ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Minister Counselor, Kim Jim Wook, Embassy Republic of Korea here on Monday called on the Executive Director NAVTTC, Zulfiqar Ahmad Cheema to promote linkages and partnership in technical and vocational sector between Pakistan and South Korea.
The Executive Director National Vocational & Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) briefed the Minister on the milestone achieved by NAVTTC in bringing a paradigm shift in TVET delivery in Pakistan, said a press release issued here.
He explained the role of NAVTTC as an apex body at the national level mandated to regulate and framing the policies and providing directions to all stakeholders of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector in the country.
He pointed out that Pakistan and Korea shared friendly ties and it would benefit NAVTTC to learn from the experience and quality of vocational training standards of Korea.
Zulfiqar Cheema said that “We are facing certain challenges to attract young people towards technical and vocational education as the general perception of people is still focused on acquiring conventional education”.
To counter this dilemma and to change the mind set of young people, NAVTTC arranged skill competitions throughout the country which not only added to their honor and prestige but also many graduates were offered jobs on the spot.
NAVTTC is engaged in utilizing the untapped potential of youth in the right direction so that they become productive citizens and contribute towards socio-economic development of the country, Cheema added.
He emphasized that technical and vocational education was the gateway to country’s peace and progress.
He said, our top priority was to build state of the art institutes of international standard and to have top quality instructors for technical training.
The Korean Minister Counselor commended the role of NAVTTC and assured to provide technical assistance to boost the TVET sector of Pakistan.
He also offered to upgrade National Training Bureau into a state of the art vocational university.
It was also mutually agreed that with the assistance of KOICA (Korean International Cooperation Agency), steps would be taken to upgrade the labs and equipment in the technical and vocational institutes of the country.
Asmat Nawaz, Joint Secretary Economic Affairs Division was also present in the meeting.