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Submitted to:
The Employment Fund Secretariat (EFS)/Helvetas Nepa l Jawalakhel Lalitpur _______________________________________________________
Tracer Study of Technical Skills Development Training Graduates, 2008/2009
Submitted by:
Development Vision - Nepal (P.) Ltd. Koteswor, Kathmandu, Nepal
G.P.O Box: 8115 Phone: 977-1-4602234; 977-1-6202631
Fax: 977-1-4601757 Email: [email protected]
May 2012
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Acknowledgements
The Employment Fund Secretariat/Helvetas has been offering outcome-based financial support to the Training and Employment Organizations for the promotion of technical skills among youths seeking employment opportunities. It emphasizes “gainful employment” of the trained graduates, requiring them to earn specified income thresholds. The Employment Fund Secretariat monitors these earnings till 6 months after the completion of training.
The objective of the Employment Fund Secretariat is to enhance a proportion of the “gainfully employed” graduates as much as possible. The same is true for the Training and Employment Organizations, as the payment of their incentives is directly linked to their successful performance above 80% “gainful employment”.
As the graduates once “gainfully employed” does not necessarily mean that they will be always earning “gainful income”, it is important to know their current status. In this regard, this Tracer Study is useful. It also contributes to determining the relevance of past training programmes to the contemporary labor market opportunities. By understanding these situations better, the Employment Fund Secretariat can devise better training and employment strategies for selected trades in the future. In view of this, this Tracer Study has been undertaken.
This report is an outcome of views and suggestions contributed by various individuals affiliated with various institutions. On behalf of the Development Vision–Nepal, the Study Team wishes to acknowledge their valuable inputs. In particular, we sincerely acknowledge the cooperation of Mr. Siroco Messerli, Team Leader, Employment Fund Secretariat/ Helvetas and his colleagues Mr. Balaram Poudel, Ms.Shikha Sunuwar and Mr.Gopal Dangol, who were highly instrumental in informing, guiding and supporting us throughout the study. Similarly, we are also obliged to Ms. Leena Shrestha, Mr. Shiw Charan Prasad, Mr. Dilli Raj Bhatt, Mr. Sushil Linkha, Ms. Sangita Pudasaini and Ms. Shikha Jaiswal, Field Officers of the Employment Fund Secretariat/ Helvetas, who were kind enough in helping our Survey Teams while tracing the sampled graduates in the districts covered by the study.
The support of various Technical Training and Employment agencies was very important for us in shaping this study. Without their ready response in tracing the sampled graduates, it would have been more difficult for us to accomplish our task. We owe them sincere words of appreciation.
We are also thankful to Dr. Bettina Jenny, Team Leader (Education and Skills Development) of Helvetas, Zurich, who shared her valuable hours with us at Dhulikhel in providing guidance for the use of Helvetas Tracer Study Tool Kit. She deserves special mention for her kind support.
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We are thankful to Dr. Don Messerschmidt, Social Scientist, who helped us by editing this report. We highly value his kind cooperation in accepting this task in a short notice.
Last but not the least, we are highly thankful to the sampled graduate, key informants and employers, who spared their valuable time for us by responding to various questions that our Survey Team raised regarding their technical skills development training and employment experience.
Lokendra Prasad Poudyal [email protected]
Team Leader Development Vision–Nepal
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List of Team Members Dr. Lokendra Prasad Poudyal Team Leader/M&E Specialist Mr. Ram Kumar Sharma Social Development Specialist Mr. Subarna Man Shrestha TEVT Sector Specialist Mr. Ghan Shyam Awasthi Administrative Manager Mr. Rabi M Shakya Data Analysis Specialist Mr. Suman Bhattrai Data Analyst Mr. Suraj Poudyal Data Analyst Mr. Bhisma Prasain Field Supervisor Mr. Thakaur Chauhan Field Supervisor Mr. Tilak Karki Field Supervisor Mr. Bhim Neupane Field Supervisor Mr. Ashok Neupane Field Supervisor Mr. Purna Shrestha Surveyor Mr. Binod Acharya Surveyor Mr. Rajendra Shah Surveyor Ms. Sunita Baidya Surveyor Mr. Dipesh Chalisey Surveyor Mr. Aakash Bhattarai Enumerator Mr. Arjun Maharjan Enumerator Mr. Ashok Neupane Enumerator Mr. Besant Panther Enumerator Mr. Bhim Neupane Enumerator Mr. Kamal Pokhrel Enumerator Mr. Mahendra Singh Dhami Enumerator Mr. Mir Kumar Sunawar Enumerator Mr. Nabaraj Raut Enumerator Mr. Purna Bdr. Ayer Enumerator Mr. Ram Bharos Saha Enumerator Mr. Subodh Bhatta Enumerator Mr. Udaya Kanta Mishra Enumerator Mr. Yuv Raj Neupane Enumerator Ms. Bina Yadav Enumerator Ms. Deepa Rai Enumerator Ms. Dipa Pudasaini Enumerator Ms. Indrawati Bista Enumerator Ms. Jyoti Sharma Enumerator Ms. Primal Adhikari Enumerator Ms. Ranu Adhikari Enumerator Ms. Rinki Khadka Enumerator Ms. Rita Dotel Enumerator Ms. Sujina Shrestha Enumerator Ms. Swikriti Sharma Enumerator Ms. Yangi Sherpa Enumerator Mr. Pankaj Joshi Administrative Assistant
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Abbreviations
ADB Asian Development Bank AN Alliance Nepal CO Central Office CP Contracting Partner CTEVT Council of Technical Education and Vocational Training DAG Disadvantaged Group DFID Department for International Development EFS Employment Fund Secretariat EIG Education for Income Generation EPP Employment Placement Plan FANTA Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance Project FGD Focus Group Discussion FO Field Office FTO Field Technical Officer GE Gainful Employment HQs Headquarters ILO International Labor Organization IV Income Verification JP Job Placement JV Judgmental Variance LC Local Coordinator LF Local Facilitator Ltd. Limited M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MED Monitoring and Evaluation Department MO Monitoring Officer MoE Ministry of Education NGO Non-Governmental Organization NPC National Planning Commission NSTB National Skill Test Board OJT On-the-Job Training PO Partner Organization PSA Psycho-Social Approach RC Regional Coordinator RMA Rapid Market Assessment SDC Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SLC School Leaving Certificate SMS Standardized Monitoring System SN Skill Nepal T&E Training and Employment Service Provider TEVT Technical Education and Vocational Training TL Team Leader TME Training Manager and Employment Service Provider TM Training Manager
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TO Training Officer ToR Terms of Reference ToT Training of Trainers TP Training Provider TTP Technical Training Provider USAID United States Agency for International Development VAHW Village Animal Health Worker WB World Bank
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Table of Contents Acknowledgements .....................................................................................................................i
List of Team Members .............................................................................................................. iii
Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................iv
List of Charts ............................................................................................................................... x
List of Tables ............................................................................................................................. xiii
Executive Summary .................................................................................................................xiv
1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Rationale for the Study ..................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Objectives of the Study ..................................................................................................... 2
1.3 Scope of the Study ............................................................................................................ 2
2 DESIGN OF THE STUDY ....................................................................................................... 3
2.1 Design of Survey Instruments ......................................................................................... 3
2.1.1 Circulation of the Instruments for Comments .................................................. 4
2.1.2 Orientation to the Surveyors and Enumerators ................................................. 4
2.1.3 Pre-test of the Survey Instruments ...................................................................... 4
2.2 Sources of Data for Drawing the Samples .................................................................... 4
2.3. Selection of the Samples................................................................................................. 5
2.3.1 Grouping of Interrelated Trades ........................................................................... 5
2.3.2 Sample Size ............................................................................................................ 6
2.3.3 Methods Followed for the Selection of Samples ............................................... 9
3. TRACING OF THE SAMPLED GRADUATES .................................................................. 10
3.1 Mapping of Graduates by their Training Districts ....................................................... 10
3.2 Identification of T&E by Graduates Attended Trade .................................................. 10
3.3 Reconfirmation of Address of the Sampled Graduates ............................................. 10
3.4 Address Wise Listing of Sampled Graduates ............................................................. 10
3.5 Physical Interviews of Sampled Graduates ................................................................. 10
3.6 Complementary Information about Other Graduates................................................. 11
3.7 Inter-district Communication about the Graduates’ Movements .............................. 11
3.8 Reorganization of Visit to Newly Traced Areas .......................................................... 11
3.9 Information Exchange across the Survey Team Members ....................................... 11
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3.10 Problems Encountered ................................................................................................. 12
4. COORDINATION AND QUALITY CONTROL OF THE SURVEY WORK .................... 13
4.1 Field Mobilization of Teams ........................................................................................... 14
4.2 Overall Guidance for the Study ..................................................................................... 14
4.3 On-the-Spot Feedback Arrangements ......................................................................... 14
4.4 Consultation with the EFS .............................................................................................. 14
4.5 Approach Followed for Interviews ................................................................................. 14
4.6 Quality Control ................................................................................................................. 14
5. ANALYSIS OF COLLECTED DATA ................................................................................... 15
5.1 Software Used .................................................................................................................. 15
5.2 Types of Data Analyzed ................................................................................................. 15
5.2.1 Analysis of Quantitative Data ............................................................................. 16
5.2.2 Analysis of Information Gathered from Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) 16
5.2.3 Analysis of Information Gathered from the Review of the Secondary Materials .............................................................................................................. 17
5.2.4 Preparation of the Case Studies ........................................................................ 17
6. DURATION OF THE STUDY ............................................................................................... 17
7. FINDINGS OF THE STUDY................................................................................................. 18
7.1 Socio-economic Background of the Graduates .......................................................... 18
7.2 Male and Female Graduates by Different Trade Groups .......................................... 18
7.3 Distribution of the Respondents by EFS Target Categories ..................................... 19
7.4 Ethnicity of the Respondent Graduates ....................................................................... 19
7.5 Age of the Graduates ...................................................................................................... 20
7.6 Educational Attainment of the Graduates .................................................................... 21
7.7 Educational Attainment and Occupation of the Graduate’s Parents ....................... 22
7.8 Geographic Location of the Graduates ........................................................................ 23
7.9 Employment Situation of the Graduates before Training .......................................... 23
7.10 Motivation of Graduates to Attend Training............................................................... 23
7.11 Reasons for Selecting a Particular T&E .................................................................... 24
7.12 Source of Information about Training ......................................................................... 24
7.13 Satisfaction with the Training Programme Attended ............................................... 25
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7.14 Difficulties Encountered in Joining the Training Programme ................................. 26
7.15 Rating the Training Facilities ....................................................................................... 27
7.16 Perception of Graduates Regarding Training Quality.............................................. 27
7.17 Duration of Training....................................................................................................... 29
7.18 Participation of Graduates in OJT............................................................................... 30
7.19 Perception of the Graduates Regarding Quality of the OJT ................................... 31
7.20 Assessment of the Working Environment by the OJT Participants ....................... 32
7.21 Willingness of Graduates to Recommend T&E to Other Candidates ................... 33
7.22 Transition to Employment after Graduation .............................................................. 35
7.23 Strategy Followed for Employment Seeking ............................................................. 35
7.24 Activities of Graduates Up to Two Years after Completion of Training ................ 36
7.25 Changes in the Employment Situation after Training .............................................. 37
7.26 Graduates Engaged in Wage Employment and Self-employment ........................ 38
7.27 Proportion of the Currently Employed Male and Female Graduates .................... 39
7.28 Caste/Ethnicity Representation of the Currently Employed Graduates................ 40
7.29 Employment Accessed by Graduates in Rural and Urban Locations ................... 41
7.30 Nature of Employment (Full Time and Part Time) ................................................... 41
7.31 Working Hours Spent by the Employment Type ...................................................... 42
7.32 Migration of Graduates from their Original Location after Training ....................... 42
7.33 Extent of Application of Knowledge and Skills Acquired in Training ..................... 43
7.34 Satisfaction Regarding Placement Services Provided by the T&Es ..................... 44
7.35 Income of the Graduates before and after Training ................................................. 44
7.36 Difficulties of Starting Up Self-employed Enterprise ................................................ 46
7.37 Graduates Enhancing Training/Education Capacity Afterwards............................ 48
7.38 Graduates as Contributors to Household Incomes Before/After Training ............ 49
7.39 Saving Habit of the Graduate Households ................................................................ 49
7.40 Non Cash Income Earned by the Employed Graduates ......................................... 51
7.41 Improvement in the Living Condition after Training ................................................. 51
7.42 Investment of Income for Family Wellbeing .............................................................. 51
7.43 Relevance of Training to the Graduates' Current Work .......................................... 52
7.44 Importance of the Acquired Skills and Qualification at Work ................................. 53
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7.45 Graduates Disseminating Knowledge and Skills to Others .................................... 54
7.46 Graduates Attending NSTB Skills Test ...................................................................... 55
7.47 Holding of the Seasonal Jobs...................................................................................... 55
7.48 Satisfaction of the Graduates over their Present Jobs ............................................ 56
7.49 Magnitude of Satisfaction ............................................................................................. 56
7.50 Employment Challenges Experienced ....................................................................... 58
7.51 Preferred Employment Types ...................................................................................... 58
7.52 Future Employment Plans ............................................................................................ 60
7.53 Information Shared by Key Informants about Sampled Graduates Not Met During the Field Visit .............................................................................................................. 61
7.54 Information Shared by the Employers........................................................................ 62
7.54.1 Recruitment Practice Followed ........................................................................ 63
