Skill building training in US: Thousands of job-seeking students become employers

Under the Pakistan-United States strategic partnership, thousands of talented Pakistani youth, after attaining professional and skill-building training and development support training programs in the Unites States (U.S) have now evolved from job-seekers to job providers while some are also serving in prestigious national and multinational companies successfully.
The training programs had been a permanent feature of the U.S Agency for International Development (USAID) assistance to upgrade the skill-building process of the Pakistani youth to help them excel in various professional fields and businesses under the strategic partnership programs.
During 2007 to 2011, more than 20,000 people received different trainings in the U.S and other countries through USAID programs. From among these individuals, 492 participated in the U.S-based programs that covered duration of six-months or longer. However, the earlier list comprised of thousands of Pakistani youth who got training in different disciplines.
Shahnaz Kapadia Rahat is a young professional who is currently working as chief executive officer (CEO) at Empowerment through Creative Integration (ECI).
While sharing her training experience with agencies, Rahat said that she was fortunate enough to have worked with the USAID Development Support Training Project implemented from 1985-1992 by the Academy for Educational Development (AED).
She added that as a Program Associate, she was exposed to some of the best U.S training and capacity building consultants. She felt the interface developed her as an individual as well as a professional.
“But in addition to that, I attended a formal training that was truly instrumental in my development and eventual success”, she said.
She had attended a 6-week course in Boston on “Managing a Successful Training Institute”. “When I went for that training, I was an employee with AED which is a USAID contractor. Today, the ECI is a successful training institute”.
Rahat also underwent several `train-the-trainer’ programs that ranged from training needs assessment, to designing training modules and manuals, to conducting training and monitoring and evaluating training programs. “ECI conducts all these trainings, and has adapted the learning to all its training rollouts”, she concluded.