Daily Times

Stressing the need to grab a substantial share of employments in international as well as local labour market, experts at a webinar have said this goal can be achieved only through getting technical education and vocational training that would also ensure economic stability in Pakistan.

The webinar titled ‘Accelerating Pakistan’s Economic Growth through Skilled Labour Force’ was arranged by the TVET Sector Support Programme (SSP) with an aim to highlight the significance of skills development for the youth to become globally competitive as well as ensure sustained economic and social development.

The TVET SSP is funded by the European Union, Germany and Norwegian Embassy while its implementing partner is the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in close collaboration with the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC), provincial Technical Education and Vocational Training Authorities (TEVTAs) and many other private sector organizations.

Labour Market, TVET and gender expert Sabina Ahmed, labour economist and labour market expert Dr Zafar Mueen Nasir and Head of TVET SSP Iris Cordelia Rotzoll were the experts in the webinar panel.

Moderator Sonia Omair, Technical Advisor Communication TVET SSO, explained the importance of TVET sector and technical and vocational trainings to achieve strong careers in the national and global labour market.

Giving her expert opinion in the webinar, Sabina Ahmed said that education merely is not the way to progress and has the sustainable position in the job industry. “Trainings both technical and vocational for our people especially youth are direly needed to attain best career opportunities at national and international level,” she maintained.

Dr Zafar Mueen Nasir spoke in detail about how to gain the sustainable growth in social & economic sector. He mentioned that “sustainability in economic and social growth is related to the employment opportunities.”

He, however, linked job opportunities with the skills enhancement. “More the people are technically trained, more they have the chances to be recruited in reputable organizations,” he stressed.

Participating in the discussion, Iris Cordelia Rotzoll expressed the satisfaction that people are now realizing the importance of technical and vocational education and trainings for the workforce employability.

“People are enhancing their skills through TVET SSP and thus workforce employability is also increasing. Through green skills and digital skills, we can do more for the economy of Pakistan,” she said.

The experts also focused on disparity between labour market demand of trained individuals and education given to the population in the contemporary era which is not according to the needs of the industry.

According to them, workforce employability depends on various factors such as education, managerial skills, adaptation of technology, level of investment and but technical and vocational competence remains on the top. They also stressed that the workforce must have a high-quality education along with demand-driven skills training.