47,765 youths to be given vocational training: NAVTEC

[LahoreEstate]

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Executive Director, National Vocational and Technical Education Commission (NAVTEC), Khalid Khan Toru said that the commission was establishing 130 vocational institutes in 79 uncovered and backward tehsils of Punjab, Sindh, NWFP, Balochistan, Azad Kashmir and FATA at which 47,765 youth would be imparted technical education and vocational training in the next two and a half years with a total cost of Rs 1.17 billion.

He was speaking as chief guest at the Prize Distribution Ceremony on conclusion of First National Skills Competition for Women 2009, held here at Government Polytechnic Institute for Women under the arrangements of NAVTEC, on Saturday.

Toru said that the federal government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani, was following a well thought-out policy for women development and wants their empowerment in every sphere of life. He said this policy was producing encouraging results. Ministry of Women Development was currently implementing a nationwide five-year project with $10 million worth of financial support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to promote economic, political and social empowerment of women at national, provincial and district levels, he added.

Talking about prime minister’s ‘Hunarmand Pakistan Programme’, Toru said that NAVTEC under this programme was sponsoring short-term skilled development courses in which four trades were being given priority. They include: construction, agriculture (livestock and dairy development), IT and telecommunications and services or hospitality. He informed that under prime minister’s Hunarmand Pakistan Programme, 120,000 youth have either completed their technical and vocational education and training or are currently under training.

Toru foresees skilled workers playing major role in economic development in the future. Citing the examples of Japan, China, Singapore and Malaysia where skilled workers played a vital role in shaping their economies, the chairman said that we have to produce highly skilled force like these countries to achieve sustainable economic progress and prosperity.

Congratulating the skilled women for winning National Skills Competition for Women 2009, the executive director expressed the hope that they will learn more in their respective trades to enable them to shine in international skills competition to be held in the future.

Later, the executive director distributed cash prizes, trophies and commendation certificates among the winners of the First National Skills Competition for Women and the technical and vocational institutes they belonged to.

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