7.54.2 Competence Preferred on the Graduates ...................................................... 63
7.54.3 Female Employees ............................................................................................ 65
7.54.4 Additional Training Needs Foreseen............................................................... 65
7.54.5 Interest to Recruit More Graduates in Future ................................................ 65
7.54.6 Salary Offered to the Graduates...................................................................... 65
8. LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE STUDY....................................................................... 65
9. CONCLUSIONS ..................................................................................................................... 69
Case Studies ............................................................................................................................. 70
Appendix
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List of Charts
Chart 1: Tracing Process .......................................................................................................... 12
Chart 2: Implementation of the Field Survey ......................................................................... 13
Chart 3: Elements Covered in Data Analysis......................................................................... 16
Chart 4: Respondents by the Target Category Group ......................................................... 19
Chart 5: Proportion of the Graduates by their Age Group ................................................... 20
Chart 6: Education Attainment of the Graduate's Parents................................................... 22
Chart 7: Occupation of the Family Head of the Graduates ................................................. 22
Chart 8: Reasons for Selecting Particular T&E ..................................................................... 24
Chart 9: Source of Information about Training ...................................................................... 25
Chart 10: Difficulties Encountered in Joining Training ......................................................... 26
Chart 11: Difficulties Encountered in Joining Training ......................................................... 27
Chart 12: Duration of Training by the Trade Group .............................................................. 29
Chart 13: Participation of the graduates in OJT .................................................................... 30
Chart 14: Duration of OJT ......................................................................................................... 31
Chart 15: Interesting &Diversified Working Opportunity ...................................................... 31
Chart 16: Competent Instructors .............................................................................................. 32
Chart 17: Participatory Approach of Working Arrangement ................................................ 32
Chart 18: Positive Support of the Training Institution ........................................................... 32
Chart 19: Average Scores Regarding Trainee Satisfaction with OJT Working Environment ................................................................................................................................ 33
Chart 20: Willingness to Recommend the Subject, Refresher Course and the T&E ...... 33
Chart 21: Varying Satisfaction over OJT Environment Across the Trades ....................... 34
Chart 22: Transition to Employment After Graduation (In Months) .................................... 35
Chart 23: Activities of Engagement Within Two Years of Training..................................... 36
Chart 24: Percent of Employed Graduates Before and After Training .............................. 37
Chart 25: Proportion of Wage and Self-Employed Graduates ............................................ 38
Chart 26: Percentage Distribution of the Wage and Self-Employed Graduates by Trade....................................................................................................................................................... 39
Chart 27: Distribution of Male and Female Graduates Currently Employed..................... 39
Chart 28: Ethnic Distribution of Currently Employed Graduates ........................................ 40
Chart 29: Ethnic Distribution of Currently Unemployed Graduates.................................... 41
Chart 30: Employment of the Graduates in Rural and Urban Areas.................................. 41
Chart 31: Distribution of Full and Part TimeEmployed Graduates by Gender ................. 42
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Chart 32: Migration after Training ............................................................................................ 43
Chart 33: Utilization of Knowledge and Skills Gained During Training.............................. 43
Chart 34: Satisfaction Regarding Placement Service Provided by T&E ........................... 44
Chart 35: Average Income of Female and Male Graduates Before and After Training .. 45
Chart 36: Average Income of Female and Male Graduates Before and After Training .. 46
Chart 37: Difficulties Encountered ........................................................................................... 46
Chart 38: Major Difficulties Reported ...................................................................................... 47
Chart 39: Trade-Specific Difficulties Reported by the Self-Employed Graduates ........... 48
Chart 40: Further Training/Education Pursued...................................................................... 49
Chart 41: Respondents Contributing to the Household Income Before and After Training....................................................................................................................................................... 49
Chart 42: Percentage of the Graduate Households Involved in Saving Practice ............ 50
Chart 43: Average Annual Saving of Family Members Including Graduates ................... 50
Chart 44: Change in the Living Condition After Training ..................................................... 51
Chart 45: Graduates Reporting Purchase of Items for Family Well Being........................ 52
Chart 46: Relevance of Training to the Graduate’s Present Work ..................................... 52
Chart 47: Nature of the Relevance of Training with the Graduate’s Present Work ......... 53
Chart 48: Importance of the Skill and Qualification at Work................................................ 53
Chart 49: Aspects of Training Found Important for Work .................................................... 54
Chart 50: Graduates Passing on their Knowledge to Others .............................................. 54
Chart 51: Graduates Taking NSTB Skills Test ...................................................................... 55
Chart 52: Seasonal Job Holders .............................................................................................. 55
Chart 53: Duration of the Seasonal Work............................................................................... 56
Chart 54: Satisfaction of the Graduates over Present Job .................................................. 56
Chart 55: Job Satisfaction ......................................................................................................... 57
Chart 56: Reasons for Satisfaction.......................................................................................... 57
Chart 57: Reasons for Dissatisfaction..................................................................................... 58
Chart 58: Employment Challenges.......................................................................................... 58
Chart 59: Preference of the Graduates over Wage and Self Employment ....................... 59
Chart 60: Preference of the Graduates over Fulltime and Part Jobs ................................. 59
Chart 61: Preference of the Graduates over Local and Other Area Employment ........... 59
Chart 62: Future Employment Planned by the Graduates................................................... 60
Chart 63: Future Employment .................................................................................................. 60
Chart 64: Plan of the Graduates to Change Their Current Job .......................................... 61
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Chart 65: Type of Graduates Represented by the Respondent Key Informants ............. 61
Chart 66: Sectors Represented by the Employers Consulted ............................................ 62
Chart 67: Chart : Recruitment Approach Followed ............................................................... 63
Chart 68: Comments Over the Competence of the Employed Graduates........................ 64
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List of Tables
Table 1: Grouping Identical Trades ........................................................................................... 5
Table 2: Number of Samples Spread Over Different Districts .............................................. 8
Table 3: Survey Instruments and Different Sources of Qualitative and Quantitative Information .................................................................................................................. 16
Table 4: Male and Female Graduates Representing Different Trade Groups ................. 18
Table 5: Ethnic Background of Graduates Involved in Different Trade Groups ............... 20
Table 6: Average Age of the Graduates by Gender ............................................................. 21
Table 7: Educational Level Attained by the Graduates ........................................................ 21
Table 8: Location of Graduates................................................................................................ 23
Table 9: Employment Status of the Graduates Before Attending Training ....................... 23
Table 10: Three Important Reasons for Attending Training ................................................ 24
Table 11: Satisfaction Level of the Training Graduates ....................................................... 25
Table 12: Satisfaction Level of the Training Graduates by Trade Groups ........................ 25
Table 13: Ranking of the T&E Facilities ................................................................................. 27
Table 14: Training Quality Perceived by the Graduates ...................................................... 28
Table 15: Training Quality Perceived by the Graduates by Trade Groups ....................... 28
Table 16: Perception of Graduate Respondents about the Adequacy of Training Duration ....................................................................................................................... 29
Table 17:Average Monthly Income Before and After Training ............................................ 44
Table 18: Average Monthly Income of Graduates in Semi-urban/Urban and Rural Work Areas............................................................................................................................ 45
Table 19: Employer Preferred Competence Besides the Technical Skills........................ 64
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Executive Summary
The Employment Fund Project (EFP) is implemented by the Employment Fund Secretariat (EFS), Helvetas/Nepal aiming to assist poor and socially disadvantaged groups through technical skills development training to obtain gainful employment. In 2008/09, the EFS partnered with 14 T&Es and trained 11,625 youths (comprised of 57% females and 43% males).The training programmes covering 24 trades were organized in 39 districts. Out of the total number of youth trained, around 80.3% of the graduates were gainfully employed as reported by the EFS Progress Report, 2009.
The partnership approach of EFS covered (a) Sub-contracting/Franchising, (b) Direct Partnership, and (c) Facilitator modalities. Under the Sub-contracting/Franchisee modality, 55% youths were trained, followed by 45% under the Direct Partnership and Facilitator modalities. One of the distinct features the partnership was outcome-based financing, which was tried for the first time in the history of TEVT sector in Nepal. As this was one of the piloted activities, the stakeholders concerned were anxious to know its overall performance results, for which this Tracer Study was conducted. The major objective of this Tracer Study has been to assess the impact of technical skills development training run for different trades on the gainful employment status of various socio-economic target groups including the poor and destitute.
The study comprised a sample of 670 graduates, plus other stakeholders including employers, key informants (relative and friends of the graduates), support institution representatives, and T&Es. The samples were drawn from the EFS database. A multi-stage approach was followed for tracing the sampled graduates including the mapping of graduates by their training districts, identification of the T&Es by the trade attended by graduates, reconfirmation of the address of sampled graduates, listing of the sampled graduates by their address, field visits to graduate residences or place of work, interview of the sampled graduates, collection of complementary information about other sampled graduates, inter-district communication with the team members about the met and unmet graduates, reorganization of field visits to the newly traced areas of graduates, and an information exchange between the district survey teams.
Attempts were made to minimize both sampling and non-sampling errors. Standard sampling methods were applied and quality control measures were taken during data collection and processing. Enumerators were trained and their work was supervised on-the-spot randomly by the Surveyor and Supervisor. The data was analyzed by using a Helvetas Tool Kit, and supplemented with a tailor-made programme developed in Access. The average time lapse between completion of training (2008/09) and the survey (December 2011) was about 32 months; the longest time lapse being 43 months and the shortest being 27.6 months.
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Socio-economic Background of the Graduates: Around 59% graduate respondents were male and 41% female. They were involved in 17 trade groups (reformulated from 24 trades upon consultation with the EFS). Graduates covered represented Category “A” (19%), Category “B” (69%) and Category “C” (12%).1
Around 59% sampled graduates were above 25 years in age, while 41% were between 18 to 25 years. Around 19% had attained secondary or higher level education, while 51% had attended but had not completed secondary level. About 13%had attended primary school but could not complete, while the remaining others had never been to school. Among the parents, 51% fathers and 71% mothers had never been to school. Around 70% parents represented farm families, while 11% worked as wage labours employed in private and public sectors. Around 6% were self-employed, and the remaining 13% were unemployed.
Currently, around 53% graduates live in rural area, and the remaining 47% live in semi-urban or urban areas.
Employment Status before the Training: Around 52% graduates were unemployed before training, while others were underemployed. Gender wise, around 70% female were unemployed (not counting their farm work) as compared to 39% male. Those who were underemployed, were almost equally divided between the self-employed and wage-employed sectors. None of the graduates had previous exposure to vocational training before attending the EFS supported course.
Motivation for Attending the Training, and Satisfac tion Level: More than 90% graduates were motivated to attend training by the free training offer and the hope of gainful employment. Around 55% graduates obtained information about training from their friends and family members, while 26% were informed through the trainers.
Around 87% graduates reported no difficulty in joining the training. Those who reported difficulties said distance to the training centre was inconvenient for them (especially for those who needed to earn their livelihoods on a daily basis).
Around 80% (and even more) ranked different components of training facilities (such as classrooms, equipment, safety, hygiene and sanitation facilities and overall infrastructure) “very good” or “good”. Closer to 90% of the graduates ranked the relevance of training materials, use of competent trainers, practical orientation to the curriculum and the significance of training to the job market as “very good” or “good”. However, there were variations across the components related to different trades.
1 Category “A” includes Dalit (male/female), HIV-infected persons, widows, disabled persons, ex-combatants and internally displaced
persons, while the Category “B” includes Janajatis (male/female) and other caste poor females. The economically poor groups, who are not covered under the Category “A” and “B”, are covered under Category “C”.
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Average duration of training was 2.8 months. Thanka (Paubha) artist training was the longest (5.6 months), while Stick Rolling was the shortest (one month). Around 89% graduates felt these duration of training “ideal”.
Around 91% graduates expressed satisfaction with the training programs they attended. All trades, except Brick Molding and Thanka Painting, scored a satisfaction level of above 4 (out of 5).Around 99%of the graduates were willing to recommend their training institution (T&E) to friends and colleagues, while 87% were willing to endorse the same subject of training.
OJT for the Graduates: Around 60%of the graduates attended on-the-job training (OJT) on different trades for between one to three months. The average duration of OJT was 1.6 months. More than 80%of the graduates found their OJT satisfactory, with an average ranking of 4.12 (out of 5) for the tools, materials and equipment used. A lowest rank score of 3.62 was obtained by short working hours applied in the OJT per day. The scores varied across trade groups. Around 66%of the graduates said that the OJT provided them a good exposure to greater learning.
Employment after Graduation: Around 52 percent graduates, who were unemployed before the training, got employed after training. The transition period between the completion of training and employment was about 2 two months on average. The transition time varied across by trade and gender.
