Provincial Minister for Labour & Human Resource Raja Ashfaq Sarwar has stressed upon the importance of technical and vocational education and training for permanent and meaningful linkage of public and private sector for the production of a skilled workforce in line with the local and international labour market needs. He said that under Punjab Skills Development Strategy-2018, TEVETs of Punjab are successfully achieving the annual targets of imparting skill training to 550000 youth of the province. In the year 2005-16 TEVTA imparted demand driven skill training to more than 173246 youth, Punjab Vocational Training Council gave skill training to 134762 whereas Punjab Skill Development Fund imparted skill training to 56187 persons to meet this target. Punjab Vocational Training Council also imparted skill training to 4121 persons in collaboration with School Education Department Punjab in the evening classes. Technical and Vocational Training Institute of Private sectors imparted modern skills to more than 33921 persons according to this programme.
It was informed in a meeting of high level steering committee chaired by Minister Labour & Human Resource Raja Ashfaq Sarwar in Committee Room of Planning & Development Department. Parliamentary Secretary for Information & Culture Rana Muhammad Arshad, Secretary Industries Nabeel Javed, Project Director Skills Development Programme Ameer Khatak, heads of different technical training institutes and representatives of different provincial departments attended the meeting. Minister Labour expressed his displeasure over the absence of some secretaries in the meeting and directed the concerned to ensure their presence in future so as to complete this important task assigned by Chief Minister Punjab for the formation of skilled workforce in Punjab in the given timeline. He said that capacity-building and good governance system along-with revamping the curricula of skill training institutes has been introduced in the vocational training institutes of the province ensuring job placement for all skill graduates in the local as well as GCC countries. Minister Labour appreciated the efforts of TEVTA, PVTC and PSDF to meet the annual targets of skill training under this programme.