Over 100 vocational training centres closed amid lack of funds

More than 100 technical and vocational training centres are feared to be closed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to lack of funds. The employees of technical and vocational centres have reportedly not received their salaries for over four months due to the “non-availability” of funds. The Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority has written a letter to the concerned authorities to release the funds as Pakistan continues to reel from one of its worst economic and political crises. Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance has warned of challenges originating from uncertain external and domestic economic environments, including higher inflation and external debt repayments, due to lesser foreign exchange inflows.
In its monthly outlook bulletin, the Ministry had predicted that the inflation for the month of May will remain in the range of 34-36 per cent.
“Pakistan’s economy experienced 0.29 per cent provisional GDP growth in the fiscal year 2022-23 on account of many challenges emanating from the uncertain external and domestic economic environment,” the ministry said. “The challenges triggered CPI inflation to remain on a higher trajectory despite monetary tightening primarily due to the rupee depreciation. External payments also remained burdened due to lesser foreign exchange inflows,” the ministry stated.