20,000 youth get vocational trainings every year: Ahmadzai

KHOST CITY (Pajhwok): Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Maulvi Mohammad Zahid Ahmadzai says as many as 20,000 youth graduate from vocational training centres across the country every year.

He said this while addressing a gathering of religious scholars and tribal elders in southeastern Khost province.

He said as many as 20,000 youth graduated from 52 vocational centres across the country every year.

He announced his ministry was striving to extend this process to district level as well in order to reduce unemployment rate in the country.

He added: “Different skills such tailoring, carpentry, motorcycle and mobile repair are being taught to youth in these centres.”

The deputy minister also announced that there were 62 orphanages for orphans and children without guardians in various provinces, including Khost.

He said his ministry was committed to rehabilitating drug addicts.

About 3,000 drug addicts have been reunited with their families after rehabilitation in general health centre in Kabul during the current year, he explained.

He added: “A drug rehabilitation centre would be constructed in each zone of the country and no addicts would be left outside to be burden on his family or society.”

Meanwhile, Khost’s Labour and Social Affairs Director Amir Sahib Jan said about 1,500 people had graduated from vocational trainings during the past three years.

He urged the ministry concerned to extend vocational trainings programmes to the district level as well in order to reduce unemployment rate in the province.

He said: "The area of Khost is small but there are many people. There is a great need for vocational education. We have far-off districts to which the vocational training progammes should be extended.”

At the same time, Toyali Gul Mangal, a tribal elder, urged strengthening agriculture sector for reducing unemployment in the province.

He said Afghanistan has a lot of land and if brought under cultivation, it would strengthen the country's agriculture sector and would also reduce unemployment ratio.

Speaking to the meeting, some other leaders asked the government to pay more attention to the industrial sector in order to eliminate unemployment.

kk/ma