Kathmandu, November 23:

Experts have said that technical and vocational training programmes have not been successful in Nepal mainly due to lack of respect towards labour.

“Many trainees are still unemployed,” said Govinda Gajurel, a former member-secretary of the Council of Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT), adding that enough investment has been made in imparting skill-oriented training to the people. He was speaking at an interaction on “Technical Education in Nepal: Situation and Challenges” here

today. The interaction was organised by the Education Journalists Group (EJG).

He said programmes launched by the CTEVT had failed due to lack of respect for labour, faulty education system, among others. He spoke of the need to upgrade the curriculum with the changing times.

The deputy director of the CTEVT, Nir Bahadur Jirel, said the council had received about 0.72 per cent of the total budget allocated for the education sector this year, despite the fact that the government takes the council as the sole authority to produce technical manpower for the nation.

“The meagre budget reflects directly on the skills of the trainees.”

With the objective of avoiding duplication in training, the CTEVT is preparing to coordinate with the training conducted by different bodies, he said.

He also said a 1.5-billion project is being launched with the financial assistance of the the Asian Development Bank.

“The six-year project will provide short-term training to some 80,000 people,” he said.