The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the labour market hard everywhere. Unemployment has increased, and Nepal is no exception. The world of work is rapidly transforming through digitisation and technological innovations, demanding continuous skilling and reskilling.

The traditional education system, chalk and duster learning approach might not prepare today’s youth for the continually evolving world of work.

Lack of technical knowledge, vocational training and employability skills, or simply lack of technical and vocational education and training (TVET), is one of the reasons for unemployment.

Private sector partnerships, apprenticeships and on the job training (OJT) are crucial to match the labour market needs.

TVET addresses issues of skills mismatch through the acquisition of employability skills and provision of high quality, relevant training to individuals.

TVET offers a wide range of training courses that help acquire skills for any industry.

TVET has produced entrepreneurs in the field of health, agriculture, engineering, tourism and hospitality and much more, creating job opportunities to farmers, technicians, electricians, mechanics, construction workers, chefs, and healthcare workers, to name a few. Currently, the job market has witnessed a mismatch between demand and supply. The best solution to unemployment is through industry-institute linkage to ensure that young people acquire the appropriate skills and relevant training from TVET institutes.

Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT) launched a TVET public information campaign in February 2020 to create awareness about the benefits of TVET and the employment opportunities available to students, teachers and their families. The campaign was a massive success.

However, due to COV- ID-19, implementation has been affected. The campaign moved online to sustain the momentum it has gained.

The campaign has been spreading to the broader public, especially returnee migrant workers, via the CTEVT Facebook Page. The campaign is encouraging and empowering the people, reaching around 4,828,239 social media users.

TEVT should give continuity to such awareness campaigns, enhance visibility and branding, and mobilise the programmes efficiently to inform the public and support behaviour and perception change towards technical education.

The government and concerned stakeholders must also take serious steps toward policy reform. They must explore ways for easy access and enrollment, free vocational training, job placement of graduates for productive employment.