National News

ISLAMABAD, Jun 11 (APP): Around 49,505 fresh graduates,
degree/diploma holders, have been granted 12-month paid internship
of Rs 12000 per month based on their matching demand in reputed public
and private sector organizations in Phase-I of Prime Minister Youth
Training Scheme during the year 2016-17 to combat unemployment from
the country.
The initiative had been taken by the incumbent government for
the socio-economic development of youth introducing a broad canvas
of schemes, enabling poor segments of society to get good
opportunities, economic empowerment in order to get productive jobs.
A number of other initiatives had also been introduced during
the said period including Prime Minister’s Youth Business Loan in
which 21,734 loans cases worth Rs 18.039 billion have been
disbursed so far. The recovery rate is 90 percent with 10 percent
Non Performing Loan (NPL) ratio, Economic Survery 2016-17 data
revealed.
The second programme was Prime Minister’s Interest Free Loan
Scheme in which more than 283,321 interest free loans amounting to
Rs. 6.393 billion have been awarded to people in 44 districts across
Pakistan. 62 percent of the loan beneficiaries were female, and the
recovery rate of the scheme was 99 percent.
Under Prime Minister’s Youth Skill Development Program program
73,627 youth both male and female has so far been trained in more
than 100 demand-driven trades across Pakistan. Training classes of
another 25,000 trainees under Phase III (Batch-II) has been
commenced on 02 January 2017.
Minimum 25 percent of the total training slots are reserved
for female trainees. Madaaris students and disabled youth are also
covered under this scheme. Furthermore, another 100,000 youth will
be trained during 2017-18 & 2018-19 under Phase-IV and the
allocation for this phase is Rs.6,196.50 million.
In phase-II of Prime Minister’s Program for Provision of
Laptops to Talented Students 200,000 laptops have been delivered to
HEC recognized universities across Pakistan. The distribution of
laptops to students is in process.
Further the procurement process for additional 200,000 is also
under process for the upcoming phases of the scheme.
Under Prime Minister’s Fee Reimbursement Scheme Rs. 6.8
billion have been released for this scheme since 2012-17 and Higher
Education Commission (HEC) has paid around Rs5.74 billion tuition
fee to 187,544 deserving students of less developed areas across
Pakistan. Due to this valuable intervention, 100 percent enrollment
has been increased in some universities of Balochistan.
Beside these projects government has taken many other measures
to provide the employment opportunities to the youth as government
has increased the development expenditure from Rs. 348 billion in FY
2013 to Rs. 800 billion in FY 2017. These investments will create
numerous jobs in various sectors of the economy and spur other
economic activities, which will create further opportunities for
gainful pursuits by our people.
National Vocational &Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC)
has established a National Skills Information System to consolidate
the demand and supply related information of TVET graduates at local
and international level including analysis of labor market for
informed decision making. It will also develop the linkages between
industries and trained labor force for employability.
Pakistan’s first ever Job Placement Center (JPC) has been
established to facilitate and provide carrier counselling of the job
seekers. It is providing a unique platform for employers to
advertise different career opportunities available in their
organization. This initiative will bridge the gap between employers
and skilled youth.
NAVTTC has organized the Skill Competition at Divisional,
Provincial and National level for its Prime Minister’s Youth Skill
Development Program passed out trainees. The employers and
representative from industry were also invited to motivate the
trainees and ensure the employability of passed outs.
National Training Bureau (NTB) is implementing important
interventions to expand the TVET Sector through active participation
of Skill Development Councils (SDCs), affiliated institutes and
NGOs. It is expanding the base of Trade Testing &
Certification/Informal Training through Public-Private Partnership.
NTB has entered into agreements with foreign companies on
Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis for setting up infrastructure
and arranging training courses in various skills in Islamabad. This
initiative of NTB will be helpful in enhancing the skills.
The females are also being encouraged to acquire different
skills which will be helpful in employability.