The concept of entrepreneurship and enterprise is new to Pakistan. It has an area that has huge potential for development and is a priority for both national and provincial vocational authorities.

Research shows that a culture of enterprise in which people are encouraged to be creative, solve problems and drive change is an essential element to economic development, creation of new jobs and generation of wealth for both economic and societal gain.

The Skills for Employability programme is promoting such culture in Pakistan for the last two years by organising an Enterprise Competition for young people between the age of 16 and 21. The competition is growing stronger each year and this year we are aiming to reach out to a greater number of students and colleges.

Through their ideas for finding solutions to a set challenges, students are encouraged to be creative and think outside the box as well as develop their skills of team work, problem solving, communication, financial literacy and leadership.

The competition is held nationally in six Central and South Asian countries and when the national winners are chosen, they come together and compete with each other on a regional level. The first ever Regional Enterprise Challenge was won by Jhang team from Pakistan in 2009. Their project was to produce fertilizer from the garbage collected from the city. The project has now become self-sustainable and the team is effectively carrying the project forward. Read more...

Accomplishments:

• So far Skills for Employability has enlightened and trained over 28,000 youth and 600 teachers of around 550 Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges across Pakistan on the concept of social entrepreneurship.
• Skills for Employability has provided financial support to 30 teams of about 150 young social entrepreneurs across Pakistan to address a common social problem through their innovative ideas presented during National Challenges.
• Our partner in Skills for Employability programme, the National Vocational and Technical Education Commission (NAVTEC) organised its first ever National Skills Competition in 2009, and also participated in the British Council’s Regional Enterprise Awards. The participation of NAVTEC in the Regional Enterprise Awards is a step towards making this activity sustainable and constant in Pakistan.