LAHORE: Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Kashif Anwar has suggested formation of an industry-led skill council.
He was talking to TEVTA (Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority) Chairman Muhammad Sajid Khokhar, who called on him here at Lahore Chamber on Wednesday. LCCI Vice President Adnan Khalid Butt was also present.
The LCCI President and TEVTA Chairman were agreed on a point that there is a dire need of strong liaison between TEVTA and the chambers.
Kashif Anwar also spoke about rupee devaluation, need of skilled human resources, current account deficit and importance of raw materials availability.
Sajid Khokhar said that TEVTA is now focusing to fill the skill gap, terming TEVTA as the nursery of industry. “The linkage between TEVTA and industry are of utmost importance so that the efforts could be synchronized and the TEVTA could produce what the industry needed,” he observed.
He said that TEVTA has 41 colleges in Punjab, and an Institute Advisory Committee comprising people from the industry and it evaluate inputs from the industry.
TEVTA Chairman mentioned, “Our curriculum needs to be revised as it is no longer according to the needs of the industry. The course is old and the industry is adopting advance technology, and together we have to bridge this gap.” He said that to improve the quality of training, it is also important to enhance the knowledge of the faculty by conducting refresher courses etc. “We want our teachers to be well trained.” They should be linked with the relevant industry so that they can increase the effectiveness of their training to the students, he added.
He said that TEVTA training capacity in Punjab is 90,000 students, out of which 50,000 avail diploma courses while the rest do short courses, and ‘we have to ascertain whether the industry still needs such a skill set or not.’
Sajid Khokhar said, “We also have to see the demand for overseas. We have seen that there is a lot of scope in construction and hospitality sectors. We want this manpower to be internationally certified.” He said that it is also very important to upgrade the labs to improve the quality of vocational education as ‘we have 60 percent practical and 40 percent theory course’. In this regard, the industry should help in upgrading the lab through its CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility).
LCCI President Kashif Anwar said that the economic situation in Pakistan is already improving, arguing that rupee devaluation was the root of all the problems and he hoped that the rupee would continue to get stronger against US dollar. He said that industrial establishment and expansion is direly needed. “We are facing issues like trade and current account deficits, and such challenges are forcing industry to reduce the numbers of workers that would give rise to the unemployment.”
Kashif Anwar said that LCCI wanted the TEVTA to develop human resource according to the needs of the industry. He said that not every industry can afford an engineer. As a result, TEVTA should prepare alternate professionals who can run the industry.
He said that the liaison between TEVTA and the chambers is vital.
LCCI President suggested that an industry-led Skill Council should be formed as well as involving the chambers in the course development process.
He stated that Saudi Arabia is establishing five new cities. The technology is advancing but our human resources are not up to date to grab the lucrative opportunities abroad. He said that LCCI has a portal of PITB (Punjab Information Technology Board) and ‘we want TEVTA to join it so that they can be aware of the demands of the industry’.