World Youth Skills Day was observed on Tuesday to highlight the transformative power of technical and vocational education in fostering inclusive economies and resilient societies.
Punjab government has allocated Rs26 billion for skills development and entrepreneurship in the fiscal year 2025-26.
Punjab has consolidated all Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) policies under a single Skills Development and Entrepreneurship Department (SDED). The PSDF has so far trained 600,000 graduates, with 44 percent being women, across 250 trades.
The unified structure brings together the Punjab Skills Development Fund (PSDF), Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA), Punjab Vocational Training Council (PVTC), Punjab Skills Development Authority (PSDA), and Punjab Board of Technical Education (PBTE), ensuring alignment with labour market demands.
CM Punjab Task Force for Skills Development Chairperson Adnan Afzal Chattha said the province's youth are not just the future but the greatest present-day asset. "By pairing world-class training with globally recognised certifications and overseas job pathways, we are turning potential into prosperity for families and Pakistan’s balance of payments," he said.
Pakistan has more than 3,000 technical and vocational institutes with about 455,000 students enrolled. However, this capacity falls short of catering to the 1.7 million new entrants to the labour force each year, highlighting the need for scalable, outcome-driven models like the PSDF.
