SEE’s result is out. The students all around Nepal are now haphazardly struggling to answer the ONE question their parents are raising; ‘Are you going to choose Commerce, Management, Law, Education or Science in your +2?’
We have come a long way...from parents dictating the academic and career course of their children to today allowing the youths to decide for themselves the academic courses they might want to study. There is however something parents, teachers and youths inherently ignored, the technical and vocational training (VT) of Nepal’s Formal Education System.
This Shrawan 21 (in Kathmandu Valley) and Mangsir 12 (outside the valley) various different skill testing certification examination’s forms are going to be distributed. (You can check out the detailed deadlines in the NSTB website) From this article, we wanted to explore the uncharted territory of the misunderstood and under-represented vocational training. Hopefully, after reading this article you will better understand the vocational training (VT) scenario or even give vocational training a try.
7 things that are mostly unknown to most people about Vocational Training (VT)
You can get certified
- Similar to academics, VT too is segregated according to complexity as well as level of competence. The first entry level is called Elementary level, and then Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 and finally Level 4.
- Similar to academics where you get undergraduate certificate, graduate as well Doctorate; you too can get various certification that can help you get better jobs and take you further in your career. Therefore respectively; Elementary (Technical), Non Gazette 3rd Class (i.e. Mukhiya), Non Gazette 2nd Class (i.e. Khardar), Non Gazette 1st Class (i.e. Subba) and finally Gazette 3rd Officer (Diploma).
- You are able to apply for various Governmental jobs with the above certification. For example, if the government requires a Khardar in technical area, you are able to apply for that job with Level 2 certification.
4. Experience counts;
- You don’t always have to go through the formal training to apply for examination for Level 1, Level 2 and level 3. Experience in the respective fields of 1 year to appear for level 1 exam, 3 years for level 2 and 5 years for level 3 is valid to appear for exams. This allows for youths around the whole country to get certified and to explore their career in formal setting.
5. Target group is not only those who fail academic courses!
- The target group of VT skill tests are; pass-out from pre-employment vocational training wishing to facilitate their transition to work, experienced workers lacking an official certification and workers who, at the end of in-service training, seek an upgraded or additional certificate.
6. Current and Future job demand is high!
- More and more technical based factories as well as companies are demanding for technically sound professionals that have hands on experience as well as are certified. Meaning, there is a HUGE job possibility for those who have Level-1 to Level-4 certificates in today’s market.
7. Training institutes are getting better
- Since the duration of the trainings are lot shorter than all academic courses (starting from 160 hrs to 1500 hrs), it is cheaper and more effective for employment to take VT as a form of career-based education. Contrary to popular belief, there are many professional grade institutes (private, public or community based) around Nepal that provide quality-training courses for fraction of the cost of academic courses.
We wanted to shed some light on the current outlook of the VT as well as skill testing and certification in Nepal. You might not want to take the VT route for your career, it is your choice but there are many youths that are struggling with academics (SEE, +2 and Bachelor) and we as a society have focused on their as the only mean of getting jobs in Nepal.
Do share this article to people who you know might benefit from taking VT as their education pathway rather than academics. We have collected a few success stories of professionals who have chosen VT and have become the leaders in their respective fields. Check them out!
