At the time of independence in 1947 Pakistan inherited negligible TEVT facilities. There were only two engineering colleges, a few vocational institutions and not a single polytechnic. Keeping in view the importance of technicians and an adequately trained workforce, great efforts have been made to create a significant nework of technical education instutions. Over the period, 45 polytechnic, 11 colleges of technology and more than 400 vocational institutes have been established. However, the fact remians that the output of all these institutions, even today, makes up a minority of the total workforce. The new education policy aims to double the number of polytechnics, colleges of technology, and vocational institutions by the year 2002.

According to the Constitution of Pakistan, the general policy planning and overall guidelines (including curricula, text books and standards of education) are the responsibility of the federal government, whereas implementation of the policy, programs and projects rest with the provincial governments. Various TEVT institutions are managed by different ministries and organisations of the government. Each institution has its own objectives and training programs which reflect a wide range of contents, structures, durations, entry qualifications and modes of training. The training programs prepare students for a variety of jobs in the labour market

Technician training is carried out by Polytechnics administered by the Provincial Directorate of Technical Education. They offer three year post matric (high school - 10 years schooling) Diploma of Associate Engineering (DAE) courses in different technologies. Colleges of Technology offer B.Techn (pass) and B.Tech (Hons.) two year courses for the diploma holders. Training in commerce subjects is offered by commercial training institutions under the provincial directorates of technical education. They offer one year post matric course of C. Com and further one year of D. Com. Pre-vocational school level training is offered as a Agro-technical Scheme of studies at middle and secondary school level.

The relevance of training and general quality of the products of the technical education system has bot been found very satisfactory by the end-users i.e. industry. The quality of the output greatly depends on the quality of the teachers. Therefore, a great emphasis is placed on quality improvement of the teachers through training. A network of teacher training institutions has been established in the country. However, due to the scarcity of resources and the difficulty in sparing inservice teachers for training, the number of trained teachers is still very low.

It is estimated that 77 per cent of the commerce teachers and 46 per cent technical teachers have no teacher training. The rest have training of varying lengths, ranging from a few weeks to a year. There is an urgent need for training in such important components as psychology, methods, media, testing and evaluation, lab/ shop management etc. More than half of the teachers are diploma holders and they have to teach diploma students. Their subject upgrading is essential. Exposure to new and emerging technologies is necessary. No training is imported when a teacher moves from a lower to a higher level. In the majority of cases the teachers are promoted to administer the affairs of institutions without administrative training. It is observed that management training is necessary before a working teacher is promoted to manage any institution or department. Keeping in view the need and importance of quality improvement of the teachers it is suggested that all essential inputs for this purpose should be supplied by all concerned on priority.

ABAD

Agency for Barani Areas Development

ADB

Asian Development Bank

ADP

Annual Development Plan

AIOU

Allama Iqbal Open University

ATC

Apprentice Training Centre

BPS

Basic Pay Scale

BTE

Board of Technical Education

CIDA

Canadian International Development Agency

DAE

Diploma of Associate Engineering

DEO

District Education Officer

DMT

Directorate of Manpower Training

DOE

Department of Education

DRDLG

Department of Rural Development and Local Government

DSW

Directorate of Social Welfare

DTE

Directorate of Technical Education

EEC

European Economic Community

FANA

Federally Administered National Area

FATA

Federally Administered Tribal Area

FY

Financial Year

FYP

Five Year Plan

GDP

Gross Domestic Product

GNP

Gross National Product

GOP

Government of Pakistan

GPI

Government Polytechnic Institute

GTZ

Gesellschast Technische Zusammenarbiet (Association for Technical Cooperation)

GVI

Government Vocational Institute

GVIW

Government Vocational Institute for Women

GVS

Government Vocational School

HRD

Human Resource Development

IBRD

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank)

IDA

International Development Association (Soft Loan 'Window" of the World Bank)

IER

Institute of Education and Research

ILO

International Labour Office

ISCO

International Standard Classification of Occupations

ISIC

International Standard Industrial Classicification

LFS

Labour Force Survey

MIS

Management Information System

MOE

Ministry of Education

MOF

Ministry of Finance

MOHSESW

Ministry of Health, Special Education and Social Welfare

MOLMOP

Ministry of Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis

NEC

National Economic Council

NGO

Non Government Organisation

NSTI

National Staff Training Institute

NTB

National Training Board

NTDI

National Training Development Institute

NTTTC

National Technical Teachers' Training College

NVTS

National Vocational Training System

NWFP

North West Frontier Province

ODA

Overseas Development Administration (British)

OJT

On-the-Job Training

OFP

Overseas Pakistani Foundation

PBTE

Provincial Board of Technical Education

PC

Planning Commission

PEC

Pakistan Engineering Council

PED

Provincial Education Department

PSCO

Pakistan Standard Classification of Occupations

PTB

Provincial Training Board

SBFC

Small Business Finance Corporation

SDC

Skill Development Centre

SIC

Small Industries Corporation

SITE

Sindh Industrial Trading Estate

STI

Staff Training Institute

SWD

Social Welfare Directorate

TAFE

Technical and Further Education

TEVT

Technical Education and Vocational Training

TTC

Technical Training Centre

TTTW

Technical Teaching Training Wing

TVE

Technical and Vocational Education

UGC

University Grants Commission

UN

United Nations

UNDP

Untied Nation Development Programme

UNHR

United National High Commission for Refugees

UNICEF

United National International Children's Emergency Fund

USAID

United States Agency for International Developments

VTC

Vocational Training Centre

WAPDA

Water and Power Development Authority