LAHORE: The National College of Arts (NCA) organized a certificate distribution ceremony for trainees, funded by Punjab Skills Development Fund, at the Shakir Ali Auditorium, National College of Arts here. The chief guest of the ceremony was Minister for Labor & Human Resource, Government of the Punjab, Raja Ashfaq Sarwar. A total of 112 trainees belonging from various districts of the Punjab received their certificates. These trainees have been trained in six different employable trades by NCA.

These trainings were funded by Punjab Skills Development Fund under its scheme, Skills for Employability. CEO PSDF Mr. Ali Sarfraz & Principal NCA Prof. Dr. Murtaza Jafri were also present at the occasion. These trainings were imparted in six courses – Ceramics Product Design, Furniture Design, Non Linear Editing Level-II, Photography, Prototype Development, Wood Work.

“It gives me immense pleasure to be among the students who have been trained by the National College of Arts and learnt new skills,” Raja Ashfaq Sarwar said while addressing the successful students. He expressed his gratitude over the efforts by the Principal NCA for this initiative and said that he is delightful to see that the National College of Arts has taken a positive step by supporting Government of the Punjab’s efforts for promotion of vocational & technical skills in the province. He also appreciated PSDF’s efforts for providing funding to eligible trainees so that they can learn new skills that would enable them to augment their job prospects. He said that he is very optimistic that the successful students would be able to earn livelihood for their families after joining job market.

CEO PSDF Ali Sarfraz congratulated the NCA management for being a training service provider for the PSDF scheme. He was of the opinion that national institutes such as NCA cay play an important role in promoting vocational education among people.  “I would like to stress over the point that the students should make genuine efforts to secure jobs in the job market so that they are able to play their role in the Punjab’s economy,” said Ali Sarfraz.

In the perseverance to further effectuate its efforts for skills development, Punjab Skills Development Fund (PSDF) launched the scheme, Skills for Employability, for residents of the 14 districts of the Punjab. For the scheme, contracts were awarded to 75 training service providers for training of 14,415 candidates. These contracts were awarded to a multitude of training service providers from both public and private sector to deliver quality training services.

The scheme is a sequel of the Fund’s earlier scheme, Skills for Employability, which was launched in 2011. In the preceding round, more than 15,000 completed their trainings in numerous vocational trades.

Punjab Skills development Fund (PSDF) is a section 42 company, established by the Government of the Punjab in partnership with the Department for International Development (DFID), UK. PSDF funds vocational training organisations to provide vocational and skills training to the poor and the vulnerable populations of the Punjab. Until now, PSDF has funded trainings of 110,935 men and women from its target districts of the Punjab under its various schemes for skills development.

LAHORE: In its perseverance to promote quality vocational skills development, PSDF has launched its new scheme, Skills for Job 2015, to train more than 11,000 individuals in various employment-oriented trades. Contracts of worth eight hundred million were awarded to fifty two training service providers in a launching ceremony here at a local hotel. The scheme would target individuals belonging to the districts of Khanewal, Vehari, Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, Lodhran, Muzaffargarh and Rahim Yar Khan, in order to equip them with various need-based skills.

While addressing the media, CEO PSDF, Mr. Ali Sarfraz said that PSDF successfully trained more than 55,000 individuals since its inception. The scheme is another round of one of PSDF’s major training schemes, Skills for Job, under which individuals are imparted with technical and vocational skills that are demanded by the job market. He expressed his gratitude for the Government of the Punjab and Department for International Development UK (DFID) for patronizing the promotion of quality skills development in the province. He further said that the Fund is rigorously pursuing to enhance the role of local industry in the development of relevant skilled manpower for the country.

According to company spokesperson, under Skills for Job 2015, trainings will be imparted in diverse trade groups ranging from construction, automobile, electrical, mechanical, energy, garments, and hospitality and service sector. Through the launch of its upcoming training schemes, the Fund is going to train another pool of 80,000 individuals from the fourteen districts of Punjab.

Punjab Skills development Fund (PSDF) is a section 42 company, established by the Government of the Punjab in collaboration with the Department for International Development (DFID), UK. PSDF funds vocational training organizations for providing vocational and skills training to the poor and the vulnerable populations of fourteen districts of South Punjab – Bahawalpur, Lodhran, Muzaffargarh, Bahawalnagar, Vehari, Khaewal, Rahim Yar Khan, Lahore, Sargodha, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Chiniot, Narowal and Sheikhupura. Until now, PSDF has funded trainings of 80,000 men and women from its target districts of the Punjab under its various schemes for skill development. In future, PSDF plans to launch specialized schemes for labor-intensive sectors: Light Engineering, Footwear, Food Processing, Construction, Garments and Hospitality.

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LAHORE: Punjab Skills Development Fund (PSDF) in its latest efforts to increase the supply of skilled labour in the country conducted a workshop on the “Skills Need Assessment for the Logistics Sector” in association with Pakistan International Freight Forwarders Association (PIFFA). The workshop brought together experts and stakeholders from all fields with in the logistics sector with the aim to identify the dearth of trained manpower and skills gaps prevalent in the sector.

Chairman PSDF, Dr. Ijaz Nabi, began his speech by providing a background of the Government’s initiatives for skills development in the province. He said that PSDF is focusing on the logistics sector as it has great potential for employability and growth. “This highly-productive sector is very labor-intensive and offers numerous entry-level jobs for unskilled workers as well as technicians,” PSDF Chairman said. He also described the general situation of Pakistan’s logistics sector, and also explained the strategic issues and obstructions faced by the sector. He then gave the audience a briefing on the goals and objectives of the workshop.

CEO, PSDF, Mr. Ali Sarfraz, in his opening remarks, said that the workshop will enable the organisation to design a scheme that directly addresses the needs of the logistics sector. He said that the feedback gathered through the experts provides a bird’s eye view of the trends in this sector, enabling PSDF to better align its efforts. The rationale behind each training scheme is driven by gauging the industry’s demand for skills and expertise in a particular sector. In the same verve, the valuable information revealed in this workshop will be worked on to launch a training scheme in order to support the logistics sector of the Punjab.

Addressing to the participants, Mr. Abdul Majeed Paracha, Chairman, PIFFA, said that non-trained workers impose severe limitations on capacity as well as the quality of work. He said that the association is optimistic that the workshop will prove very helpful in this regard. He added, by utilizing PSDF’s expertise in skills development, the logistics industry will get a much-needed boast as trained labour will be better equipped to take on the future challenges of the industry.

Punjab Skills development Fund (PSDF) is a section 42 company, established by the Government of the Punjab in collaboration with the Department for International Development (DFID), UK. PSDF funds vocational training organisations for providing vocational and skills training to the poor and the vulnerable populations of fourteen districts of South Punjab – Bahawalpur, Lodhran, Muzaffargarh, Bahawalnagar, Vehari, Khaewal, Rahim Yar Khan, Lahore, Sargodha, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Chiniot, Narowal and Sheikhupura. Until now, PSDF has funded the trainings of 40,000 men and women in its target districts of Punjab under its various schemes for skill development. In future, PSDF plans to launch special schemes for sectors: light engineering, footwear, food processing, sports goods, surgical instruments & cutlery and furniture.