The National Skills Passport is a comprehensive document thoroughly capturing an individual’s educational history, training, work experience, and notable certifications. This valuable record provides a detailed overview of a worker’s or professional’s qualifications and achievements. Let’s do a deep dive to know about the national Skills Passport Pakistan program.
While its initial focus is on the informal sector in Pakistan, it also holds great potential for utilisation in the formal sector. This versatile tool assists employees in creating a detailed portfolio that showcases their qualifications and includes valuable references.
This ensures that their skills can be easily compared with various skill assessment frameworks, such as the National Competency Standard in Pakistan.
Initiative Of National Skills Passport Pakistan
This innovative initiative is designed to offer the talented workforce of Pakistan a gateway to not only secure employment but also to access further training opportunities for both upskilling and reskilling.
The goal of this effort is to make it easier for people in Pakistan to find jobs and get more training to learn new skills or improve the ones they already have.
This passport helps workers create a complete record of their qualifications and references. This makes it easier to understand how skilled they are, using standards like the National Competency Standard in Pakistan.
Furthermore, this Skills Passport will function as a global gateway, opening doors to job opportunities, training for upskilling and reskilling, entrepreneurial prospects, equivalency assessments, and a plethora of other benefits.
A novel initiative is on the horizon, marking its debut in Sindh through a pilot program encompassing three specific trades and a carefully selected group of talented individuals.
The pilot program for the Skills Passport will be carried out under the stewardship of the Employee Federation of Pakistan, with invaluable support from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and various federal and provincial institutions. A dedicated Steering Committee has been established to take charge of supervising, monitoring, and evaluating the pilot’s progress.
Upon the successful completion of the pilot phase, the Steering Committee will reevaluate the insights gained, aiming to establish an operational framework for the nationwide expansion of the National Skills Passport program across Pakistan.
Know The Goals of National Skills Passport Pakistan
1. Enhanced Documentation
Improve the documentation of Pakistani workers using simple technology infrastructure.
Challenges Addressed:
- 50% of the economy remains undocumented.
- Informally acquired skills go unrecognised.
2. Certification of Informal Skills
Assess and certify skills and experiences gained informally against universally recognized competency standards.
Challenges Addressed:
- Unrecognized skills limit domestic and global job opportunities.
- Informal skills lead to lower wages and remittances.
3. Enhanced Credibility
Establish credibility by providing global employers access to verified skills and experiences, leading to improved job matching and wages.
Challenges Addressed:
- Employers are hesitant about recognising “informal skills.”
- Overseas workers often receive lower wages and are considered unskilled due to a lack of formal training.
4. Dynamic Talent Database
Create a real-time talent database on the NSP platform for policymakers to assess talent availability based on skills, levels, regions, and job categories.
Challenges Addressed:
- Lack of real-time data hampers national workplace planning.
- Difficulty in addressing skill gaps and aligning skills with current and future job demands.
Launch of National Skills Passport in Pakistan
The EFP, with help from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), is trying out a project called the National Skills Passport (NSP). This project is about recognising and approving the skills and experience of workers. It allows people who want to work in other countries or come back home to have their skills recognised and officially approved. This recognition helps workers find good jobs abroad and also get better job options in their own area.
The project “Governance of Labor Migration in South and Southeast Asia” (GOALS) by the International Labour Organization, funded by the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC), offered technical and financial assistance to the Employers Federation of Pakistan (EFP).
This support enabled the EFP to organise the launch ceremony for piloting the National Skills Passport in Pakistan in collaboration with the Sindh Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (STEVTA), the Ministry of Overseas Pakistani and Human Resources Development (MOP&HRD), representatives from the Overseas Employment Corporation (OEC), the Bureau of Emigration & Overseas Employment (BE&OE), and the National Vocational & Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC).
FACILITATORS & PILOT STAKEHOLDERS
The National Skills Passport is a joint effort by the Employers Federation of Pakistan (EFP), ILO, and with the support of various organizations including MOPHRD, TTB, STEVTA, NAVTTC, PWF, BE&OE, and OEC.
NATIONAL SKILLS PASSPORT (NSP) PLATFORM
The National Skills Passport initiative will use easy-to-use technology on a platform. This platform will have different parts to help with keeping records of skills, making maps of what people are good at, connecting with the right systems and people, and more.
The ultimate goal is to turn this platform into a living Talent Database for Pakistan. This means it will be like an online directory where we can find and match people’s skills with the jobs they can do now and in the future, the training they might need, and what can help them grow, not just in Pakistan but also around the world.
Contact Us
The National Skills Passport is in its initial test phase. If you’re an electrician, cook, or plumber from Sindh, Pakistan, you can sign up and participate. Feel free to contact this helpline, if you have any questions.
Helpline Number: +923000341136
- Business Hours Timings
- Mon – Thurs .. 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
- Fri … 10:00 am – 5:00 pm (1.5 hours Namaz break)
- Sat … 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
How to Register for National Skills Passport Pakistan
To register for the National Skills Passport Pakistan, visit their official website. There is a tap on the right corner of the page ‘NSP Pilot’ Click on it.
This click will direct you to a new page, where you need to click on Register For NSP Pilot. You will receive the form. Fill out the form to create an account. After that, you will hear from the official team for further guidelines.
