While talking to Business Recorder on Monday former President Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industries (LCCI) and currently serving as Chairman TEVTA Irfan Qaiser Sheikh emphasized that a developing country like Pakistan cannot attain industrial and infrastructural development without converging the technical and education. It is the technical and vocational education which provides the skilled manpower for the industry and infrastructure construction, he added.
He went on saying, "By technical education I mean to transform the unskilled and uneducated hands into skilled, educated hands which can build the nation by playing their role in the industrial and infrastructural development of any country".
He also gave an example of Japan and said that Japan has progressed a lot and jumped from developing to developed country, it actually have worked and established the technical education in the country and trained people to get expertise in that field so that they can work and bring benefit to the state.
Talking about provision of technical and vocational education and training in Pakistan and specially Punjab, Irfan was of the view that TEVTA is imparting the hidden skills of the students which they are unable to find out.
We, at our 393 institutes all across the Punjab, provide a student an environment and atmosphere where they can learn all the practical work without any hesitation besides, he said. He also revealed that TEVTA has trained thousands of students in its 30 Colleges of Technology, 310 Vocational Training Institutes, 18 Service Centres and 5 Staff Training Colleges.
While explaining the role of TEVTA for Pakistan's industrial development he was of the view that it is offering industry's demand driven courses as he and his team always wanted that those courses which are not need of the market or industry should be ended and we have ended some of the courses. Meanwhile, on the other side keeping in view the increasing demand of the industry we also started several new courses in last two three years.
He added, TEVTA offers different courses, degree programs and short courses including BSc Tech (four years), Diploma in Associate Engineering (DAE) a three-year course, DAE two years and many short courses. Besides, keeping the importance of CPEC in view, TEVTA has started offering latest and updated courses for the students and will continue to add more courses including Chinese language Learning, Hospitality Management, Construction, Industry, Automobile, Driving, Security, Beautician, Financial Market, Agriculture, Livestock, Communication, Electrical and Electronics, Garments, Health, Leather, Chemical, Information Technology, Mechanical, Pottery and Ceramics, Services, Textiles, Sports Goods, Chairman TEVTA added.
When asked about future of the technical education he added that TEVTA is going to start a technical and vocational university which will the first of its kind in Pakistan. The university will be the future of technical and vocational education in our country, headed. He also said that setting up varsity was a wish of Chief Minister Punjab. Now TEVTA in collaboration with Tianjin University of Technical Education (TUTE) China will set up the varsity which will offer higher level degree courses in technical and vocational training, he said.
He added that TEVTA has already signed the agreement for establishing University of Technical and Vocational Education (UTVE) in Tianjin China with President TUTE Liu Xin. According to the agreement, around nine degree courses will be offered at UTVE including Information Technology, Automobile, Electronics, Mechanical Mechatronics, Management Science, Advanced Chinese Language, Pedagogical Training and 3D Printing Technology, he said.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017