Provincial Minister for Labour & Human Resource Raja Ashfaq Sarwar has said that according to the vision of Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif for skilled youth and prosperous Punjab, Skill Development Programme has started giving positive results as technical institutions have achieved the target of 2015-16 for imparting vocational and technical education to the youth, providing them jobs and meeting the demands of local and international labour markets.
He stated this while presiding over a high level meeting of Punjab Skill Development Committee at P&D Auditorium, here today. Chairman P&D Jehanzeb Khan, Chairman TEVTA Irfan Qaisar Sheikh, Project Director SMU Ameer Khatak, CO Punjab Skills Development Fund, representatives of Punjab Vocational Training Council, additional secretaries and representatives of different provincial departments along with World Bank, GIZ and an international consultancy agency TTT also attended the meeting. The meeting was informed that the target for skill training is 5,50,000 whereas TEVTA will train 1, 35,000, PVTC 1,20,000, PSDF 56,250 while private sector will impart technical training to 35,000 people. Minister Labour informed the meeting that World Bank has funded 50 million dollars whereas Punjab government has allocated 6.3 million dollars for this project. The meeting was informed that different departments will also give their recommendations and nominate number of their staff for skill training to enhance their capacity building. Project Director SMU Ameer Khatak informed that labour market information system will be strengthened whereas an independent and accreditated Punjab Skill Authority will be established alongwith restructuring of TEVTA. He said that jobs oriented Punjab Skill Development Strategy 2015-20 is also under process to ensure better governance, quality and demand driven training of provincial youth. Minister Labour Raja Ashfaq Sarwar expressed his indignation on provincial departments for not showing progress in the skill development programme and directed the concerned secretaries and authorities to take interest in the project and meet the targets within the timeframe.