Kathmandu. In its two and a half decade business journey, IME Group has operated many industries and projects in the banking and financial sector, insurance, tourism and hospitality, tourism infrastructure, hydropower, manufacturing and other sectors.
More than 25,000 people have been directly employed in the companies under IME Group. We have also helped the same or more to become self-employed.
With the formal operation of this Kathmandu Technical School inaugurated today, IME Group has now moved forward in the field of technical manpower production. I would like to inform you that this school will play an important role in providing employment or self-employment to thousands of additional youth.
Established with the aim of ushering in a new era in technical and vocational education in Nepal, we expect this school to make a positive contribution, especially in employment, education, society and the overall economy.
Considering the need and importance of skilled manpower in the development of the country as well as personal and family prosperity in the context of Nepal, IME Group has taken steps in this area.
We have taken this initiative with the aim of producing more than 100,000 skilled manpower and professionals in the next decade. For this, this school will conduct training in more than three dozen employment-oriented and self-employment-oriented disciplines.
In the modern world, technical education is not an option, but a necessity. It is no longer the case that those who had to obtain a university degree and who could not or would not be able to study technical education are required to do so.
In Nepal, until the previous generation, only those who could not achieve good results in school-level studies had the idea of pursuing technical education or training, which still persists in some people.
But now we have seen that technical education has become indispensable not only to prove oneself skilled and competent, but also to get a job in the field of one’s choice or to start one’s own business. Parents and students are spontaneously attracted to it.
The future education model should also be similar. After completing the compulsory school-level education, one can study or train in technical subjects, and then pursue other academic subjects after becoming employed or self-employed.
Therefore, the government should also encourage and support the establishment and operation of technical schools and training centers. Many countries around the world and our neighbors India and China seem to have made high use of skill-based education to support innovation, productivity and economic growth.
In engineering, health, information and communication technology, hotels and tourism, agriculture or many other fields, technical knowledge can play an important role in shaping industries and changing society.
In Nepal too, the government seems to have accepted the important role of technical education in nation building and economic progress. Various policies and initiatives have been launched to promote skill-based education and vocational training.
To make such policies and campaigns meaningful, Nepal needs educational institutions that can provide quality education and training at a reasonable price. Domestic and foreign universities have now entered the technical and vocational education that was limited to CTEVT. This also confirms its importance and seriousness.
If you ask what is the biggest challenge facing Nepal right now? Most of you here will answer without wasting a second – unemployment and youth exodus.
Then why are our youth leaving the country like this? Is this their desire? To live in a foreign country, separated from their families and away from their country and society?
We all know that this is their compulsion. Yes, a certain number of young people have to go abroad. They have to study new subjects and bring knowledge here. They have to bring in new employment and skill opportunities. But the situation of having to go to another country to do dirty, dangerous and demining work called 3D after spending a lot of money is definitely not a matter of satisfaction.
According to the latest statistics, more than 714,000 people have obtained new and renewed labor permits in the last fiscal year. Similarly, the number of Nepalis going abroad to work through informal means is also significant. That means, almost 2,000 Nepalis are leaving the country for work every day. The number of people going abroad to study and receive training is also increasing rapidly.
This is a worrying situation. But I think we have a more worrying situation.
That is, among those approved to work abroad, 145,000 are unskilled and 532,000 are medium-skilled. The salaries or benefits received by such unskilled or medium-skilled workers are very low. The work they do is also not easy.
Out of more than 700,000 Nepalis who have gone abroad for employment, only 732 are highly skilled and 2,772 are professionals.
Statistics show that the amount of remittance sent in a year by a Nepali working abroad is almost four times higher than that sent by a person in the Philippines.
These statistics also make it clear how great the need for skill development is here. Even if you do not want to be employed or self-employed in your country and want to go abroad, if you have skills, you will be able to get good jobs and high wages or salaries. This will also have a positive impact on the amount of remittances received by the country at present.
Our goal is to equip the youth with skills by intervening in such matters.
Honorable Minister, if legal arrangements are made to allow Nepalis to engage in domestic employment and foreign employment only with skills, more schools like Kathmandu Technical School that provide technical skills will open across the country.
Just as there is a level-based certificate of academic knowledge. Similarly, technical knowledge and skills can be validated through skills testing to be recognized nationally and internationally, and the private sector can rely on this certificate as a basis when hiring manpower for internal employment, and the certificate also ensures that people who go for foreign employment will get work according to their skills. Yes, skill certificates cannot be made mandatory in all areas of employment at once. But some specific employment areas such as hospitality and construction can be started immediately. If arrangements can be made to test the skills of Nepali youth who have returned from foreign employment and issue certificates, that certificate will also open the way for them to find employment according to their skills within the country or become self-employed.
Through this KTS, we aim to provide world-class training and education to the youth, which will not only prepare them for employment abroad, but will also create various opportunities within Nepal.
Only skilled individuals with skills can establish and operate their own businesses. They can contribute to the development of the local economy. They can accelerate national development. When the youth stay in Nepal, it will have a positive impact on the development of the family, society and community. It will also strengthen the national identity.
A family with a good financial situation also has good health and education. That creates happiness in society.
Therefore, KTS aims to create not only employees, but also entrepreneurs. With the help of courses focused on high-demand industries such as hospitality, technical services and age care, we are preparing our graduates for long-term careers that will give them high income.
To enable them to compete on a global scale, KTS has adopted a policy of collaborating with local and national industry businesses as well as international partners. People who have succeeded in their fields will share their knowledge here. I would also like to inform you that the curriculum here has been designed to address the demands of the current market.
Ultimately, education is the foundation of progress, while technical education is the engine of economic and social change. Kathmandu Technical School wants to be the vehicle of that change.
(Thoughts expressed by Chandra Prasad Dhakal, President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, at the inauguration ceremony of Kathmandu Technical School (KTS))
प्रतिक्रिया दिनुहोस्