Punjab first to enact Apprenticeship Act 2021 after 60 years

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Punjab first to enact Apprenticeship Act 2021 after 60 years

LAHORE: Punjab became the first province to pass the Apprenticeship Act 2021 while replacing the Apprenticeship Ordinance1962 after 60 years, to provide skilled youth with better economic opportunities and the industry with skilled labour according to their specifications.

Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA) Chairperson Ali Salman Siddique said this while addressing a meeting here at TEVTA Secretariat, on Friday. He appreciated the role of the Apprenticeship Section for achieving a milestone for TEVTA Punjab. The new act has made fundamental changes to the previous law from being applicable only to the manufacturing sector to now covering all sectors of the economy.

Ali Salman Siddique said the Apprenticeship Act was a critical step towards realisation of TEVTA Vision 2023, which focused on quality demand-driven skills with economic opportunities for the trainees, where they would not only be given technical and vocational education in institutes but also on-the-job training in industry.

This is in line with Prime Minister Imran Khan”s vision of providing 10 million jobs. He said that unlike in the past when the apprenticeship law was used as a tool against the industry, TEVTA, through its new skill ecosystem, has created a direct linkage with the industry through sector skill councils and public private partnerships to empower the industry in its decision making process.

The chairperson stressed the need for a major awareness drive to make businesses and organisations in Punjab aware of the benefits of apprenticeships for employers and vowed to constantly expand and convert all their 350 plus vocational institutes onto the apprenticeship model while replicating the German and British apprenticeship model here.

Siddique said that system is widely used by the developed countries and TEVTA Punjab, through its newly legislated Apprenticeship Act 2021, would follow the European dual-track training system to bridge the gap between industry and TEVTA.

“The Act will provide youth with approximately 100,000 employment opportunities every year,” he hoped. Experts have termed the Apprenticeship Act a hallmark of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government and an important step in the right direction for the skills sector.

A renowned industrialist Rehan Barera told the meeting that apprenticeship was a fundamental step for provision of jobs, adding that the act would also solve industries” problems for requirement of customised skilled manpower. “If we get customised skilled manpower and govern the process through sector skill council, it will resolve our issues and greatly help in economic growth of our country,” he said.