Technical and Vocational Education &Training(TVET) is gaining importance in the wake of the growing job market of skilled manpower. Today, Government Federal and Provincial levels lay high emphasis on strengthening and expansion of TVET with a view to engage youth and provide high technical skills to them in line with national and international job market requirements.
TVET, all over the world, is supported by three main pillars-Government with a strong political commitment, a responsible and responsive Industry and quality oriented training providing institutes.
My focus is on the role of institutes for bringing about quality, efficiency and efficacy in training delivery. We all understand that the ultimate purpose of imparting Technical Education and Vocational Training is to enable youth to find a gainful employment in Local, National and International market. It is here that the role of institute becomes very important for preparing youth to handle/face challenging jobs requirement in Public or Private sector.
To me, the most important factor that affects the quality of training is the attitude of institute management and the faculty. Head of the institute matters as he/she directs and controls the daily activities towards achieving a goal set by the institute. He/she takes along the entire team to work within the vision and mission statements of KP-TEVTA. A good team headed by a dynamic Principal/leader will deliver, even, out of scratch and vice versa. This is what I have observed/learnt over my long career in TVET Sectors.
Notwithstanding some of the deficiencies in our existing system, we have enough resources in all Colleges/Institutes, which if utilized with prudence, can bring about a big change. It is only the matter of ownership which makes us work or not work. Our focus should be on the utilization of available resources on optimum level for ensuring a conducive Education and training environment for the students covering not only their Academic / Training requirement but their physical fitness and personal hygiene as well. Principal should be a role model for setting the attitudes of his/her team and students. We must be aware that doing a perfect job is not easy, hardship may come all along but determined people win,amidst problems, at the end.
Our society is over bulged with the youth and only we can bring a change by taking shift from traditional supply driven Education and Training to Educating & Skilling youth for Employment. The best performance indicators for an institute is to see how many of its passed outs are on job. We should re-align our institutes management by keeping track record of outgoing students by tracing their employment status and help students connect to the job/ entrepreneurial opportunities.
The students are advised to take full benefit of the time they spend in the institute and try to learn as much as possible because the time never comes back. Build your future with your own hands.
The Prophet(PBUH) said “Efforts come from me and its fulfillment from Allah: let’s try our best and do whatever we can within our capacity. Let’s put our trust in “God help those who help themselves”.
(Engr. Abdul Ghaffar )
Managing Director, KP-TEVTA