The T&Es and graduates applied multiple strategies for job seeking. Around 45%of the graduates accessed jobs through by mobilizing connection with friends, relatives and local leaders, while 38% were engaged under the placement contribution of T&E.
More than 80% graduates were engaged in employment after training, while 9% engaged in further studies/training. The proportion of self-employed graduates was relatively less in the initial three months after training, but increased with time. , thus indicating a longer preparation time requirement for self-employment.
Around 85%of the graduates were found to be working at present. This proportion tallied with 80.5% gainful employment rate mentioned by the EFS Progress Report (2008/09) provides an employment retention rate of 68.4% (i.e., 85% x 80.5%) for EFS graduates. This can be attributed to the program’s follow-up and income verification processes followed under the “outcome based financing” approach.
Among the employed graduates, around 57% were engaged in wage work for others, while the rest were self-employed. The proportion engaged in wage and self-employment varied across the trades (e.g., those involved in Welding and Brick Molding were all wage-employed).
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Gender wise, the proportion of employed male was greater as compared to their female counterparts. Most of the employed graduates were Janajatis, followed in second place by Brahmins and Chhetris.
The distribution of employed graduates between the semi-urban/urban and rural areas was almost equal. This highlights the importance of RMA in identifying the subject of training in view of the location-friendly employment potential.
Around 90%of the employed graduates were working full time. The working hours spent by the wage-employed graduates per week was 51, while for the self-employed graduates it was 53 hours.2
Movement of the Graduates after Training: Around 13% of the graduates moved from their place of origin after training.
Application of Acquired Knowledge and Skills at Wor k: Around 90%of the graduates reported successful application of their knowledge and skills acquired from the training to the work they were doing. Most of them ranked their utilized learning as “good” (score: 4.0 out of 5).The graduates affiliated with 11 trades utilized their learning at “good” followed by 6 others (out of 17 trade groups) at “moderately”.
Satisfaction over Placement Service: Around 27%of the graduates ranked the T&Es placement service “very good”, while 54% considered it just “good”, and 19% expressed “simply OK”
Income of the Graduates before and after Training: The average income of graduates before training was Rs. 2,471 (ranging from Rs. 600 to Rs. 3,057). After training, their income level rose by around 261.5% and reached Rs. 8,933 per month on average. Such earnings varied across the trade groups.
The earning of male graduates had increased from Rs. 2,573 to Rs. 9,730, while the income of female graduates rose from Rs. 2,143 to Rs. 7,568 on average. Increasing income after the training was more or less obvious for all employed graduates, as they were doing skilled as well as remunerative jobs. Prior to attending the training, they did not have such opportunity to work in a specialized field. Instead, they were engaged in a less remunerative or non-skilled jobs and some were unemployed).
Around 17%of the graduates had the additional benefit of earning non-cash benefits such as transportation cost, food during the work, and uniforms. These graduates were associated with the trade groups such as cook, food and beverage and furniture.
2 According to the ILO Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 the working hours specified for a person employed in any public or
private industrial undertaking (other than the undertaking in which only the members of the same family are employed) should not exceed eight hours per day and 48 hours in a week.
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Contribution of the Graduates to their Household In come: The income earning pattern of the train graduates’ households changed by 19%. Before training, the graduates contributed 48% to their household income basket, which increased to 67% after their training-induced employment.
The households of around 45.5% graduates practiced savings. Greater saving practice was recorded for households having cook graduates (76.2%) followed by furniture graduates (70%). The lowest saving practice adopting households belonged to Thanka (Paubha) Artist graduates (4.8%).
Average saving of the households was Rs. 59,751 per year. The households of stick rolling graduates could save Rs. 2,800 per year as the lowest, while the electrical trade graduate households could save Rs.104, 800 per year as the highest.
Difficulties Faced by the Graduates in Setting Up S elf-employed Enterprise: Around 70% self-employed graduates faced difficulties in setting up their enterprise, while the remaining 30% reported “no difficulties”. Major difficulties encountered were insufficiency of the investment fund (37%), poor location of the enterprise (27%), insufficient entrepreneurship skills (21%), and unfavourable/inadequate market conditions for the products (15%). These reasons varied across the trades.3
Graduates Attending Training/Education after the EF S Training: The graduates emphasized attending further education because of their dream to pass the School Leaving Certificate exam (SLC). However, around 16% were pursuing vocational training. They expressed that they have a great interest to attend higher level vocational training, had there been institutional support provide for these (Level 2 and above).
Improvement in the Living Condition after Training: Around 27.6% surplus income of the graduates was spent for the improvement of housing conditions, followed by children’s education (24.3%). Likewise, they also spent their income for buying tools, machinery, land and animals. Around 91%of the graduates felt improvement in their overall living condition after training, while 9% noticed no significant change.
Relevance of Training to the Graduates' Current Wor k: Around 80%of the graduates found their training relevant to the current work. The proportion of graduates expressing such relevance was greater among the male graduates as compared to female graduates.
Around 46%of the graduates were currently engaged in the field of training they
3 For example, the Village Animal Health Workers encountered insufficient entrepreneurial skills as one of the major problems, while
insufficient investment fund was the major problem encountered by the electronics repair trade graduates; likewise, imperfect location of the enterprise was a problem reported by automobile trade graduates, while inadequate market condition was major problem encountered by the beauticians.
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attended (e.g. mason graduate working as mason), while another 44% were engaged in other jobs but still in the sector related to the subject of training (e.g. mason graduate working for tile fitting and plastering).The remaining 10%were found working in subject areas not related to the original training (e.g., carpenter working as plastic and steel furniture shopkeeper).
Around 84%of the graduates ranked the skills and qualifications acquired by them as “highly important” for their work; for 9% it was “moderately important” and 8% said “not important”. Those who said highly and moderately important were taking advantage of their learning of the vocational theory and practice including business management and accounting skills (such as calculation, mathematics and bookkeeping).
Graduates Disseminating Knowledge and Skills Among Others: Around 81% of the graduates reported sharing of the knowledge and skills learned from the training to other co-workers and friends. Such sharing helped to create a multiplier effect by building the competence of other youths, also.
Graduates Undergoing NSTB Skills Test: Around 78% of the graduates appeared in the NSTB skill test for certification of their performance skill standard. The remainder knew about such provision but could not attend because of longer time gap between the completion of training and the timing of the skill test. Currently, the EFS has made it mandatory for all graduates.
Seasonal Jobs: Around 13% of the employed graduates worked on a seasonal basis, Remaining 87% took up their jobs regularly.
Satisfaction of the Graduates over their Present Jo b: Around 93% of the employed graduates were satisfied with their current jobs, although the level of satisfaction varied across the trades.
Around 82.4%of the graduates were satisfied with their current job because of the opportunity to bring “income for family support”, followed by “job closer to their house” (8.2%). Similarly, for 6.4%of the graduates the reason for satisfaction was “skill friendly work”. About3% graduates were delighted with their “family support”.
Preferred Employment Type: Around 91.4%of the graduates preferred “self-employment” (micro-enterprise), if they had access to enough funds for initial investment. They felt that it provides them more flexibility at work.
Nearly 97.9%of the graduates preferred fulltime jobs to part time jobs. And around 59.8% preferred local area based employment. Their reason for such preference was low cost of living. The remaining 40.2%said that they prefer the work first with location as a secondary consideration.
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Employment Challenges: “Low salary” was one of the major employment challenges for most of the graduates (44.2%), followed by “no scope for further training” (42.3%).Among the other 13.5%, age, caste and/or gender discrimination were challenges to overcome.
Future Employment Plans: Around 46%of the graduates wanted to continue their work in their home country on the subject area in which they were trained, while 44% said that they have not planned yet. The remaining 10% showed interest in working abroad. Against 1,500 youths flying for the foreign job every day, this proportion seems small. It could be a reflection of positive influence spread by the EFS supported training to encourage retention of the graduates locally. The contribution of RMA in identifying the local employment potential can be considered useful in this regard.
Information Shared by the Key Informants about the Sampled Graduates Who Could Not be Met During the Field Visit: Secondary information provided by parents, relatives and friends of graduates who could not be met for the interview due to (a) internal migration to other districts, (b) seasonal migration to India, and/or (c) migration to other countries for foreign employment, reveals that the average monthly income of graduates as Rs. 7,683, Rs. 9,714 and Rs. 13,768, respectively.
According to these key informants, finding a local job was the first priority of most of the graduates. Those who failed to access jobs locally then decided to migrate. In their knowledge, around 78% internally migrated graduates were wage-employed, while 22% were self-employed. All migrant graduates remitted money to their family members (parents and/or spouse). Such remittances served as good sources of improving living condition of the family members. Average remittance sent by the migrant graduate was around Rs. 2,700 per month. As per their information, around 50%of the migrated graduates were working in their respective areas of training. They also informed that around 95%of the migrated graduates were male.
Employers’ Opinions About the Graduate Employees: Around 19%of the employees working in the formal sector were EFS supported graduates, followed by 40% in the informal sector. Almost all of them were working in their subject areas of training. The graduates recruited by the public sector were selected on the basis of an NSTB Skill Test Certificate, while the private sector made the requirement of such certificate optional but scrutinized their skill standard performance at work for a period of about one month before offering the letter of appointment.
Almost 40% of the employments in both the public and private sectors were based on inquiries made by the employer with family members and friends, while 13% contacted T&Es or obtained applications from the job seeker directly, taking the advantage of knowing the graduate during OJT.
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About 40%of the employers recruited female graduates, and another 55% showed interest to employ them in future provided the trades are female-friendly.
Almost all employers preferred that the employees should have adequate knowledge on the business skills (including calculation and accounting) besides their technical skills. Around 68.6%of the employers found thorough knowledge about the trade among their employees, while 51.4% observed them as hard working and committed, also, and around 80%of the employers found them eager to learn more. Nearly 60%of the employers were of the view that their employees have adequate capacity to demonstrate high quality skills at work, while 62.9% said that they also have adequate potential to work independently. About 35%of the employers thought that their employees needed further training in market-friendly business skills.
Around 60%of the employers claimed to have paid an average salary of Rs. 7,200 per month to their employees (ranging from a minimum of Rs. 4,400 up to a maximum of Rs. 11,000).
Lessons Generated by the Study: The semi-urban/urban and rural representation of the trained graduates was almost equal by the location of their employment. Considering the emphasis laid by EFS for involving a greater number of disadvantaged groups from the rural areas to decrease the out-migration tendency, it would be useful for the EFS to emphasize more rural employment market-related training while conducting the RMA through T&Es.
As the exposure of female graduates to basic education and access to employment was low compared to the male graduates, promoting a greater number of women-friendly trainings seems essential. To keep disadvantaged females on an equal footing with males, the EFS should also offer them business literacy classes as a package in addition to the technical skills training package.
In 2008/09, the major information source for knowing about the training offer was largely family members and friends. As EFS has already added a communication component for the dissemination of such information, its’ contribution should be accelerated to better serve the interest of EFS targeted disadvantaged group of participants through the application of multiple sources of communication including the mass media (e.g., FM radio). The EFS should also make use of former graduates as ambassadors for information dissemination and counselling. They should be encouraged to engage inexperience sharing to the new batches of trainees.
The average transition period between the completion of training and job access was about two months, though it varied across the trades and also for self-employment. As the transition of self-employment took longer than wage-employment, the EFS should attempt to minimize such transition through strict monitoring of counselling and
xxii
placement services provided by the T&Es. It may even pilot the idea of promoting pre-training counselling services and monitor their effects on the reduction of transition to self-employment.
The EFS should develop a system for updating information about the movement of graduates from their place of origin, including their current employment status. For this purpose, it should promote networking among the graduates and also organize information sharing workshops with representative members of the network at least once a year.
Most of the trade group related training successfully linked their graduates with employment. However, the performance of some trades like Thanka Painting and Brick Molding could not achieve a satisfactory level of success. These trades could have performed better in self-employment, had the graduate groups been formed with support for this purpose (self-employment), rather than wage employment, because of its working trend under the contractual arrangements.
Inconvenient distance of the training centre was reported by around 59% of the graduates as one of the difficulties of joining the training. This could be more difficult for those who need to compete with their time required for earning the livelihood for family members on a daily basis. To overcome such problems, the EFS should promote more mobile trainings targeting disadvantaged groups.
The OJT was found useful for refining the performance skill standards of the graduates as well as connecting access to employment. Therefore, they should be applied consistently across all trades. As 23%of the graduates reported the need for improving OJT environment, the EFS should define its acceptable standard of OJT environment.
The strategies followed for seeking employment revealed limited contribution of T&Es (38%). Therefore, there is a need for improving counselling and placement services being followed by the T&Es. The EFS should strictly monitor this aspect at different stages in the training cycle (pre-training, training and post-training).
The graduates demonstrated a tendency of shifting from wage to self-employment over the years together with their increased confidence, as well as risk taking abilities and a flexible scope of work. Such moves generate positive hope for the development of more numbers of enterprises on the country, which can ultimately reduce the trend of out-migration of the youths over the long-run. In view of this, the EFS should promote more self-employment focused training programmes by linking institutional financing services for initial investment required by the graduates. It should also make provisions for supporting the enterprises beyond six months on special cases and also link commodity value chains by involving producer, processor and marketing groups on a team.
