The Father of the Nation, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, had also stressed the need for scientific and technical education to build the economic future of Pakistan. In his Speech at the Dhaka University Convocation on March 24th 1948, he said, "Now I want that you must divert your mind, your attention, your aims and ambition to other channels and other avenues and fields that are open to you and will increasingly become so. There is no shame in doing manual work and labour. There is an immense scope in technical education for we want technically qualified people very badly."
The current state of TVET is not very encouraging. We need at least a million skilled workers every year to cater to our industry and other sectors. The strength of skilled workers in the country however remains just around 300,000. It is hurting to note that hardly 16.3 per cent of the youth cohort completes secondary education, with the result that more than three-quarters" leave educational institutions without foundational or life skills. The majority of Pakistan's emerging labour force is either without education and skills or has very little of both. Thus the sustainable delivery of quality TVET is critical to the attainment of Pakistan's economic development goals.
The other challenge of the system is that it does not give due importance to vocational and technical education. This resulted in the mismatch between the skilled manpower required and the skilled manpower available. Majority of the workers in the tattered economy have never been to vocational training institutions. Moreover, vocational training courses lack market responsiveness. The contribution of the industry in the development of curricula is also limited. Due to this reason there are insufficient linkages with industries and coverage of trades in the service sector which has higher employment potential.
Question 1: What did Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah emphasize regarding education in his speech at Dhaka University Convocation?
Answer: He stressed the need for scientific and technical education to build Pakistan's economic future.
Question 2: What is the current shortfall in skilled workers compared to the industry's demand?
Answer: Pakistan needs at least a million skilled workers annually but has only around 300,000 skilled workers.
Question 3: What percentage of the youth cohort completes secondary education according to the passage?
Answer: Hardly 16.3% of the youth cohort completes secondary education.
Question 4: Why is the sustainable delivery of quality TVET considered critical for Pakistan's economic development goals?
Answer: It is critical because the majority of Pakistan's emerging labor force lacks education and skills.
Question 5: What is one challenge identified in the TVET system regarding vocational and technical education?
Answer: The system does not give due importance to vocational and technical education, resulting in a mismatch between required and available skilled manpower.
Question 6: How does the lack of industry involvement affect vocational training courses?
Answer: Vocational training courses lack market responsiveness and there are insufficient linkages with industries, limiting coverage of trades with higher employment potential.
