Afghanistan Times
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AT-KABUL: As many as 394 students graduated from Afghan Korea Vocational Training Institute (AKVTI) here on Sunday.
Speaking at the ceremony Head of the AKVTI, Mir Jalaludin Hesham, said that the students received theory and practice based training in seven different areas including construction, plumbing, electrical, car repairing, tailoring as well as computer and English language courses.
He termed lack of vocational institutes as one of the main reasons behind widespread unemployment in Afghanistan. He said that thousands of youth graduate from higher education institutions annually, but most of them cannot find jobs due to lack of practical skills.
He said that several students of the institute illegally migrated to foreign countries in pursuit of jobs.
“Unfortunately most of the training centers and universities focus on theory, rather than practice,” he said. He added that duration of training in electrical, construction, plumbing and car repairing was one year, while the remaining departments provide six months training. He added that 80 percent of their training is practice based.
He said that only professional and educated work force can steer Afghanistan towards development. He said that the AKVTI is committed to raise the capacity of the work force of the country.
“The institute train students according to labor market demands,” He added.
The Minister of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled (MoLSAMD) Nasrin Oriakhil said that unemployment rate had increased and tackling the problem was in top priority of the government.
She said that unemployment and insecurity are closely connected. “To improve security, the government should create jobs,” she added.
Oriakhil said that some 22,000 workers would be sent to Saudi Arabia in the near future.
“Unfortunately, our education centers don’t train work force according to labor market demands and we don’t have a center to evaluate market’s demands,” she added.
She said that the ministry has established vocational institutions in 34 provinces.
AKVTI was established with the financial support of South Korea in 2005 and till date has graduated over 2700 students.
