Karachi: The IBA AMAN Center for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) and United Nation Development Program (UNDP) Pakistan have collaborated for the Youth Employment Project (YEP) in Karachi. YEP aims to improve the human capital of Karachi’s youth by providing entrepreneurship training in marginalized areas. Under UNDP’s banner, the IBA conducted a Training of Trainer’s workshop (ToT), which was held from September 25-28. The aim of the ToT was to equip the trainers with entrepreneurial education so that they can effectively train the youth in their respective institutes.
The participants of the workshop represented a multitude of vocational education and training institutes including, Sindh TEVTA, VTC (Khairpur), GCT (Hyderabad), GPI, GIBCE, GCT, Govt. Pak Swedish Institute, Memon Industrial Technical Institute, SOS Training Institute, AMAN Tech, Hunar Foundation, Karigar Training Institute and Gul-e-Raana Community Centre.
The workshop commenced with welcome sessions by Dr. Shahid Qureshi Program Director IBA AMAN CED, Mr. Abdul Hafeez Abro Director Industrial Coordination STEVTA, Mr. Liaquat Ali Jamro Director Academics STEVTA and Mr. Moin Zaidi Project Manager UNDP. In his welcome note, Mr. Abro signified that training sessions act as a roadmap for entrepreneurial success. “Participants should put in sincere efforts and gain maximum knowledge from this training program”, said Mr. Abro.
Mr. Zaidi emphasized that in the coming years Pakistanis would need to focus on the creation of jobs for the youth. He signified that in the current environment, an entrepreneurial mindset was crucial.
Furthermore, Dr. Qureshi highlighted the significance of youth entrepreneurship and mentioned that there is a need to change the prevailing stagnant job mindset of people. He further emphasized that to overcome unemployment, the institutions and their students need to utilize available resources and venture fearlessly in to the world of entrepreneurship.
The training consisted of sessions on entrepreneurial principles and case studies by Dr. Qureshi. Various faculty members and guest speakers also conducted integral sessions. Intervention based exercises were also part of the workshop. Cornerstone entrepreneurial principles of entrepreneurship including the effectuation philosophy, entrepreneurial bird in hand principle and effectual lens were also introduced in the training.
Representatives from the IBA included, Rao Israr Ahmed Program Manager CIE, Mohammad Talha Manager Incubation and Imran Muhammad Khan Manager NEP, who introduced their respective programs to the participants.
During the closing ceremony, representatives from STEVTA and UNDP opined that the UNDP and IBA AMAN CED program of vocational education and training was diverse and all-inclusive. They also commended Dr. Qureshi and his team’s tireless efforts for playing an important role in establishing an entrepreneurial mindset across Pakistan.
The workshop culminated with certificate distributions for the faculty participants, while Dr. Qureshi said profusely thanked the participants and guest speakers for making this workshop a success.
Press Release