By Duan Changying

 

“China was very kind to provide hundreds of schools, vocational training, technical equipment which was worth about Rs500 million. This was brought in at the beginning of this year or end of last year. And it has already been placed in 400 institutes of vocational training. So that was just the start. ” said Syed Javed Hassan, Chairman of National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) in an interview with CEN.

 

 

Vocational training and technical training are important components of CPEC project. In the past two years, China and Pakistan have had frequent interactions in this area, and some progress has been made. About 200 people have been sent on scholarships to China to go to various institutes in order to get short-term training about vocational practices in China. One major input from China in CPEC is Gwadar. There is a high quality technical institute which is set up and completely funded by China in a huge investment.

 

Syed Javed Hassan saids that he looks to replicate the model of Gwadar in other places as well and a lot things needed to be done in Pakistan in vocational training. “Formally, in institutes, it's only about 400,000 when we need probably as much as 2 million.”he added.

 

Besides all the traditional skills such as plumbing, welding, which are associated with vocational trainings, there are more advanced technique skills training  also needed in Pakistan especially under CPEC projects.