With technology and innovation being fundamental to economic success in the modern competitive world, it is imperative to equip youth with technical skills along with conventional education to prepare them for the job market, said Dr Nasir Khan, executive director of National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) while chairing a meeting with the heads of education departments from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan and officials of the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) here at the NAVTTC Headquarters.
Matric-Tech is a flagship project of NAVTTC that is being launched as third stream of education alongside matriculation in general science and arts, and it aims to integrate technical and vocational education and training with formal education. Initially Matric-Tech will be piloted in 15 schools of Islamabad, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan. The scheme will provide opportunity to the youth to choose their career path by giving them options to select between higher education and skill education according to their aptitude.
The details of the project have been discussed with the Inter-Board Committee of Chairmen (IBCC) which has declared level 4 qualifications equivalent to Matric that will be implemented through boards of technical education across country. The government has approved PC-1 of the project and it will formally be launched in schools in April this year.
Working paper and scheme of studies for implementation of this project were discussed in detail during the meeting. The participants termed this initiative of NAVTTC a huge step towards empowerment of youth and assured of their cooperation in its implementation in their respective regions.
NAVTTC is also working to make the curricula available on Mobile Apps, training videos, 3-D stimulators, virtual & augmented reality and Books in PDF in Urdu and English.
