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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Launch of the First National Accelerator on Closing the Skills Gap in Pakistan

July 11, 2019, Islamabad: The Prime Minster met with the visiting President of the World Economic Forum, Mr Borge Brende, at the Prime Minister’s office. At the meeting, the Prime Minister announced the establishment of the National Accelerator on Closing the Skills Gap in Pakistan, in partnership with the World Economic Forum, with Punjab Skills Development Fund (PSDF) serving as its national secretariat.

The World Economic Forum is the international organization for public-private cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. It is independent, impartial and not tied to any special interests. The Forum has established the Centre for New Economy and Society (CNES) to provide leaders with a platform to understand and act on emerging economic and social challenges. The Forum’s Centre for New Economy and Society has partnered with PSDF to work together on the future of education and work by setting up a National Accelerator on Closing the Skills Gap in Pakistan. The Accelerator will aim to increase the employability of the current workforce and increase work-readiness and critical skills in the future workforce.

The National Accelerator will be led and guided by a team of Co-Chairs from the public and private sectors. The Government will be represented by Mr. Shafqat Mahmood, Federal Minister of Education and Professional Training and Mr. Zulfiqar Bukhari, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development. The Co-Chairs from the private sector include Ms. Shazia Syed, MD Unilever Pakistan, Mr. Mohammed Aurangzeb, President and CEO, Habib Bank Limited, Mr. Ghias Khan, CEO, Engro Corporation. PSDF CEO, Mr. Jawad Khan, will be the National Coordinator.

Focusing on the most strategic sectors in the economy, the Accelerator will also onboard the CEOs of 50 to 100 leading companies in Pakistan as well as academics, policy makers and technical experts from the education and skills development space. The Centre for New Economy and Society has already established 5 such Accelerators in Argentina, Oman, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and India, with 10 more Accelerators expected by 2020.

At the meeting, the Prime Minister shared his Government’s political and financial commitment to reform the skills development sectors in Pakistan and thanked the World Economic Forum for choosing Pakistan as a founding member of the Closing the Skills Gap National Accelerator initiative. Given its global reach, experience and expertise, the Prime Minister expressed his confidence that the Forum’s engagement will help provide new opportunities for Pakistan’s youth and help them develop new skills to fully embrace the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Mr. Borge Brende, President, World Economic Forum, said: “The launch of the National Accelerator on Closing the Skills Gap is an important milestone in our relationship with Pakistan and it is just the start. Many of Pakistan’s national priorities are the core focus of the Forum’s work. From climate change, water scarcity and connectivity to regional cooperation, the Forum is ready to offer its platform to support Pakistan’s economic transformation.”

Ms. Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director and Head of the Forum’s Centre for New Economy and Society, said: “The Fourth Industrial Revolution will lead to significant change in the employment and skills landscape globally over the coming years – and Pakistan is no exception. Through our Accelerator initiative we look forward to supporting Pakistan with an integrated platform for learning and action to proactively manage this change.”

Mr. Jawad Khan CEO, PSDF, said: “we are truly honoured to be chosen as the national secretariat for the National Accelerator in Pakistan. PSDF is already doing pioneering work in the skills development space to create income generation opportunities for the poor and vulnerable youth. The partnership with the Forum’s CNES will help it benefit from the Forum’s global experience, reach, as well as from the experience of other global accelerators.”

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About PSDF – A Success Story of Public-Private Partnerships:

Punjab Skills Development Fund (PSDF) is the largest skills development fund in Pakistan. PSDF was established in 2010 as a not-for-profit company set up under the Companies Ordinance 1984 by the Government of Punjab (GoPb) in collaboration with UK’s Department for International Development (DFID). PSDF also exclusively manages the skills training funding of the World Bank.

PSDF’s purpose is to shape the future and well-being of our poor and vulnerable youth by giving them access to skills training of the highest standard so they can find sustainable employment and income-generating opportunities in Pakistan and beyond.

