President urges NAVTTC to focus on Balochistan youth

President Mamnoon Hussain on Monday said that the acquisition of technical training was necessary for youth to enable them earn livelihood, end their despondency and promote positive thinking.

Addressing a prize distribution ceremony of the National Vocational Training and Technical Commission (NAVTTC) here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, the president said, ’We must give hope to our youth” and added that both NAVTTC and Prime Minister Youth Skill Programme could be very useful in this regard. He said it was the responsibility of every segment of the society to play its due role in making these programmes successful and contribute towards national development and progress.

The president urged the NAVTTC to focus on Balochistan, particularly its coastal areas and Gwadar so that the local youth may benefit from employment opportunities. He said the job opportunities would be created after the operationalisation of the Gwadar deep sea port and the economic corridor. He asked the NAVTTC to design programmes for training large number of youth to work in shipping industry and related fields, terming it a “national service”.

President Mamnoon also expressed satisfaction that NAVTTC was acting as useful liaison agency between skilled workforce and business and industrial entities providing employment. This, he said, would balance the requirement of market for skilled manpower and facilitate both the youth and the entities in hiring of skillful workforce. He said the placement centers have been set up in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad to facilitate these matters. He said the NAVTTC’s resolve to establish such centers in other cities and divisional headquarters was commendable.

The president also urged the traders and industrialists to employ the youth trained by NAVTTC on priority in their required fields. He said it would put trained and hardworking manpower at their disposal at reasonable remuneration. President Mamnoon also appreciated the holding of various training programmes and international conferences for enhancing the scope and quality of professional training programmes and expressed the hope that a comprehensive program in this regard would be formulated.

The president termed the youth a great asset of Pakistan and said they constituted 60 per cent of the total population. “We want to make the youth our strength to realize our dreams,” he said and added the project under NAVTTC to make the youth skilful and prepare for practical life was part of this process. He said the Youth Skill Development Programme by the government, after passing through different stages had reached the third phase of training of 25,000 youth and was being completed today.

Mamnoon said the youth after stepping into practical life would not only be able to shoulder the financial burden of their families, but would also contribute to the growth of national income and stability. The president gave away prizes among the winners of skill competition in different areas including graphic designing, survey design, information technology, electrician, plumbing, cooking, fashion designing.

Minister for Professional Training and Education Engineer Balighur Rehman said the government was focusing on the vocational training of youth and for the first time in country’s history, had formulated National Skills Strategy.

He said under the PM’s Skill Development Programme, 25,000 youth were given vocational and technical training, while another 50,000 would be added to the number this year. Next year, about 0.1 million persons would be given training, he added. He said a pilot project of 12 national vocational schools had been started from sixth grade and onward.

NAVTTC Executive Director Zulfiqar Ahmed Cheema said that imparting skilled education to youth could help them bear the responsibilities of society amicably. He said the vocational training could change the fate of nation if the government, industrialists and media make this sector a priority. He said the skill competitions were a source of inspiration for youth and added that next time, competitions in the areas of high-tech and heavy machine operators, gardening and house service would also be held.