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Around 23% female graduates were found unemployed as opposed to 9% of their male counterparts. To strike a balance between the employment rate of both, the EFS should increase involvement of female in more self-employment focused training programmes (especially, in situations where the likelihood of females accessing wage-employment is rare due to the specific nature of trade).
Increased migration of the graduates from rural to semi-urban and urban areas after training was observed. Though such migration has helped to bring remittances to the rural areas, it has also foregone the local potential of promoting agriculture due to labor shortage. To balance such situations, the EFS should promote self-employment focused training for the rural areas so that they can work seasonally in the agriculture sector too.
After training, the employed graduates have been able to increase their incomes manifold. Such increase is greater for some trades compared with others. To improve the achievements in the lagging trades, the EFS should create a competitive atmosphere among the T&Es by disseminating trade-specific achievements of the graduates through its communication and outreach system. To encourage the motivation of competitors, the better performing T&Es should be publicly recognized and rewarded.
Around 70%of the graduates faced difficulties in the start-up of a business enterprise. The problems encountered were: insufficient investment fund, imperfect location of the business enterprise, inadequate market conditions, and insufficient technical know-how. To overcome these problems, the EFS should facilitate linking the financial institutions for loans to the graduates and promote training on business skills. Further, it should also encourage the sharing of experiences among the self-employed graduates at least once a year by organizing workshops.
The graduates not only earned increased income but also increased their share of savings generated by the family (from 48% before training to 67% after training). The EFS should encourage utilization of such savings for productive purposes by linking the graduates with financial institutions.
Around 17%of the employed graduates were dissatisfied with their present job due to low return to labor, limited demand of their skills in the labor market, and unsafe working environments. To overcome these problems, the EFS should raise its “gainful income” threshold at least at par with the government specified minimum wage rate of Rs. 6,200 per month. Furthermore, it should advertise/disseminate the quality of performance skill standards acquired by the graduates among potential employers. It should also monitor whether safe working environments have been incorporated as an agenda into the counselling and placement strategies followed by the T&Es.
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Under the scope of this study, the information sought for the utilization of increased income was limited to investments such as spending on productive activities (30%) and spending on children’s education (44%)). In order to investigate what effects these investments generated over the livelihoods and wellbeing of family members, the EFS might consider undertaking a follow-up study that explores various income sources and expenditure patterns in more detail, reflecting upon the capital formation and the proportion spent for food, festivals and other household needs.
Conclusion: The overall findings of the study indicate the positive contribution of the EFS supported technical skills training. It has been successful in engaging unemployed youths into jobs. As majority of them are continuously working in the subject area of their training, which indicates sustainable results of outcome based intervention. This can be attributed not only to the skills training conducted but, more importantly, to follow-up verification of knowledge and skills applied at work to meet the gainful income threshold.
The study revealed that more than 90%of the graduates were determined to remain intact with their current job. They knew that finding a new job is always difficult due to the limited employment opportunities that the labor market can offer. This reveals the success of EFS in ensuring the first foothold of graduates in jobs. However, to make these technical jobs a component of their improved career path, the EFS should engage in supporting higher level training as well (i.e., training beyond the Elementary Level and Level 1).
1
1. INTRODUCTION
The Employment Fund Secretariat (EFS) of Helvetas has been implementing the Employment Fund Project (EFP) with support of SDC, DFID and World Bank. The Project has been assisting poor and socially disadvantaged groups for technical skills development training aimed at gainful employment. In this regard, the Employment Fund Secretariat (EFS) has been:
- Promoting involvement of the private sector Training and Employment Service Providers(T&Es) in launching the technical training programmes;
- Covering school dropouts aged 16 to 35 years, who are poor and socially discriminated, as its target group;
- Supporting training management capacity of the T&Es for the delivery of outcome-focused services;
- Providing incentive to the T&Es for the market-led gainful employment of graduates; and
- Attracting public and private sector investors for the adoption of Employment Fund Model based Technical Education and Vocational Training (TEVT) leading towards the gainful employment.
As manager of the donors’ fund, the EFS support T&Es according to the Project’s Operating Guidelines. The Project partnered with 14 T&Es and by 2009 had produced 11,625 technical training graduates (57% female, 43% male). The training programmes were organized in 39 districts covering 24 different trades. Out of the total number of candidates trained, around 80.3% of the graduates were gainfully employed in national and international labor markets.4
The T&Es selected for implementation of the training programmes represented three partnership models: (a) Subcontracting/Franchising Model, (b) Direct Partnership Model, and (c) Facilitator Model. Under the Sub-contracting/Franchisee Model, around 55% trainees were covered, while the remaining 45% were covered under the Direct Partnership and Facilitator Models.
1.1 Rationale for the Study The Employment Fund Project is pioneer in introducing the outcome-based financing concept for supporting the technical skills development training in Nepal. As almost three years have passed since the candidates were trained and employed in jobs, it has been felt necessary to assess their prevailing status. Realizing this, the EFS decided to undertake a Tracer Study of these graduates through an independent organization. This study is an outcome of such initiative.
4 Employment Fund Annual Report, 2009.
2
It is believed that the lessons emerged from this study will be useful for the EFS for replicating its outcome-based support with greater efficiency and effectiveness in the future. It will suggest strategic measure for replicating success, while taking corrective measures against the possibilities of deviation of results. It would ultimately contribute to make the role of the TEVT sector furthermore strong in the Nepalese economy. It will also benefit other stakeholders concerned (Government, donors and T&Es) in setting up their outcome-based financing priorities strategically.
1.2 Objectives of the Study
Major objective of this Tracer Study is to assess the impact of technical skills development training programmes over the lives of the graduates belonging to various socio-economic groups including poor and disadvantaged groups as priority targets. Specific objectives related to this major objective are:
- To assess quality and relevance of training to gainful employment; - To assess the extent of sustained employment; - To identify the proportion of graduates continuing to work in the trade for which they
were initially trained; - To assess migration (internal or external) of the graduates from their origin
allocation; - To identify opportunities and constraints associated with different employment
possibilities (wage, self, home-based piece work contracts, part-time, full-time, local and out-station work);
- To assess patterns of change in earning incomes; - To identify high-income yielding trades having greater sustainability potential; - To examine the extent of inclusiveness (with respect to gender, caste, ethnicity,
poverty and location (Terai, hill and mountain) of the graduates; and - To examine effectiveness of franchising and direct partnership working models
followed by the EFS.
1.3 Scope of the Study This Tracer Study has been conducted for the assessment of effectiveness of outcome-based financing support provided by the EFS for technical skills training. In this regard, it has attempted to identify current status of “gainful employment” among the graduates, who were identified as “gainfully employed” till verification of the income after 6 months from the date of completion of training. In order to find answers to these queries, the study responds to various questions under its scope of work as follows:
• What is the socio-economic background (age, gender, ethnicity, education and economic condition) of the graduates?
• How do graduates assess the relevance, quality and usefulness of the training programmes they attended?
3
• Are they satisfied with the training and services provided by the T&E concerned? • What was the average transition period to employment of the graduates
(chronology of activities since graduation till access to employment)? • What is the incidence of employment (wage employment and self-employment),
further training and unemployment condition among the graduates? • What social and economic returns (e.g., changes in financial wellbeing, health
care, food intake in the family, schooling of children, and buying of new assets) were received by the graduates from training?
• What was the income of training graduates before and after training? • Are present work of the graduates related to the training they attended? • Are there differences in labor market outcomes with respect to gender, location
and socio-economic background of the graduates? • Are they satisfied with their current job? • What is the rate of migration of graduates in search of jobs? • Which are popular trades related training programmes successfully employing
greater proportion of graduates in the labor market? • What is the average size of incomes earned by the training graduates working
under different trades? • Are there consistencies between the responses provided by the graduates and
employers on issues related to the labor market? • Do employers feel that their employee graduates are meeting their performance
expectations? • What is the perception of employers regarding reputation of T&Es (with reference
to the relevance of the courses in the labor market)?
2 DESIGN OF THE STUDY
The study gathered data from both primary and secondary sources. Among the secondary sources, the reports produced by EFS and its T&E partners for different programmes were reviewed. In the case of primary sources, data were obtained from sampled training graduates, T&E managers and key informants.
2.1 Design of Survey Instruments Survey instruments were developed to solicit information from the respondents in view of different types of information required to meet the study objectives. For the employed graduates, a structured questionnaire was developed covering information areas related to the key indicators of gainful employment, quality of training, relevance of training to work, and sustainable nature of employment. For other respondents such as T&Es, employers, family members, community members and other key informants, their roles and expectation-focused semi-structured checklists were developed.
4
The questionnaire and checklists covered both closed- and open-ended questions related to the nature of employment status of the graduates, trade groups in which The employment opportunities are more accessible as well as gainful, and the sustainability potential of various employment opportunities. The questionnaire was pre-coded for possible answers related to the closed questions.
2.1.1 Circulation of the Instruments for Comments
All survey instruments were discussed with the EFS prior to their finalization. Necessary adjustments were made on the instruments in response to the feedbacks obtained.
2.1.2 Orientation to the Surveyors and Enumerators
A four day workshop was organized for orientation to the Surveyors and Enumerators. Sessions were run by the resource persons by sharing study objectives, instruments to be used for data collection, sampling method, mapping of respondents, psycho-social method to be applied during the interview, inter-district communication among the team members and walk thru the questionnaire for proper understanding and question answer sessions for clarifications.
2.1.3 Pre-test of the Survey Instruments
The survey instruments were pre-tested before field application for information collection. The pre-test was carried out as a part of the orientation programme for Surveyors and Enumerators. They were provided with the opportunity to directly fill the questionnaire during mock interview sessions and pre-test with the graduates.
The pre-test looked into the clarity and completeness of the information sought the convenience of asking the questions and the possible responsiveness of the graduates to each question. Questions that were not found clearly presented or that were identified as incomplete were adjusted based on the lessons of the pre-test.
2.2 Sources of Data for Drawing the Samples The EFS database has maintained records on both trained and employed graduates by the partner T&Es on different trades under the franchisee (sub-contracting) and direct implementation models for the year 2008 and 2009 and beyond. These data were a primary source for drawing samples for the study. Before proceeding ahead for drawing samples, attempts were made to analyze the data structures and refine them for a sampling universe. As the number of graduates was missing or small because of the organization of just one or two piloted events for some trades (e.g., book binding technicians, building painter, electric vehicle driving cum repairer, leather shoe making and local road construction supervisor, etc.)Such data were cleaned up from the list. After cleaning the data, the distribution of employed graduates under different trades in different training districts were prepared as sampling universe.
5
The distribution of data across the district revealed highest number of trained and employed graduates in Kailali, followed by Bara district. In some districts, just one training programme was launched (e.g., brick mason training in Baglung, cook training in Surkhet) compared with 14 different training programmes implemented in Kailali.
Altogether 46 training providers were directly or indirectly involved in offering EFS supported training programmes. Fifteen T&Es worked under sub-contract with Alliance Nepal, while another 19 worked under the franchising partnership arrangement of F-Skills. The remaining 12 T&Es worked under direct implementation contract with EFS. The regional distribution of trained and employed graduates across the development regions revealed 3,910 as the highest number found in the central development region followed by 2,675 in the far eastern development region in second place.
2.3. Selection of the Samples Samples for the study were drawn from EFS database. Multi-stage techniques were applied as follows for the selection of respondent graduates.
2.3.1 Grouping of Interrelated Trades
The EFS supported training for 42 trades in 2008/09. From these, 17 corresponding trade groups were created by clustering them in view of their identical nature (Table 1).
Table 1: Grouping Identical Trades
SN Group Name Trades* No. of Employed Graduates
1 Automobile Motor Cycle Service Mechanic / Bicycle and Rickshaw Mechanic / Light Vehicle Service Mechanic
108
2 Beautician Assistant Beautician / Barber 1,043
3 Brick Mason Construction Brick Layer / Mason 1,548
4 Brick Molder Brick Molder (Ita Pathera) 1,460
5 Cook Continental Cook/ Indian Cook / Cook (Mixed) / Chinese Cook / Sweets and Snacks Maker
494
6 Electrical Building Electrician / Electrical Motor Rewinder / Electrical Appliances Repairer
903
7 Electronics Repair Mobile Repair Technician / Color Television Receiver Technician
66
8 Food and Beverage
Assistant Waiter / Bar Tender 89
9 Furniture Furniture Maker / Polishing & finishing wooden furniture/ Shuttering Carpentry
802
10 Garment Tailoring / Garment Fabrication 476
11 Hand Embroidery Hand Embroidery 1,065
12 Junior Plumber Junior Plumber 261
13 Mechanical Lathe Setter Operator / Mechanical Fitter / Pump Set Operator / Refrigeration & Air-condition Junior Mechanic
128
6
SN Group Name Trades* No. of Employed Graduates
14 Stick Rolling Incense Stick Rolling / Bamboo Stick Maker 1,481
15 Thanka Thanka (Paubha) Artist 319
16 VAHW Village Animal Health Worker 52
17 Welding Arc Welder / Bar Bender (Steel Fixer) 190
Total 10,485
* Note: The housekeeping and scaffolding (tubular) trades were skipped from the list. These trades involved 179 and 62 employed graduates, respectively.
