Nepal’s skills and performance: Threat or opportunity

WHY THE URGENCY running to stand still
One raw performance figures alone, Nepal is performing really well in the last few years. Our skills base has also improved significantly over last decade because of political revolution, migration and so on.
But despite this, Nepal’s skills remain fundamentally weak because of political situation, migration, corruption and so on. Our two neighbour countries India and China are growing dramatically, exploiting the pace of technologies change.
As a further consequence of low skills, Nepal risks creating a sub-section of society which is cut off permanently from labour market opportunity and facing increasing inequality.
We therefore need to accept that, whereas skills were once key lever for prosperity and fairness, they are now increasingly the key lever, fulfilling an increasingly pivotal role in our ability to complete internationally. Radical change is therefore necessary and urgent.
THE SKILLS VISION targeting world leader status
Clearly, the activities and attitudes would require a cultural shift towards viewing learning something people at all levels and at all ages in the work-force need robe doing all their working lives, and not just as something to be done by young people before they enter the workforce.
SHARED RESPONSIBILTY three levels in concert
Such ambitious targets will only be attained through commitment and the sharing of responsibility by all the beneficiaries. The three key players are the Government, the employer and the individual:
Government must create an end-to-end system with real clarity and discipline as to who in the education and skills infrastructure does what. Government should ensure employers and individuals drive the system so that it delivers economically valuable skills, only intervening where there is market failure.
Employers must respond to the opportunities they are being given to get the system to deliver for them-through more relevant education and training provision or more relevant qualifications or through other mechanisms, using their Sector skills Councils to ensure the right leavers are there to be pulled. They should seek’a deal for a deal’, focusing their investment and their practical support on where this will have most effect in meeting their needs.
Individuals must invest more in their work skills development and raise their aspirations in a changing workplace and with the growth of the knowledge economy. High profile awareness programmes should increase people’s aspirations and awareness of the value of skills to them and their families.
A DEMAND-LED SKILLS SYSTEM the needs of employers take priority
Strengthened Employer Voice
For too long the supply-side in education-the colleges and Universities, the qualification bodies, the funding bodies, even government-set targets themselves –has dominated what gets delivered by the education and skills system. And the demand-side has been interpreted as being ‘what young people want’ rather than ‘what employers need’. A move to a system that gives employers the strongest voice is now essential.
Relevant Qualifications Structure
The complexity and bureaucracy in the current system has always been a significant deterrent factor. There are over thousands of qualifications in Nepal and too many of these particularly at low levels, are little valued by individuals or employers. These problems have constrained investment in skills by employers and individuals alike.
Employers need the over-elaborate world of skills to be simplified, with fewer employer-facing bodies, and with the bodies led by employers having much more power to make the supply of education and skills more fit for 21^st century purposes. They want to see more relevant, up to date education and better skills development, delivering more productive and profitable private companies and better performing public services.
Sector-specific, not geographic
While there are special considerations which mean that innovative approaches have the potential to flourish under the devolved administrations in Nepal. One size does not fit all sectors. Some sectors require large numbers of skilled workers at traditional craft level while the new knowledge economy means the other sectors require higher level and technical skills. In general, employers have much more in common with others in their sector than with other employers located geographically close to them. The new skills infrastructure must reflect this reality.
DRIVING THE VISION simplified structure, focused control
Unless Nepal can make its skills base one of its strengths, public services will not deliver best value and engine of the economy……….
WHO GAINS? a win-win situation
Developing the skills of the exiting workforce is hugely important given that more than 70% of the 2020 workforce is already in the workforce today.
RECOMMENDATIONS ROUND-UP