According to International Labor Organization (ILO) 2019 estimates, Pakistan’s output per person - a measure of labor productivity - grew at an annual rate of only 1.4 percent between 2000 and 2019. In contrast, the same figure for India and China is 5.3 percent and 7.0 percent, respectively.  Pakistan’s output per worker is roughly one-ninth that of the United States, while India’s is around one-sixth and China’s approximately one-fourth. An important cause of the poor state of human capital in Pakistan is the design of the prevailing education system.

There is an urgent need to create an ecosystem that leads to high-quality skills training in Pakistan. The training should be tailored to the requirements of various sectors of the economy with special efforts made to ensure adequate representation of women in such initiatives. Where necessary, minimum quotas should be set to ensure that institutions are incentivized to encourage female participation.

At present, after completing schooling, students are expected to pursue further studies in traditional universities. While there are technical and vocational institutes offering technical education, the need to pursue higher education in universities is amplified by most white-collar jobs, including many government jobs, requiring some kind of degree certification from a university.

The education structure needs to be reassessed and the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector needs to be mainstreamed. This requires introducing TVET pathways, starting from schooling and going all the way to higher education. The Matric-Tech initiative introduces skills/vocational training at the 9th grade, and is currently being implemented by the Federal Ministry of Education and Professional Training in jurisdictions that directly come under it is a step in the right direction. However, the outcome of this pilot project needs to be carefully reviewed and positive outcomes must be drawn upon to ensure that the student journey has been carefully charted and the initiative is expanded across the country. 

While there are technical and vocational institutes offering technical education, the need to pursue higher education in universities is amplified by most white-collar jobs, including many government jobs, requiring some kind of degree certification from a university.

Javed Hassan

The government must also expand the initiative to recognize and strengthen the skills of workers operating in the ‘informal’ sector, such as the recognition of a prior learning scheme (RPL). It must be understood that a significant fraction of workers is already acquiring skills through informal channels, for example, ustad-shagird apprenticeships at workshops. These skills, even though acquired through on-job training, need to be formally certified, which would enable the skill set of this pool of workers to be easily recognized and upgraded without significant investment.

Rapid technological advancement in recent years and the emergence of a digital, knowledge-based economy globally has transformed the skill requirements of modern industry. To provide a skilled workforce in such high-end technologies to our domestic industrial sector, for example on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, as well as for opportunities in the international job market, the introduction of a nation-wide initiative for skilling Pakistani youth in high-tech, sophisticated technologies has become necessary. Although this has been initiated by the ‘Skills for All’ scheme, it now needs to be expanded to meet the large and expanding potential demand for skilled workers.

Recent studies show that within developed economies, 90 percent of jobs require some level of digital skills and out of these, approximately 30 percent must have proven high-end technical skills to maintain knowledge pyramids. Technological innovations coming to Pakistan in the wake of CPEC projects call for a greater preparedness of our youth in high-end technologies.

There is therefore a critical need for skill development programs such as introducing and strengthening artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D animation, game development, android / IOS app development, cloud computing, internet of things, CNC machine operator, etc.

Although many courses have already been introduced under the current government’s Kamyab Jawan ‘Skills for All’ scheme, the program needs to be independently evaluated for youth satisfaction and employability. On the basis of positive outcomes, these need to be expanded to train much larger numbers for  the manufacturing sector across small, medium and large industries, especially in value added textile industry, such as garments.

A detailed market analysis has been conducted by National Vocational Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) to identify the demand for such High-Tech/ High-End trades and the available institutional capacity for conducting training in these trades. NAVTTC with the other Pakistani TVET bodies must ensure that the courses, the curricula and the training standards are continuously reviewed and updated in line with developments in new technologies as per global workforce requirements. It is imperative that training modules and certification standards meet not only domestic market requirements but are accepted internationally also.

Internationally, the face of TVET is undergoing a rapid change with the emergence of modern modes of imparting technical and vocational training. Distance learning and e-learning is becoming increasingly popular in the sector due to the introduction of simulators and online technical courses, etc. For Pakistan to keep pace with the emerging trends in the TVET sector, these modern practices are needed to be adequately replicated in the country.

– Javed Hassan has worked in senior executive positions both in the profit and non-profit sector in Pakistan and internationally. He’s an investment banker by training.

Twitter: @javedhassan