Source: DVN (2012). EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu
2.3.2 Sample Size
It is often the case that a larger sample size would ensure more reflection of the population universe. This means that the larger the sample size, the smaller the confidence interval. However, the relationships would not necessarily be always linear. Therefore, simply increasing or doubling the sample size does not necessarily mean halving the confidence interval.
Most Tracer Studies prefer to determine the sample size to a basic minimum while maintaining the technical standard for stratified analysis of results. This approach helps to maintain time and cost efficiency. Viewing this, the sample size for this Tracer Study was initially calculated by applying ‘Sample Size Calculator’ service5at a 95% confidence level followed by a 5% margin of standard error.
According to the abovementioned ‘Sample Size Calculator’ service, the sample size calculated for a population universe of 10,485 employed graduates would be 371. Taking this as a basis for minimum sample size, the EFS reviewed the need of stratified analysis for different trade groups and their related variables. In view of this, it was then decided to add another 50% sample to facilitate detailed analysis and a minimum sample size of around 557 respondents.
2.3.2.1 Gross Sample Size
For greater statistical reliability, an attempt was made to determine the sample size by applying standard sampling procedure. As the EFS has been targeting poor and disadvantaged groups, calculating the sample size on the basis of prevailing poverty rate as one of the norms was considered useful. Accordingly, the national poverty rate of 25% reported by the National Planning Commission was taken as a P value factor for the calculation of sample size from the total number of training graduates representing 17 trade groups discussed in Section 2.3.1 (Table 1). The formula applied for the calculation
5 Creative Research System http://www.surveysystem.com/sscale.htm.
7
of sample size is presented below:6
n = D [(ZÞ + Zß) 2* (P1(1-P1)+P2(1-P2))/(P2-P1)2]
Where,
n = minimum sample size required for survey of the trade group strata
D = multi-stage design effect (assumed 1 as CBS data are used)
ZÞ = the Z-score corresponding to the degree of confidence with which it is desired to be able to conclude that an observed change of size (P2-P1) would not have occurred by chance (Þ – the level of statistical significance)
Zß= the z-score corresponding to the degree of confidence with which it is desired to be certain of detecting a change of size (P2- P1) if once actually occurred (ß – statistical power)
P1 = current percentage of population below poverty line (25%) which the country targets to bring down to 0 % over the years making the percentage of people above the poverty line 100%
P2 = current percentage of population above the poverty line (100 – below poverty line = 75%) which is expected to reach 100% in the future
Around 25% (100-75) need to increase their economic condition to make 100% Nepalese above the poverty line. In this case, the value of P1 becomes (P1 = 0.25) and P2 becomes (P2 = 0.75).
For the application of standard parameters, the significance level of 95% and the statistical power of 95% are selected from the statistical table for the Z value as (ZÞ = 1.645 and Zß = 1.645).
For the multi-stage sample design effect 2 is taken for D as (D=2).
By applying the abovementioned values to the formula, the following results have been derived for determining sample size:
n = D [(ZÞ + Zß) 2 * (P1(1-P1)+P2(1-P2))/(P2-P1)2]
n = 2 [(1.645 + 0.840)2 * (0.75 * 0.25 + 1.00 * 0.00)/(1.00-0.75)2]
= 2 [(6.1752 * 0.1875 + 0.00) / 0.0625]
= 2 (1.1264 + 0.0000 / 0. 0625)
= 2 (1.1264 / 0. 0625)
= 2 (18.0224)
= 36.04 samples per trade group strata
6 Robert Mannani (1997), Sampling Guide, Cooperative Agreement No. HRN-A-00-98-00046-00 of Food and Nutrition Technical
Assistance Project (FANTA), Office of Health and Nutrition Bureau for Global Programmes, USAID, December 1997.
8
With these calculations, the resultant sample size required for each trade group was determined as 36 employed graduates. With this number as the minimum, the total requirement of sample size for the study was derived as 612 (36 x 17 trade groups). To remain on the higher side of a rounded figure of 40 for each trade, a maximum sample size of total 680 (40 x 17 trade groups) was derived.
2.3.2.2 Net Sample Size
During the information collection process, it was discovered that the graduates for some trades (e.g., automobile, electronic repair, food and beverage, mechanical work, VAHW and welding) were not adequately traceable because of their movement to unknown locations after the six months’ income verification by EFS. This situation caused a shortfall in meeting the envisaged target. Consequently, the net sample size covered by the study stood at 670 (Table 2).
The samples were originally drawn from 22 training districts. However, while tracing the graduates, they were found scattered over 47 districts.
Table 2: Number of Samples Spread Over Different Di stricts
SN
Dist/Trade Group
Automobile
Beautician
Brick Mason
Brick Molder
Cook
Electrical
Electronics Repair
Food and Beverage
Furniture
Garment
Hand Embroidery
Junior Plumber
Mechanical
Stick Rolling
Thanka
VAHW*
Welding
Total
1 Banke 2 4 4 3 13
2 Bara 3 3 37 43
3 Bardiya 4 7 9 20
4 Bhaktapur 1 1 1 2 5
5 Bhojpur 1 1
6 Chitwan 1 1 4 3 6 7 3 25
7 Dadeldhura 2 2
8 Dang 2 8 2 2 1 6 21
9 Dhading 1 1
10 Dhanusha 2 2 1 2 2 1 10
11 Dolakha 3 4 1 33 41
12 Gulmi 1 1 2
13 Ilam 1 15 3 13 32
14 Jhapa 1 6 2 4 9 1 7 1 9 3 43
15 Kailali 12 4 17 29 16 12 9 17 7 7 1 131
16 Kanchanpur 6 2 5 3 6 8 6 7 43
17 Kaski 3 2 2 3 7 4 3 4 28
18 Kathmandu 1 3 3 7
19 Kavrepalanchowk 6 3 9
20 Khotang 1 1 2
21 Lamjung 1 1 2
9
SN
Dist/Trade Group
Automobile
Beautician
Brick Mason
Brick Molder
Cook
Electrical
Electronics Repair
Food and Beverage
Furniture
Garment
Hand Embroidery
Junior Plumber
Mechanical
Stick Rolling
Thanka
VAHW*
Welding
Total
22 Mahottari 1 1
23 Makwanpur 1 1
24 Morang 3 2 2 3 1 4 2 1 4 1 23
25 Myagdi 2 2
26 Nawalparasi 4 4 3 1 4 4 20
27 Nuwakot 3 1 4
28 Okhaldhunga 2 1 1 4
29 Palpa 1 1
30 Pachthar 1 1
31 Parbat 2 2
32 Parsa 3 7 1 7 18
33 Ramechhap 6 1 1 1 14 23
34 Rolpa 2 2
35 Rupandehi 8 4 1 2 1 4 1 6 27
36 Salyan 1 1
37 Saptari 1 1
38 Sindhuli 1 1
39 Sindhupalchowk 1 1 1 3
40 Siraha 3 3
41 Solukhumbu 1 1
42 Sunsari 5 2 3 3 4 17
43 Syangja 1 1 1 3
44 Tanahun 4 7 1 5 1 18
45 Taplejung 10 10
46 Terathum 1 1
47 Udayapur 1 1
Total 31 46 42 41 42 45 39 33 40 44 43 39 42 46 50 35 12 670
* Village Animal Health Worker
2.3.3 Methods Followed for the Selection of Samples
The list of graduates who were verified as gainfully employed after the training lot of 2008/09 was obtained from the EFS database. The list was then classified under 17 trade groups.
2.3.3.1 Calculation of the Sampling Coefficients
As the sampling frame for different trade groups was not similar, the coefficients for all trade groups across the training districts were calculated. From the calculated coefficients, the samples of 40 employed graduates per trade group were drawn.
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2.3.3.2 Drawing Samples by the Trade Group
Random numbers were used to draw the abovementioned samples separately for each trade. Given that the Tracer Study was carried out subsequent to the lapse of 2-3 years’ time after the verification of six monthly incomes, drawing extra samples of 25% for each trade group was necessary. Accordingly, for each trade group an extra 10 samples were drawn by using the random numbers again with a replacement provision if the main sampled candidate for the first list is not found. Given that the database had gaps in recording the address of most graduates; a further 25% reserve list was also prepared by drawing random samples.
3. TRACING OF THE SAMPLED GRADUATES
Multi-stage approaches were followed for tracing the sampled graduates. They are explained below.
3.1 Mapping of Graduates by their Training District s
The number of sampled candidates (40 for each trade group) was mapped out by trade for each training district. It provided information on the spread of number of the sampled graduates by district for each trade group.
3.2 Identification of T&E by Graduates Attended Tra de From each trade selected in the training districts, their associated T&Es were identified across the list of samples of all the three category (main sampled candidates selected in the first lot, extra sampled candidates selected in the second lot and the reserve candidates selected in the third lot). Based on the identification of T&Es, the lists of sampled candidates of each category were prepared for all trades.
3.3 Reconfirmation of Address of the Sampled Gradua tes The addresses obtained from the EFS database for the list of sampled candidates for all trades were reconfirmed and updated from the related T&Es. They were requested to provide information to the extent they know about their whereabouts. In this context, necessary support of local trainers and EFS Field Officers was also taken.
3.4 Address Wise Listing of Sampled Graduates
To meet the respondents in the nearby routes one after another, to the extent their addresses indicated proximity, the list of the sampled candidates was arranged by their location (e.g., VDC ward, municipality ward and street).A copy of such list was provided to all members of the study team as their working document.
3.5 Physical Interviews of Sampled Graduates
The Enumerators and Surveyors visited door-to-door to interview the sampled candidates.
11
For the candidates who could not be met during the visit, proxy information was obtained from family members. However, such information was not treated as a replacement of the graduate’s response but was used, instead, as an additional input to the study while maintaining the requirement of the replacement of unmet candidates intact. For the interview of family members, a separate ‘key informant’ questionnaire was applied. The number of family members interviewed for the collection of proxy information of this kind was 64 (9.6% of the sampled number of graduates).
3.6 Complementary Information about Other Graduates
To make the tracing process information rich, each interviewed respondent was asked if he/she knows other persons whose name has been listed for the district. The question was useful to determine recent migration and/or change of contract address of some candidates.
3.7 Inter-district Communication about the Graduate s’ Movements
The Enumerators and Surveyors were made responsible for tracing and interviewing the sampled candidates primarily in the training district, to the extent they were available. When they found that some sampled candidates were not available in the training district and had come from another district for training or moved to another district for work, they were required to inform another survey team working in the district with necessary contact details. Such candidates were then interviewed by the next team working in the district concerned.
3.8 Reorganization of Visit to Newly Traced Areas While some participants attended training from the district where they were trained, other attended from other districts. Therefore, all training participants were not necessarily available in the training district alone. Moreover, some graduates from the training districts had even moved to other districts for jobs. To meet them physically for interview, the interview locations of the graduates were further extended to other districts based on their tracing. For this purpose, the field visit programmes of the Enumerators and Surveyors were rescheduled for movement to new districts.
3.9 Information Exchange across the Survey Team Mem bers All survey teams visiting different districts were requested to exchange information regarding movement of the sampled candidates to the other district concerned with their contact address. They were also suggested to report the number of sampled candidates covered each day to their respective Field Supervisors. Based on their reports, the Field Supervisors prepared lists of district wise numbers covered against the set target for each trade group. Based on the analysis of such coverage, the Field Supervisor identified gap filling needs for remaining target. The tracing process is schematically summarized below:
12
Chart 1: Tracing Process
3.10 Problems Encountered
Some problems were encountered in tracing the sampled graduates:
Incomplete address of the graduates: The database of 2008 and 2009, being the first of its kind, was not complete, as the addresses of most of the graduates were not provided in detail. For many graduates, the candidates’ telephone numbers or of family and friends were not recorded; or had changed or were not in operation.
Mistakes in the database: There were gaps in the database regarding complete address of the sampled graduates. Some training events launched in 2008/09 were also missing. Such gaps had to be filled after verification of the database with the T&Es conducting training.
Less informed T&Es: Although the T&Es were required to remain in contact with the graduates till verification of their income after six months of training for the clearance of their accounts, almost all T&Es did not follow a practice of updating records of their graduates. Therefore, their knowledge about the employed graduates after the lapse of almost two to three years’ time was limited to informal acquaintance only.
Contract period dependent information source: Some training programmes were distantly managed directly by the centre with appointment of some local trainers for the training period. Obtaining information about the whereabouts of the graduates was difficult in such cases, as the local trainers had moved to other places. Even if some of them were locally available, they were not familiar with the current situation because their responsibilities had been terminated long before. The T&Es concerned were also less familiar about the current situation as there was no follow-up upon completion of the verification of income after six months of training.
