ISLAMABAD: The Senate standing committee on women development, which visited the Government Polytechnic Institute for Women here on Tuesday, called for urgent steps to promote skill development among women with a view to enhancing their economic empowerment and creation of better job opportunities for women in the country.
The committee especially called for establishing linkage with organisations like NAVTEC to organise short-term skill development courses for unemployed female youth. It also underscored the need of establishing more industrial homes, particularly in Sindh and Southern Punjab, to cater for the needs of the female population in those areas, says a press release here.
The committee urged the government to look into the possibility of launching micro-credit schemes and soft loans for rural women so that they may be able to set up their own small business ventures.
“Income generation activities for average housewives must take a high priority in the schemes and programmes being initiated for women all over the country, the committee added.Taking stock of the scanty prospects of promotion for the teachers at the institute, the committee recommended that they may be given promotion into the next higher grade after ten years service.
It said without dedicated and motivated teachers, the institute would not be able to deliver and achieve the objectives it aimed at achieving.“Career planning for leaders and better avenues of promotion must be given due consideration to enhance the motivational level of teachers.”
Matters like grant of teaching allowance to teachers and regularisation of service of contractual employees also figured in the meeting.Senator Rukhsana Zuberi, a member of the committee, held the view that solar and bio-gas are the two areas which hold great promise for future.
Therefore, the students be given training in these technologies too. The chairperson of the Committee, Senator Mrs Tahira Latif, also constituted a sub-committee, headed by Senator Rukhsana Zuberi, to look into the problems being faced by the institute and to suggest practical answers. It included senators Jamal Khan Leghari, Bibi Yasmeen Shah, Sabina Rauf and Semeen Siddiqui as members.
Earlier, the committee was informed that the main functions of the institute are to provide mid-level professional education in specific fields to women, enable them in self-employment and utilise the capabilities of 50 per cent of population, i.e., women in the development activities and contribute to the economic productivity of women by imparting suitable short- and long-term training courses.
The meeting was attended, apart from chairperson of the committee, Senator Tahira Latif, by senators Bibi Yasmeen Shah, Semeen Siddiqui, Sardar Muhammad Jamal Khan Laghari, Fauzia Fakhruzzaman, Rukhsana Zuberi, Nawab Muhammad Ayaz Khan Jogezai and Sabina Rauf.
Source: The News
Date:11/26/2008
