Employable Skills Are Necessary To Meet Economic Milestones in Pakistan
By: Fatima Hasnain
Pakistan ranks in the list of developing countries that are struggling to boost their economies through various strategies. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, fiscal year 2020-21 saw an unemployment rate of 4.5%, and is expected to rise to 5% in the fiscal year 2021-22. Although the nation is working hard to expand its education system and ensure quality for all the citizens, graduates are facing a grim situation of unemployment in the country. This is also why many of our brilliant minds fly away to foreign countries in search of better job opportunities, lashing the back of our already wounded economy with brain drain.
VET: a practical alternative to formal education
This vicious cycle of economic challenges that our nation is encountering has left only a few beacons of light for the stakeholders. Vocational education and training (VET) is one of the solutions that can provide practical solutions to these challenges. The UN Agenda 2030 has also included this component of education in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 4.4); UNESCO’s TVET network, UNEVOC network, also maintains a global cooperation for this purpose. Economies around the globe are now becoming more professional and practical than theoretical. Countries like UK, Australia, Canada, Norway, and other have introduced a major portion of their economies with VET that bridges people’s formal education with economic outputs. VET is now becoming the emerging strategy of nourishing wilted economies. The value of a VET certificate or diploma has reached new heights when it comes to pursuing a specific career path.
TVET in Pakistan
The Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training (MOFEPT) of Pakistan formulated the TVET policy in 2018 that focuses on designing new planning systems and management information systems, capacity building of public TVET systems, funding relevant stakeholders to deliver integrated outcomes, and above all establishing a centralized certification system to bring all trainees on a single assessment platform through the National Vocational Qualifications Framework. This policy envisions the penetration of the informal economy into formal growth at national level. Currently, there are less than 4,000 TVET institutes in Pakistan. However more recently, one of Pakistan’s TVET institutes has been recognized by the Higher Education Commission; the National Skills University Islamabad is one of the 220 UNEVOC Centers.
Institute of Rural Management is contributing in imparting employable skills to the underprivileged and marginalized communities of Pakistan in the form of IRM-TECH. After the identification of the trainees’ needs, the community members are provided with market-driven skills. For this purpose, IRM has established four zonal Vocational and Technical Educational Centers (VTEC), including VTEC-Rawalpindi. Similarly, IRM Smart Step is a recent initiative that took off in July 2021, aiming to provide vocational, entrepreneurial, and life skills within a low-cost budget. The beneficiaries include marginalized and less-privileged women of the slum areas of Pakistan only. Currently, participants are being trained in beautician course under IRM Smart Step.
In addition to the TVET, IRM also organizes Business Management Skills Training (BMST) in every batch that provides upscale knowledge on business management. Business groups are also formed that provide a window of opportunity and growth experience to the trainees on how to run small scale enterprises. Apart from these initiatives, IRM is actively involved in projects funded by European Union and IFAD such as SUCCESS, BRACE, and SPPAP that aim to strengthen the economies through imparting employable and entrepreneurial skills. The outreach includes all of Pakistan, especially Sindh, Baluchistan, and the Punjab through mobile vocational centers. The trainings are being provided for employable skills such as motor-winding, mobile/laptop repairing, dress designing, electrician/plumbing, motorcycle repairing, carpenter, chappal making, mat designing, commercial poultry management, and so on.
Through its market-driven approach and TVST-centered trainings, IRM continues to make headway in facilitating the governmental as well as non-governmental institutions working to improve the economic façade of the country. Considering these initiatives, there is hope that Pakistan will soon witness her economy and development sector reaching new heights.