13
Small number of trainees in some trades: The number of graduates trained for some trades was small and scattered. Tracing an adequate number of graduates from such a small training lot was difficult for filling the required sample size. According to the T&Es concerned, some graduates belonging to such small lots had gone abroad for work, and their addresses were unknown. Therefore, the study encountered a shortfall of some respondents (below 40 per trade group), especially for some trade groups such as automobile, electronics repair, food and beverage, junior plumber, VAHW and welding.
Movement of the graduates induced by foreign market lucrative trades: Some trades have greater demand in the foreign labor market as opposed to other trades. For such lucrative trades (e.g., scaffolding, welding, and food and beverages), the candidates are purposely trained for foreign jobs. These candidates could not be traced locally as they have flown abroad already.
Movement of graduates after marriage: For some trades (e.g., hand embroidery, and Thanka painting to a great extent) training was provided for girls. When married they left for the husband’s house; hence, some were not traceable due to unknown address.
Long gap between six months’ income verification and the current Tracer Study: The gap between six months’ income verification and the current Tracer Study was about three years. Within this period, significant changes had taken place in the movement of graduates, which was natural as most of the graduates have sought better job opportunities. Knowing the whereabouts of such people after six months’ income verification was difficult because of a lack of an address updating system.
4. COORDINATION AND QUALITY CONTROL OF THE SURVEY W ORK
Maximum emphasis was given for coordinated activities of the survey teams. The management structure followed for this purpose is shown on Chart 2. Chart 2: Implementation of the Field Survey
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4.1 Field Mobilization of Teams Five teams were mobilized simultaneously to undertake the survey work in the districts represented by the sampled graduates. They were further stretched to other districts as the sampled graduates’ movements were traced.
4.2 Overall Guidance for the Study The Survey Director, with the assistance of TEVT sector experts, provided overall guidance for the study. They developed survey instruments and trained the Surveyors and Enumerators. They also analyzed data obtained from the field and prepared and sent progress reports to the EFS at different stages.
4.3 On-the-Spot Feedback Arrangements The Supervisors were mobilized to the field to provide on-the-spot feedback to Surveyors and Enumerators. They observed survey work in progress and made inter-district arrangements for coverage of respondents by adjusting the schedule of Supervisors and Enumerators visits in response to candidates’ movements.
4.4 Consultation with the EFS
DVN worked in close contact with the EFS throughout the study. It followed EFS guidelines and suggestions at different stages as relevant. The EFS field staff members were also consulted for address details for tracing the sampled candidates.
4.5 Approach Followed for Interviews As each respondent was approached for an interview, his/her consensus was requested, and then he/she was asked to share their frank opinions without reservation. Each interviewee was assured that all information shared with the interviewer will would be kept confidential and analyzed on a group basis without identifying individuals.
The Surveyors and Enumerators were also asked to remain sensitive towards the gender, caste and economic status of different social group respondents. They were suggested to maintain respect while eliciting information on the behaviour, economic activities and risk taking ability of the respondents. They were asked not to force the respondent for answering any questions, if they wished not to reply on some issues.
To assure gender sensitivity, female interviewers interviewed female respondents, which helped most women respondents to speak openly. And all respondents were interviewed in a private setting, which helped ensure confidentiality and maintain trust during discussions.
4.6 Quality Control Attempts were made to minimize both sampling and non-sampling errors during data collection. Sampling errors were controlled through the design of a sampling framework
15
within the acceptable limits of resource availability for the study. For the control of non-sampling errors possibly arising from the survey implementation process, the following practices were applied in the survey implementation process:
• Use of simple and clear language in the data collection instruments; • Simple and clear questioning during the interview; • Deployment of well trained, experienced Supervisor, Surveyors and Enumerators; • Interactive discussion between interviewer and respondents during data collection;
• Regular communication of field problems encountered to the Supervisor to make corrective decisions;
• Back-up support to the problem encountering teams with the mobilization of additional staff (Surveyors and Enumerators);
• Cross-checking of compliance, consistency and completeness of completed questionnaires by the Field Supervisors in the respective command areas of data collection by the Enumerators;
• Replacement of questionnaires filled with the interviews outside the sampling frame, if any; and
• Triangulation and cross validation of information, where applicable.
The Enumerators were required to fill the questionnaires completely. Their work was verified by the Supervisors. Any gaps found in filling the questionnaire were edited and, if necessary, they were even asked to revisit the respondents.
5. ANALYSIS OF COLLECTED DATA
The Data Analyst was involved in providing training to Data Entrants on both Helvetas Tool Kit related templates and the tailor made Access software developed by DVN for the analysis of additional information not covered by the built-in features of the Helvetas Tool Kit templates.
5.1 Software Used
For the analysis of quantitative data the Helvetas Tracer Study Tool Kit developed in Excel was used. For the variables not featured in this Tool Kit, tailor-made software developed by the DVN in Access was applied.
5.2 Types of Data Analyzed Three types of data were obtained from different sources: (a) quantitative information collected from the instruments used for the field surveys, (b) qualitative information generated from Focus Group Discussions and Employer Checklists, and (c) both qualitative and quantitative information gathered from the review of secondary materials. Information in these categories was obtained from three different sources (Table 3).
16
Table 3: Survey Instruments and Different Sources o f Qualitative and Quantitative Information Tracer Study Instruments Sources of Information Type of Data Data Analysis
Standardized Questionnaires
- Graduate questionnaire - Employer questionnaire
- Informant questionnaire
Graduates, employers and informants Quantitative
Excel Tool Kit (Helvetas)
Access software (tailor-made for the Study by DVN)
Case studies Graduates, employers, trainers etc. Qualitative Qualitative data analysis Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) Graduates, employers, trainers etc. Qualitative
The information collected from different sources was analyzed in relation to the study objectives. Their primary focus of the analysis was on the following elements (Chart 3).
Chart 3: Elements Covered in Data Analysis
5.2.1 Analysis of Quantitative Data
Prior to the beginning of the data analysis work, the denominations and units mentioned in the questionnaires were made consistent to reflect common values in data entry. The data entry work was thoroughly supervised by the Data Analyst. To facilitate faster processing of the filled-in questionnaires, they were transferred from the field to Kathmandu soon after their completion in different lots.
Qualitative data were analyzed in the descriptive text mode, while quantitative data were analyzed in absolute and/or relative frequency mode/s. The report for the study has been prepared with a blend of both quantitative and qualitative information substantiating each other’s finding values as relevant.
The data analysis has focused on components covered under the scope of the study. It also highlights major observations related to the study objectives. The findings are mostly drawn from the analysis of major trends indicated for the key variables.
5.2.2 Analysis of Information Gathered from Focus G roup Discussions (FGDs)
Focus group discussions were organized with the key informants (parents and relatives of the graduates), T&E managers and employers. These discussions attempted to capture employment market related information and the performance skill standards demonstrated
Elements
Information on successful implementation of technical skills development Study Methodology Manual, ILO/IPEC
Relevance and impact of the outcome-based financing support
Information about the graduates, trainers and employers
Programme efficiency and effectiveness
Contribution to the accreditation of TEVT sector
17
by the trained graduates in their work. They were analyzed qualitatively in the descriptive form.
5.2.3 Analysis of Information Gathered from the Rev iew of the Secondary Materials
As a part of the information collection process, the study team reviewed periodic progress reports of the EFS, their database, Webpage materials and other publications related to training and employment. Further, the documents used and produced by the T&Es were also reviewed to solicit information on the responsiveness of training to the employment opportunities prevailing in the labor market for different trades.
5.2.4 Preparation of the Case Studies
Case studies have been prepared highlighting status achieved by the graduates as exemplary cases. Emphasis has been given to demonstrate where the graduates stand in terms of linking training and gainful employment. The case studies are presented for the graduates living in diverse labor market situations as indicated by their geographical locations (urban, rural, hill, mountain and Terai).
6. DURATION OF THE STUDY
The duration of the study was three months. Major activities covered were: • Design of the study (e.g., design of methodology, determination of sample size,
questionnaire and checklists, pre-test of survey instruments, orientation to the survey teams, and mobilization of the team members for field work);
• Mobilization of the field survey teams (e.g., of Surveyors, Enumerators and Supervisors and the execution of data collection work);
• Processing of collected data (e.g., data entry, compilation and analysis); and • Preparation of the study report (e.g., reproduction of data analysis tables, report
writing and submission).
The study was designed in two weeks, while the field survey work was carried out in four weeks. Similarly, the time spent for data processing was three weeks, followed by another two weeks for this draft report preparation. The remaining time of one week has been allocated for finalization of report.
The average time lapse between completion of training (2008/09) and the current survey (December 2011) was 32 months. However, the duration varied by trade, the longest time lapse was observed for brick molder training (completed almost 43 months ago), while the food and beverage training was the most recent (27.6 months ago).
18
Chart 4: Time Lapse between Graduation of the Respo ndents and Current Survey
7. FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
7.1 Socio-economic Background of the Graduates
The socio-economic backgrounds of the respondent graduates are different from one another. This section examines their status vis-a-vis gender, age, education, and ethnicity.
7.2 Male and Female Graduates by Different Trade Gr oups Of the 670 graduates covered in the sample, around 59% were male and 41% female. Training programmes for the brick masonry, welding and mechanical trade groups were exclusively male oriented, while the garment and hand embroidery trade groups were exclusively female. The other trade groups were mixed gender. Table 4 shows the distribution of male and female graduates by trade group.
Table 4: Male and Female Graduates Representing Dif ferent Trade Groups
Trade Group No. of Samples Percentage
Men Women Total Men Women Total Automobile 26 3 29 90 10 100 Beautician 12 33 45 27 73 100 Brick Mason 42 0 42 100 0 100 Brick Molder 22 19 41 54 46 100 Cook 20 22 42 48 52 100 Electrical 39 5 44 89 11 100 Electronics Repair 37 6 43 86 14 100 Food and Beverage 33 6 39 85 15 100 Furniture 37 3 40 93 8 100 Garment 0 44 44 0 100 100
33.1 31.9
35.1 42.7
31.0 32.6
28.3 27.6
35.7 32.3
34.0 30.9
32.6 31.7
28.3 30.5
34.0 32.4
- 10 20 30 40 50
AutomobileBeautician
Brick MasonBrick Molder
CookElectrical
Electronics RepairFood and Beverage
FurnitureGarment
Hand EmbroideryJunior Plumber
MechanicalStick Rolling
Thanka (Paubha) ArtistVillage Animal Health Worker
WeldingOverall
Months
Tra
de
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
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Trade Group No. of Samples Percentage
Men Women Total Men Women Total Hand Embroidery 0 43 43 0 100 100 Junior Plumber 36 1 37 97 3 100 Mechanical 42 0 42 100 0 100 Stick Rolling 1 45 46 2 98 100 Thanka (Paubha) Artist 12 30 42 29 71 100 Village Animal Health Worker 24 15 39 62 38 100 Welding 12 0 12 100 0 100
Overall 395 275 670 59 41 100 Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu..
7.3 Distribution of the Respondents by EFS Target C ategories The EFS supported training programmes cover various socio-economic groups. In order to assign priority to the coverage of more number of disadvantaged groups, it has classified the eligible candidates under three categories on the basis, primarily, of the disadvantaged position in society of the eligible candidate.7 The categories covered have implications on the incentives to be received by the T&Es. This is purposely done to motivate the T&Es to cover a greater number of disadvantaged groups.
The samples drawn for this study represent around 69%‘B’ category graduates followed by ‘A’ (19%) in the second place. In the case of Category ‘C’ the coverage is 12%. These proportions are subsequent results of the number of candidates trained under each category.
Chart 5: Respondents by the Target Category Group
7.4 Ethnicity of the Respondent Graduates The ethnic categories of the sampled graduates represented around 40%Janajatis followed by Brahmin/Chhetri (26%). Adibashi representation was 15% followed by 12% Dalit, 4% Madeshi and 3% Muslim.
7 The Employment Fund Secretariat has classified its target group under three categories. Category ‘A’ represents Dalit (male/female),
HIV-infected persons, widows, disabled persons, ex-combatants and internally displaced persons. ‘B’ represents Janajatis (male/female) and other caste poor females. And ‘C’ represents all other economically poor people.
12.2%
68.4%
19.4%
Category ACategory BCategory C
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
20
The trade groups, in which these graduates were trained, reveal that ethnicity was one of the factors associated for the selection of particular type of trade group. As the data reveal, the brick mason trade group involved 85% Adibashi (mostly Tharu), while the Thanka (Paubha) Artist trade group attracted around 76%Janajati (mainly Tamang, Rai, Gurung and Sherpa).
