremism and terrorism. He called for objective-based curricula so that exploitation of youths could be controlled. He said human resource should be produced in accordance with the national and international requirements while investment in human resource could pace up the industrialisation.

Dr Ikram-ul-Haq said that long-term policies were required to provide jobs to 1.2 million workforce. He said Pakistani education system had chronicle problems while country needed education promotion institutions instead of degree producing factories. He said that curricula for vocational and technical education institutions should be compiled according to modern technologies and industrial needs to produce international standard human resource.

He said that unemployment could not be eradicated until socio-economic justice was ensured and labour rights were not given importance in Pakistan.

Mian Fazal Ahmed said that export of human resource should be increased with proper planning which would strengthen the economy while around seven million Pakistanis were working overseas and contributing $18 billion remittance supporting the economy of the country. He said out of 61 million labour force, four million were unemployed in Pakistan. He called for expanding the internship programmes with the consultation of trade and industry.

Farooq Tariq said that respectful employment and provision of basic needs of life were vital for public. He said industrialisation was halted in Pakistan while poverty eradication was possible with implementation of minimum wages; otherwise, parasites would be produced through BISP. He called for prioritising the textile sector to maximum the benefit from GSP Plus status and employment generation. 

Huma Aziz said that lack of objective-based education was one of the reasons of unemployment in Pakistan for which education should be in accordance with the aptitude of the children.

She said youths should be trained in accordance with the international requirements for which number of polytechnic institutions be increased where people of all age groups be trained. 

Raja Adeel Ashfaq appreciated the efforts of the Punjab government for the promotion of vocational training and technical education. He said that Tevta was not only producing quality human resource for the local industries requirements but also up to the international standards.