PSDF started its operations in the 4 poorest districts of Punjab. Since 2016, The geographical remit has expanded to the entire 36 districts of Punjab. PSDF has trained almost 300,000 underprivileged youth across Punjab, which includes 180,000+ male and 110,000+ female graduates. These graduates have been trained in approximately 250 demand-driven and market relevant trades across 10 sectors.

PSDF has played a leadership role in creating a skills training market with 90% training partners in the private sector. With 400 training partners that deliver training on behalf of PSDF, out of which over 150 are businesses across the 10 sectors. PSDF has adopted an output-based funding mechanism where it funds contract-to-completion outputs as well as completion-to-income generation outcomes.

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E-mail: communications@psdf.org.pk

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The new effort will connect unemployed and underemployed
young adults with training and jobs starting later this year

Feb 2018 (Washington DC, USA): Punjab Skills Development Fund (PSDF) and Generation have joined forces to address the challenges facing young people who are seeking to connect with the job market. Together, the two leading organizations will bring a proven, innovative model—the Generation program—to Pakistan.

The partnership would launch a joint program in Lahore, expanding to additional locations in the future, to reach 2,500 young adults with the Generation program during the pilot phase. The organizations are currently evaluating the sectors and professions to target, including garments industry, healthcare, financial services, customer service, and digital jobs. The new program will seek to partner with local and national employers in the target sectors to identify job vacancies and deliver great talent.

“PSDF has developed a strong reputation for delivering skills programs guided by evidence on what works. We are now partnering with Generation, a world-renowned nonprofit, to incorporate proven international experience into our training programs to raise the productivity of firms across Punjab,” said Dr. Ijaz Nabi, Chairman PSDF.

“Generation is successfully delivering skilled graduates for employers in countries across four continents. PSDF is delivering innovative solutions to maximize income generation results for its graduates. It is this shared purpose and mindset of our two organizations that brings us together. PSDF brings Generation to Pakistan. This partnership will ensure that PSDF-funded programs and its graduates benefit from the globally proven methodology and tools used by Generation around the world,” said Jawad Khan, CEO PSDF

From left to right: Dr. Mona Mourshed, President and CEO of Generation, Dr. Ijaz Nabi, Chairman PSDF and Mr. Jawad Khan, CEO PSDF at the contract signing ceremony.

“This is an exciting start to the year for Generation, expanding from our original five countries into new geographies,” said Mona Mourshed, President and CEO of Generation. “We’re honored to be working with an organization as respected and innovative as PSDF to bring Generation’s proven approach to Pakistan for the first time.”

Generation is a demand-driven employment program that recruits, trains, and places young people in jobs. Working closely with employers, Generation has established programs across 20 professions and four sectors. The participants of the new program in Pakistan will join more than 17,000 existing graduates across five countries—India, Kenya, Mexico, Spain and the United States. Of those graduates, 83% of them have jobs within three months of graduation and more than 70% remain employed a year later. On average, graduates make two to six times the income after Generation than they did before, and collectively Generation’s graduates have earned more than US$55 million in salaries.

Participants in the Generation program complete an intensive 4 to 12-week “bootcamp-style” training that integrates technical skills along with behavioral and mindset skills, helping students overcome both workplace and personal challenges. After successfully completing the program, students are guaranteed job interviews with employer partners. Employers see a return on their investment, with 98% percent of hiring employers say that they would hire a Generation graduate again and 88% saying that Generation graduates outperform their peers.

The new program in Lahore will launch officially in the second quarter of the year. For now, interested partners or employers can learn more by contacting info@generation.org.

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About PSDF:

Punjab Skills Development Fund (PSDF) is a section 42 not-for-profit company established in 2010 under the Companies Ordinance 1984 by the Government of the Punjab in partnership with the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID, UK). The World Bank is also providing funds to the Punjab Government for the trainings to be funded by PSDF. PSDF aims to provide quality skills and vocational training opportunities to the poor and vulnerable populations of all the 36 districts of Punjab in order to improve livelihood prospects for them. Since its establishment in 2011, PSDF has trained 250,000 youth in over 200 trades and it works with over 250 private & public sector training providers. Over the next 5 years, it will be training over 400,000 youth across Punjab that will be employed in Pakistan and abroad.

