WASHINGTON: The World Bank has approved US $ 50 million to improve skills training programmes in Punjab as part of a project aiming to improve the quality, labour market relevance and access to the training programmes with a focus on the employability of graduate trainees.
The bank said that Punjab Skills Development Project would benefit individuals in the labor force who wish to gain job specific skills and training in order to join the labor market, as well as those who wish to increase their earnings capacity through in-service training.
“An estimated 70,000 trainees will directly benefit from the Project, of which at least 15 percent will be female.”
“The main challenges in the skills development sector of Punjab include limited supply of skilled workers, weak institutional framework, and low access to quality and relevant skills training,” said Rachid Benmessaoud, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan.
“The Project aims to strengthen public institutions in Punjab to accredit, certify and deliver skills training services, which will help the youth to get better jobs.”
Punjab Skills Development Project supports the Government of Punjab’s Growth and Skills Development Strategies and Vision 2018 objectives and has been designed in close consultation with development partners already working on skills training at both national and provincial level.
The project also has a technical assistance and capacity building component for implementation support.
“The project would help raise the quality of skilled graduates through the introduction of competency-based training and assessment, improved collaboration between employers and training providers to increase the industrial relevance of training content,” said Scherezad J. Monami Latif, Task Team Leader of the project.