Table 5: Ethnic Background of Graduates Involved in Different Trade Groups
Trade Group Brahmin/Chhetri Janajati Dalit Adibashi Muslim Madeshi Total
No % No % No % No % No % No % No %
Automobile 4 14 4 14 4 14 14 48 0 0 3 10 29 4
Beautician 14 31 12 27 6 13 3 7 2 4 8 18 45 7
Brick Mason 2 5 30 71 2 5 7 17 0 0 1 2 42 6
Brick Molder 0 0 3 7 1 2 35 85 2 5 0 0 41 6
Cook 23 55 16 38 2 5 1 2 0 0 0 0 42 6
Electrical 24 55 15 34 3 7 2 5 0 0 0 0 44 7
Electronics Repair 18 42 15 35 4 9 5 12 0 0 1 2 43 6
Food and Beverage 13 33 21 54 3 8 2 5 0 0 0 0 39 6
Furniture 3 8 24 60 7 18 6 15 0 0 0 0 40 6
Garment 9 20 22 50 7 16 1 2 2 5 3 7 44 7
Hand Embroidery 15 35 13 30 6 14 3 7 1 2 5 12 43 6
Junior Plumber 11 30 16 43 8 22 2 5 0 0 0 0 37 6
Mechanical 11 26 19 45 4 10 7 17 0 0 1 2 42 6
Stick Rolling 0 0 12 26 8 17 8 17 12 26 6 13 46 7
Thanka Artist 1 2 32 76 9 21 0 0 0 0 0 0 42 6
VAHW 23 59 12 31 4 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 39 6
Welding 4 33 5 42 2 17 1 8 0 0 0 0 12 2
Total 175 26 271 40 80 12 97 15 19 3 28 4 670 100 Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu..
7.5 Age of the Graduates Around 59%of the graduates were above 25 years old, while 41% were between 18 to 25 years. None of the graduates were below 18 years of age.
Chart 6: Proportion of the Graduates by their Age G roup
The calculated average age of graduates was 28 years. By gender, the age graduates
Below 18 Years
0% 18 to 25 Years41%
Above 25 Years59%
Below 18 years 18 to 25 Years Above 25 years
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
21
ranged between 21-29 years for females and between 24-34 years for male graduates.
The data reveal that the ages of stick rolling and brick molding graduates were relatively older for both male and female, while those involved in food and beverage trade group were relatively younger for both groups. See Table 6.
Table 6: Average Age of the Graduates by Gender
Trade Female Male Overall Automobile 29.3 26.7 26.9 Beautician 26.1 28.9 26.9 Brick Mason
28.4 28.4
Brick Molder 29.3 31.3 30.4 Cook 28.1 28.1 28.1 Electrical 28.4 27.5 27.6 Electronics Repair 23.5 28.7 28.0 Food and Beverage 23.2 23.8 23.7 Furniture 30.3 28.1 28.3 Garment 28.4 28.4 Hand Embroidery 28.0
28.0
Junior Plumber 21.0 26.9 26.7 Mechanical 29.5 29.5 Stick Rolling 33.7 53.0 34.1 Thanka (Paubha) Artist 23.7 24.0 23.8 Village Animal Health Worker 26.3 26.5 26.4 Welding
27.5 27.5
Grand Total 28.1 27.7 27.9 Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
7.6 Educational Attainment of the Graduates Around 19% of the graduates attained secondary or higher level education, while 51% were had studied up to, but not completed, secondary level. Thirteen percent attended primary school, but could not complete their schooling due to family reasons. The remaining had never been to school.The gender-wise trend was almost the same. As the largest proportion of both men and women did not complete their secondary level, second largest proportion for both was also represented by those who had never been to the school. See Table 7.
Table 7: Educational Level Attained by the Graduate s
Education Status Female Male All
Numbers Percentage Numbers Percentage Numbers Percentage
Never been to school 71 26% 18 7% 89 13%
Incomplete primary education 37 13% 53 19% 90 13%
Complete primary education 14 5% 9 3% 23 3%
Incomplete secondary education 114 41% 229 83% 343 51%
Complete secondary education 27 10% 51 19% 78 12%
Vocational school/higher education 12 4% 35 13% 47 7%
Grand Total 275 41% 395 59% 670 100%
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
22
7.7 Educational Attainment and Occupation of the Gr aduate’s Parents The majority of the graduate's parents had never been to school. Because of disproportionate trend of school attendance between men and women, the fathers represented the smaller proportion of 51%who never attended school, as compared to 71%of the mothers. Even those attending the schools mostly dropped out before completing the primary level. See Chart 7. Chart 7: Education Attainment of the Graduate's Par ents
Around 70% graduates represented farm households as indicated by the occupation of their parents. As family heads, the fathers largely worked in the farming sector. The proportion engaged in the private and public sector wage employments was about 11%. Around 6% were found to have been self-employed in the non-farm sector, while another 13% were unemployed. See Table 7. Chart 8: Occupation of the Family Head of the Gradu ates
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%
Nev
er b
een
to
scho
ol
Inco
mpl
ete
prim
ary
educ
atio
n
Com
plet
e pr
imar
y ed
ucat
ion
Inco
mpl
ete
seco
ndar
y ed
ucat
ion
Com
plet
e se
cond
ary
educ
atio
n
Voc
atio
nal
scho
ol/h
ighe
r ed
ucat
ion
50.9
%
26.3
%
4.0% 11
.6%
4.6%
2.5%
76.7
%
17.6
%
1.5%
3.3%
0.3%
0.6%
Father
Mother
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
70%
5% 6% 6%13%
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%
Fa
rmin
g
Wa
ge
em
plo
ye
d i
n
pri
va
te s
ect
or
Wa
ge
em
plo
ye
d i
n
pu
bli
c se
cto
r
Self
-em
plo
ye
d
(exc
lud
ing
fa
rmin
g)
Un
em
plo
ye
d
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
23
7.8 Geographic Location of the Graduates More than half of the graduates (53%) are living in the rural area, while around 47% live in the semi-urban or urban areas. In relative terms, it was observed that a relatively greater proportion of female graduates live in the rural areas (55%) as compared to male graduates (51%). See Table 8. Table 8: Location of Graduates
Location Female Male All
Numbers Percentage Numbers Percentage Total Percentage
Semi urban and urban area 123 39% 194 61% 317 47% Rural area 152 43% 201 57% 353 53%
Total 275 41% 395 59% 670 100% Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
7.9 Employment Situation of the Graduates before Tr aining More than half of the graduates (52%) were totally unemployed before training, as opposed to others who were underemployed. The proportion of unemployed was higher among women (70%) as compared to men (39%). Those who were underemployed, were almost equally divided between the self-employed and wage-employed occupations. See Table 9.
Around 11%of the candidates were attending schools before joining the training. However, none of them had previous exposure to vocational training. Table 9: Employment Status of the Graduates before Attending Training
Employment Situation Female Male All
Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage In wage employment 18 7% 110 28% 128 19% In self-employment 43 16% 80 20% 123 18% In the school 22 8% 50 13% 72 11% Unemployed 192 70% 155 39% 347 52% Total 275 100% 395 100% 670 100%
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
7.10 Motivation of Graduates to Attend Training For most of the graduates, there was more than one reason to be trained. Almost 99% mentioned that hope for gainful employment was one the motivating factors for them to join training. For 97% graduates, the “free training offer” was an attraction in itself. A similar proportion of graduates also thought that by attending training they could enhance their skills, which in turn would help them to compete for a job.
The graduates were requested to mention three important reasons for their motivation to attend training in a priority order. In response to this, a greater proportion of the graduates mentioned skill enhancement (an asset for the working life) as their first motivating reason followed by employment outlook (hope for employment), and in third place was free tuition
24
fee for training.
The order of priority was same for both men and women. However, the relative magnitude of the response was greater among women for the first two reasons (i.e., skill enhancement and employment outlook) as compared to men. See Table 10.
Table 10: Three Important Reasons for Attending Tra ining Reasons by Order of Priority Female Male All
Priority Order Reasons Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage
I Skill enhancement (an asset for the working life)
261 95% 359 91% 620 93%
II Employment outlook 259 94% 352 89% 607 91% III Free training 242 88% 348 88% 594 89%
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
7.11 Reasons for Selecting a Particular T&E
Since there were several T&Es offering training in the market, the graduates were asked how important they felt among the various reasons for selecting a particular T&E. In response to this, a large proportion of them provided higher score for reasons such as free tuition, hope for employment in the future (employment outlook), personal interest to improve the trade-specific know-how, hope for increased earning (income improvement), and reputation of the T&E selected. See Chart 9.
Chart 9: Reasons for Selecting Particular T&E
Among other reasons, the presence of T&E in the neighbourhood and familiar friends working in the T&E obtained lower choice scores.
7.12 Source of Information about Training More than half of the graduates (55%) acquired information about training from their
3.6
4.4
4.2
4.34.1
3.8
3.2
12345
Closeness to Home
Free Tuition Fee
Employment Outlook
Trade KnowhowIncreased Income
Reputed T&E
Friends at the T&E
1 - Not important at all
2 - Not important
3 - OK
4 - ImportantSource: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
25
friends and family members, while 26% were informed through the trainers. Only 2% were informed by former graduates. The remaining 17% were informed through other sources such as notice posted by the T&E at different locations and information disseminated by the local VDC.
Chart 10: Source of Information about Training
7.13 Satisfaction with the Training Programme Atten ded
Around 91% graduates said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the training programme they attended, while 8% of the respondents said they were only moderately satisfied. Those not satisfied, or not satisfied at all, amounted to only 1% of the respondents. Satisfaction by men and women was almost the same. See Table 11.
Table 11: Satisfaction Level of the Training Gradua tes
Level of Satisfaction Female Male All
Numbers Percentage Numbers Percentage Numbers Percentage
Satisfied (4, 5) 248 90% 363 92% 611 91%
Moderately satisfied (3) 23 8% 28 7% 51 8%
Not satisfied (1, 2) 4 1% 4 1% 8 1%
Overall 275 100% 395 100% 670 100%
Not satisfied at all = 1, Not satisfied = 2, Moderately satisfied = 3, Satisfied = 4, Very Satisfied = 5 Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
The level of satisfaction of the respondent graduates was analyzed by the trade group as well. Such analysis revealed that all trades except brick molding and Thanka painting obtained the score of above 4. This indicates that 15 out of 17 trade groups had run the training with greater level of satisfaction of the training graduates. See Table 12. Table 12: Satisfaction Level of the Training Gradua tes by Trade Groups
Trade Group
All Male Female
No. Average Score
No. Average Score
No. Average Score
Automobile 29 4.3 26 4.35 3 4.0
Beautician 45 4.3 12 4.25 33 4.3
Brick Mason 42 4.3 42 4.33 -
Brick Molder 41 3.9 22 3.91 19 3.8
55%
2%
26%
17%Friends/family
Former graduates
Trainers/teachers
Others
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
26
Trade Group
All Male Female
No. Average Score
No. Average Score
No. Average Score
Cook 42 4.1 20 4.25 22 4.0
Electrical 44 4.2 39 4.21 5 3.8
Electronics Repair 43 4.2 37 4.16 6 4.3
Food and Beverage 39 4.2 33 4.21 6 3.8
Furniture 40 4.3 37 4.35 3 4.0
Garment 44 4.2 - - 44 4.2
Hand Embroidery 43 4.2 - - 43 4.2
Junior Plumber 37 4.3 36 4.28 1 4.0
Mechanical 42 4.3 42 4.33 - -
Stick Rolling 46 4.7 1 5.00 45 4.7
Thanka (Paubha) Artist 42 3.9 12 4.08 30 3.9
Village Animal Health Worker 39 4.0 24 3.92 15 4.1
Welding 12 4.3 12 4.33 - -
Overall 670 4.2 395 4.23 275 4.2 Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
Of those who were less satisfied or not satisfied with the training programme opined that the duration of training was too short and it was pitched only at the basic level. They were also felt dissatisfaction when they found that accessing gainful employment after training was difficult (due to limited market recognition of the training programme).Some said that they also found the quality of teaching inadequate. However, the number of respondents expressing such dissatisfaction was very small.
7.14 Difficulties Encountered in Joining the Traini ng Programme
Around 87% graduate respondents mentioned that they did not encounter any problem in joining the training. However, remaining 13% reported that they had encountered some difficulties. See chart 11. Chart 11: Difficulties Encountered in Joining Train ing
Of those who reported constraints in joining the training, around 59% felt distance of the training centre inconvenient for them. Nearly 22% graduates reported difficulties caused by other commitments to earn livelihood for their family.
13%
87%
Yes
No
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
27
Chart 12: Difficulties Encountered in Joining Train ing
7.15 Rating the Training Facilities
The graduate respondents were requested to rank the training facilities provided (e.g., class rooms/training hall, practical training equipment, safety condition, hygiene and sanitation facilities, and overall Infrastructure). In response to this, “training equipment” obtained the highest rank scores of “good” and “very good” followed by “overall infrastructure”. See Table 13.
Table 13: Ranking of the T&E Facilities
Ranking
Class Rooms /Training Hall
Practical Training Equipment
Safety Condition
Hygiene /Sanitation Facility
Overall Infrastructure
No. Percent No. Percent No. Percent
No. Percent No. Percent
Good /Very Good (4,5)
539 81% 592 90% 523 80% 516 78% 572 87%
Moderately Good (3) 115 17% 61 9% 114 17% 123 19% 82 13%
Poor/Very Poor (1,2)
8 1% 7 1% 20 3% 19 3% 1
Total 662 100% 660 100% 657 100%
658 100% 655 100%
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
7.16 Perception of Graduates Regarding Training Qua lity The respondent graduates were asked about the quality of training, reflecting upon aspects such as the extent of interesting lessons, use of relevant training materials, competence of the trainers, practical usefulness of the curriculum, and the relevance of training to labor market needs and priorities. In response, close to 90%of the respondents ranked the relevance of training materials, competent trainers, practical orientation of the curriculum, and the significance of training to the job market as “good” or “very good”. However, in the case of extent of use of interesting lessons, only 81% of the respondents
5% 2%
22%
59%
3%9% High commuting cost
Training duration
Family commitments
Accessibility of training centre
Social pressure/traditions
Other reasons
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
28
ranked it “good” or “very good”. Overall, their rankings suggest that the quality of training programmes in general was fine. See Table 14.