Communications Team
Punjab Skills Development Fund (PSDF)
Contact: +92-42-35752408-10
E-mail: communications@psdf.org.pk

About Generation:

Today, more than 75 million young adults are out of work globally, and three times as many are underemployed. At the same time, 40 percent of employers say a skills shortage is leaving them with entry-level vacancies. Generation is a youth employment nonprofit with a dual mission to empower young people to build thriving, sustainable careers and to provide employers the highly skilled, motivated talent they need. The first active programs have been in India, Kenya, Mexico, Spain, and the US, and Generation is launching in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and Pakistan to start 2018. The organization was founded by McKinsey & Company in 2014.

Communications Team
E-mail: media@generation.org

Skills on Wheels: PSDF and Uber to work on self-employment opportunities in Transport Sector

Lahore: Under the direction of the Chief Minister of the Punjab, Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif; Punjab Skills Development Fund (PSDF) has taken concrete steps to create income generating opportunities for the unemployed youth of Punjab. PSDF and Uber signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), and announced to work together towards enhancing economic opportunities in the transport sector of Punjab.

L-R: Mr. Faisal Fareed – Board Member, PSDF & Managing Director, Maxim International; Mr. Safee Shah – General Manager, Uber Pakistan; Mr. Rana Mashood Ahmad Khan – Minister for Education; Mr. Pierre Dimitri Gore-Coty – Head of Uber Operations Europe, Middle East and Africa; Mr. Jawad Khan – Chief Executive Officer, PSDF; Mr. Anthony Le Roux – General Manager Uber, Middle East & Africa; Mr. Ghassan Haddad – Head of Uber, Public Policy Middle East, Turkey and Pakistan.

The Minister for Education, Mr. Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan, who was present at the ceremony said: “I congratulate PSDF and Uber on this occasion and sincerely hope that this partnership will reap great benefits for the youth of Punjab; as the creation of self-employment opportunities are very close to the Chief Minister’s heart.”

Through this collaboration, young job seekers as well as those generating low income will be provided with the necessary skills so that they can benefit from the opportunities that Uber offers in Pakistan.

By running a mass mobilization campaign within Punjab, a trainee pool will be developed and trained in line with a curriculum approved by Uber. These trainings, supported by PSDF, will be designed to help candidates in developing their technical, operational and entrepreneurial expertise, as well as skills that are necessary to ensure the safety and security of Uber’s riders. Once trained, these candidates will then be introduced to and integrated with Uber’s technology system. Talks are also underway to engage the identified trainee pool for selected opportunities overseas.

Along with this, both parties also intend to undertake a survey in Punjab to determine the role that new technologies in the shared economy can play in supporting large-scale economic opportunity generation in the transport sector.

Upon signing this agreement with Uber, Mr. Jawad Khan, CEO PSDF said, “I am delighted with this latest development and hope that the results will bring us one step closer to achieving the goal that PSDF strives for. Creating income generating opportunities with technology companies is a key priority for PSDF so that we can empower the youth by providing them with carefully designed training opportunities, and creating linkages between them and potential employers.”

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, Head of EMEA Uber said, “We are really excited about the kind of momentum we are building across Pakistan especially in partnership with departments affiliated with the Government, such as PSDF, who are working tirelessly towards disseminating and enhancing essential technical skills amongst the youth of Punjab. With the signing of this MOU Uber aims to utilize the huge talent pool being generated by PSDF, build on Uber’s pool of partners/drivers to provide more safe, reliable and affordable transport to our riders. We believe that by working closely with Mr. Jawad Khan and his team Uber will be able to generate greater economic opportunities in the province and encourage entrepreneurship amongst the youth.”

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