Punjab sets target to train 1 million youth in skills over three years

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz chaired a special meeting on skill development projects and set a target of skilling 1 million youth in total over the next three years, according to Express News.

The meeting received a detailed briefing. It said training of 400,000 youth in Punjab has been completed, with over 45 percent of them employed and many choosing to continue their education.

Under the Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Department, about 190,000 youth who completed training have found decent employment, and over 38,000 have obtained jobs abroad. Overall, 90,029 found jobs in local industry, 53,509 became self-employed, 38,557 got jobs abroad and 39,325 chose to continue education.

By sector, 113,333 students completed manufacturing training and over 50,000 got immediate jobs. In IT, 111,607 youth were trained and 49,588 started earning. In agriculture and livestock, 23,269 completed training and 10,033 found work. In construction, 27,069 were trained and 12,026 are employed. In energy, 35,227 were trained and 15,651 found jobs. In hospitality and tourism, 15,319 were trained and 6,807 are employed.

A first modern skill centre of excellence is to be set up in Punjab, with technical training, digitised examinations, an online registration portal, digital exam papers and QR codes. The digital examination system will allow between 200,000 and 600,000 candidates to sit exams. Centres of excellence will also be set up for electrical, vehicle and digital marketing fields.

Approval was given to start an agriculture and heavy machinery operator certification programme. Under the CM Language Learning Programme, courses in 13 languages will be offered in Punjab for the first time. A cleaning and cleaner academy, the province's first, was also approved, with training in cleaning support, healthcare, hospitality and domestic help under PCCA.

Under the Empowering Women through IT programme, 3,000 women in villages have started earning from home. In total, 15,065 teachers and staff received training, and 220 computer labs, 100 industrial stitching labs, 70 solar labs, 27 healthcare labs, a VR welding lab and an electric vehicle lab were upgraded.

Under the MAHIR programme, 25,000 youth are to be trained in industrial clusters in Lahore, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Gujranwala and Multan. Under the Global Rozgar programme, 25,000 youth are targeted for training in the BPO sector. A trained electrician from a Punjab technical college won fourth position at the 48th WorldSkills competition in Shanghai.