QUETTA: Pakistan’s impoverished Balochistan province has helped 180 youths secure jobs in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries in less than a year through a fresh skills development and jobs initiative, the program’s managing director confirmed recently.
The Balochistan Technical Education & Vocational Training Authority (B-TEVTA) is an apex provincial body that regulates, promotes and finances the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) sector in the province.
Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province by land yet its most backward by almost all social and economic indicators. The province has been reeling from a low-level insurgency for decades, launched by separatist militants who accuse the center of depriving locals of a share of Balochistan’s mineral resources. Islamabad denies the allegations.
B-TEVTA launched a jobs program in October 2024 to help skilled, young candidates secure jobs in foreign countries, mainly Saudi Arabia. Tariq Javed Mengal, B-TEVTA’s managing director, told Arab News the body received 12,826 applications on its online portal when the foreign jobs initiative was announced last year. Only 6,000 candidates were screened and selected by B-TEVTA for various skills development courses.
