Pakistan TVET REFORM Support Programme Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Reform support Programme
They say, “when there’s a will, there’s way” and Samina Farrukh is a true example of it!
Like any other Pakistani housewife, Samina Farrukh could’ve easily distant herself from the responsibility of running the financial matters of her household and put the onus instead on her husband, but she’s not like any other housewife. She decided to enter the forte where very few housewives dare to experiment. She decided to run a small stitching unit with her husband.
Samina has five children. Her husband used to run a Jeans stitching unit together with his father. When the family business decided to part ways, Samina’s husband didn’t have enough financial means to set up his own stitching unit. Samina had done a course in fashion designing but couldn’t put her skills to use. And then she decided to do TVET Sector Support Program Dressmaking Level 2 course with three months training at GPI Korangi, coupled with three-month on-the-job-training within the industry. Samina says that, “The course and the training provided me the experience I needed”.
At first Samina’s husband was quite wary, worried that how would Samina be able to take this initiative of running the household and raising five children at the same time. Looking after kids with house chores is a full-time job in itself for a mother of five. But Samina was determined and assured her husband that she would do whatever it takes to ensure the wellbeing of her family.
Samina’s day to day routine is quite tough for any mother. She gets up quite early in the morning every day before dawn. Her first task of the day is to ensure that her kids are fed well, so she prepares breakfast and feeds them first. Planning her day right is key for Samina, so she makes sure that the lunch is prepared way in advance so that she has the rest of the daytime for her to concentrate on her job. She works hard for the rest of the day at her stitching unit.
Samina had only started with three machines. Now she employs three men and three women. At first her husband was reluctant but now he believes in her more than ever. Samina believes that TVET Sector Support Program really supported her in turning her dream into a reality and is greatly thankful. She wants other people to enroll in competency-based trainings so that they can not only support themselves but also provide opportunities to others in the society.
TVET Sector Support Programme’s delivery model played a pivotal role in Samina’s empowerment and her bright future. Her on-the-job competency-based skills training enabled her to take her own initiative successfully to create employment opportunities and play a constructive role in the economic development of the country.
Samina is the beneficiary of TVET Sector Support Programme, which is working with NAVTTC, provincial TEVTAs and PVTC since 2011 for bringing reforms in TVET Sector. The second phase of programme has funding of 62.5 mn euro for implementation of reforms in the TVET sector of Pakistan on national, provincial and regional level. The Programme is funded by the European Union, Federal Republic of Germany and the Royal Norwegian Embassy. In second phase of its implementation, programme has supported competency-based-training of more than 41,000 men and women on the indigenous and industry-demand-driven trades. The Programme has been commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and is being implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