Table 14: Training Quality Perceived by the Graduat es
Ranking Scale Interesting
Lessons
Relevant Training Materials
Competent Trainers
Practical Orientation of
Curriculum
Job Market Relevant Training
No % No % No % No % No %
Bad/Very Bad 6 1 4 1 13 2 7 1 9 1
Average 121 18 65 10 60 9 73 11 69 11
Goo/Very Good 533 81 591 89 597 89 577 88 583 88
Total 660 100 660 100 670 100 657 100 661 100
Average Score 3.96 4.18 4.25 4.13 4.14 Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
Ranked scores by the respondents varied by the aspects related to quality features for different trade groups. Table 15 presents their perceptions at trade-specific levels:
Table 15: Training Quality Perceived by the Graduat es by Trade Groups
Trade
Interesting Lessons
Relevant Training Materials
Competent Trainers
Practical Orientation of
Curriculum
Job Market Relevant Training
No. Rank
Score * No. Rank
Score * No. Rank
Score * No. Rank
Score * No. Rank
Score *
Automobile 29 3.55 28 4.25 29 4.1 29 4.1 29 4.14
Beautician 44 3.93 45 4.18 45 4.38 45 4.38 44 4.2
Brick Mason 42 4.07 41 4.2 42 4.21 42 4.21 41 4.07
Brick Molder 41 3.73 41 4.05 41 3.93 41 3.93 41 3.83
Cook 41 3.83 42 4.17 42 4.17 42 4.17 41 4.07
Electrical 44 3.93 44 4.18 44 4.27 44 4.27 44 4.07
Electronics Repair 42 3.86 41 3.83 43 4.12 43 4.12 41 4.02
Food and Beverage 38 4.16 39 4.46 39 4.69 39 4.69 39 4.49
Furniture 40 3.78 40 4.08 40 3.83 40 3.83 40 3.85
Garment 42 4.07 43 4.16 44 4.25 44 4.25 42 4.19
Hand Embroidery 41 3.98 41 4.2 43 4.35 43 4.35 42 4.19
Junior Plumber 37 3.89 37 3.97 37 4.27 37 4.27 37 3.95
Mechanical 40 4.08 40 4.33 42 4.29 42 4.29 40 4.2
Stick Rolling 46 4.48 46 4.83 46 4.76 46 4.76 43 4.74
Thanka (Paubha) Artist 42 3.98 41 4.32 42 4.1 42 4.1 42 3.88
Village Animal Health Worker 39 3.82 39 3.74 39 4.26 39 4.26 39 4.26
Welding 12 4 12 4 12 4 12 4 12 4
Overall 660 3.96 660 4.18 670 4.25 670 4.25 657 4.13
Note: * Average Score Out of 5. Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
29
7.17 Duration of Training The average duration of training was 2.8 months. The longest training programme was for Thanka artists (5.6 months) followed by food and beverage (3.4 months) and welding (3.3 months), respectively.
Chart 13: Duration of Training by the Trade Group
The respondents were requested to express their feeling about the adequacy of training duration to support the development of required skills. In response, around 89% termed the duration as “ideal”, while 10% considered it “too short”. The remainder thought the training was “too long”.
The proportion of graduates expressing the duration of training “too short” was greater among the women respondents (42%) as compared to men (15%). The women who were trained in the furniture and junior plumber trades, all felt that the training was too short. They felt that they could have learned more had there been more days of training.
Table 16: Perception of Graduate Respondents about the Adequacy of Training Duration
Trade
Response Regarding Adequacy of the Training Duratio n (In Percentage)
Female Male Overall
Ideal Too Short
Too Long Ideal Too
Short Too
Long Ideal Too Short
Too Long
Automobile 67 33 - 96 4 - 93 7 -
Beautician 48 52 - 92 8 - 60 40 - Brick Mason - - - 95 5 - 95 5 -
Brick Molder 100 - - 100 - - 100 - - Cook 73 27 - 70 30 - 71 29 -
Electrical 20 80 - 74 26 - 68 32 -
2.8 2.8
2.4 2.2
2.5 2.9
3.0 3.4
2.9 2.8
2.5 2.9 3.0
1.0 5.6
1.2 3.3
2.7
- 1 2 3 4 5 6
Automobile
Brick Mason
Cook
Electronics Repair
Furniture
Hand Embroidery
Mechanical
Thanka (Paubha) Artist
Welding
Months
Tra
de
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
30
Trade
Response Regarding Adequacy of the Training Duratio n (In Percentage)
Female Male Overall
Ideal Too Short
Too Long
Ideal Too Short
Too Long
Ideal Too Short
Too Long
Electronics Repair 50 50 - 73 27 - 70 30 - Food and Beverage 100 - - 91 6 3 92 5 3
Furniture - 100 - 73 27 - 68 32 - Garment 45 55 - - - - 45 55 -
Hand Embroidery 70 30 - - - - 70 30 - Junior Plumber - 100 - 78 22 - 76 24 -
Mechanical - - - 69 29 2 69 29 2 Stick Rolling 100 - - 100 - - 100 - -
Thanka (Paubha) Artist 67 33 - 50 42 8 62 36 2 Village Animal Health Worker 27 73 - 42 58 - 36 64 -
Welding - - - 50 33 17 50 33 17
Overall 58 42 - 82 15 3 89 10 1 Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
7.18 Participation of Graduates in OJT
Almost 60%of the graduates attended on-the-job training (OJT).Around 90%of them attended OJT in the brick molding, junior plumbing and village animal worker trade groups. The lowest number of OJT trainees was for the Thanka (Paubha) artist trade. One reason for its low OJT representation was long duration of the training programme. Chart 14: Participation of the graduates in OJT
The average duration of OJT was 1.6 months, ranging from one to three months for different trades. The shortest OJT programs were for brick molding, stick rolling and
41.4%51.1%
76.2%92.7%
61.9%70.5%
44.2%76.9%
67.5%47.7%
55.8%91.9%
69.0%32.6%
4.8%89.7%
50.0%60.3%
0% 50% 100%
Automobile
Brick Mason
Cook
Electronics Repair
Furniture
Hand Embroidery
Mechanical
Thanka (Paubha) Artist
Welding
Percentage
Tra
de
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
31
Thanka (Paubha) artist. The longest was for three months in the welding trade. Chart 15: Duration of OJT
7.19 Perception of the Graduates Regarding Quality of the OJT The graduate respondents were asked to express their level of satisfaction over some aspects of the quality of OJT, including the extent of interesting and diversified nature of the work, competency of the instructors, participatory structure of the programme, and overall support of the training institution. In response, more than 90% respondents said that they were taught by competent instructors and more than 80%said that they were generally satisfied with the interesting and diversified nature of the work, the participatory structure of the working arrangement and overall support of the training institution. Charts 16-18 present their responses for each of these aspects. Chart 16: Interesting & Diversified Working Opportu nity
1.51.5
1.41.0
1.61.4
2.11.7
2.31.9
1.61.3
1.81.01.01.1
3.01.6
- 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5
Automobile
Brick Mason
Cook
Electronics Repair
Furniture
Hand Embroidery
Mechanical
Thanka (Paubha) Artist
Welding
Months
Tra
de
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
85%
14% 1%
Agreed/Highly Agreed (4, 5)
Undecided (3)
Disagreed/Highly Disagreed (1, 2)
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
32
Chart 17: Competent Instructors
Chart 18: Participatory Approach of Working Arrange ment
Chart 19: Positive Support of the Training Institut ion
7.20 Assessment of the Working Environment by the O JT Participants The respondents were asked to indicate their satisfaction level regarding OJT working environment. They were requested to consider four aspects of the training facility− general working condition, hygiene and sanitation, working hours per day, and access to the tools, materials and equipment needed to practice the skills. In response they ranked the tools,
92%
7% 1%Agreed/Highly Agreed (4, 5)Undecided (3)
Disagreed/Highly Disagreed (1, 2)
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
81%
12%
7%
Agreed/Highly Agreed (4, 5)Undecided (3)
Disagreed/Highly Disagreed (1, 2)
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
84%
13% 3%
Agreed/Highly Agreed (4, 5)
Undecided (3)
Disagreed/Highly Disagreed (1, 2)
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
33
materials and equipment at 4.12 (out of 5). The lowest score of 3.62 was given to “working hours per day”.
The scores varied for different trade groups but most were on the higher side. Relative greater fluctuation was observed for working hours, food and accommodation.
Chart 20: Average Scores Regarding Trainee Satisfac tion with OJT Working Environment
Around 66% graduates felt that OJT provided a good learning atmosphere. Some of them arranged the OJT in their own initiative and felt that OJT was a good opportunity for their skill enhancement. About 23% of the respondents felt that there is room for improvement, such as providing trainees with more exposure to market-friendly equipment and that OJT should be conducted in a noise and dust free environment. See Chart 20.
7.21 Willingness of Graduates to Recommend T&E to O ther Candidates When the graduates were asked whether they would recommend the subject of training to their friends, around 99% of them said they would. This indicates their overall positive feelings about the subject in which they were trained. They were also asked if they would recommend the same T&E to others, to which around 87% graduates said “yes”. They were also asked if they would choose same subject for refresher training. In reply to this question, only around 46% provided a positive response.
Chart 21: Willingness to Recommend the Subject, Ref resher Course and the T&E
3.85
4.12
3.84
3.62
3.30
3.40
3.50
3.60
3.70
3.80
3.90
4.00
4.10
4.20
General working conditions
Tools, materials & equipment
Hygiene & sanitation facilities
Working hours/day
Satisfied = 4,5
Moderately Satisfied = 3
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
99%
87%
46%
0 50 100 150
Would recommend same T&E
Would recommend same subject of training
Would recommend refresher course on the same subjec t
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
34
Those who were not positive about their T&E said that the instructors were not fully capable. They also said that the training materials provided were not sufficient. More than anything else, they were disappointed by absence of access to gainful income despite their heavy work burden.
Chart 22: Varying Satisfaction over OJT Environment across the Trades
4.0
3.8
4.0
3.7
4.1
3.8
3.8
4.4
3.5
3.8
3.7
3.6
3.9
3.9
3.4
3.7
3.7
3.9
4.7
4.2
4.2
3.9
4.2
4.1
3.9
4.5
3.9
4.1
3.9
4.1
4.4
4.6
3.8
3.6
3.8
4.1
3.7
3.8
3.8
3.7
4.1
3.7
3.9
4.3
3.4
3.9
3.7
3.8
3.7
4.3
4.2
3.8
3.7
3.8
2.6
3.3
4.0
3.6
3.9
3.9
3.7
3.8
3.3
3.9
3.2
3.7
3.4
4.0
3.5
3.6
3.0
3.6
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0
Automobile
Beautician
Brick Mason
Brick Molder
Cook
Electrical
Electronics Repair
Food and Beverage
Furniture
Garment
Hand Embroidery
Junior Plumber
Mechanical
Stick Rolling
Thanka (Paubha) Artist
Village Animal Health Worker
Welding
Overall Satisfaction
Working hours/day Hygiene, sanitation facilitiesTools, material & equipment General working conditions
Sa
tisf
ied
= 4
,5
Mo
de
rate
ly S
ati
sfie
d =
3
No
t sa
tisf
ied
= 1
,2
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
35
7.22 Transition to Employment after Graduation The average transition period between the date of completion of the training programme and access to a job was about 2 months. The duration of transition varied not only by the nature of trade but also by gender of the trained graduates. For some trades females had the advantage of being quickly employed as compared to their male counterparts, while it was just reverse in the case of others trades.
Chart 23: Transition to Employment after Graduation (In Months)
7.23 Strategy Followed for Employment Seeking
Making use of personal connections through friends, relatives and local leaders was one dominant strategy followed by around 45% job seeking graduates. This was followed by the placement arrangements made by the T&E (38%). These strategies covered both wage and self-employment. Graduates keen to access a job as early as possible after training followed multiple strategies, some by approaching an employer directly (5%), while others (around 12%)were themselves approached by an employers. The latter situation was created by occasional contacts with employers made by the T&E for the placement of graduates. See Table 17.
1.3 1.1
1.1 1.0
1.1 1.5
2.2 3.9
1.5
2.0 1.4
0.3
8.1 3.3
0.9 1.9
4.7
1.1 1.5
5.0
2.6
1.3 2.2
1.2
0.5 4.1
1.0
1.8
- 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0
AutomobileBeautician
Brick MasonBrick Molder
CookElectrical
Electronics RepairFood and Beverage
FurnitureGarment
Hand EmbroideryJunior Plumber
MechanicalStick Rolling
Thanka (Paubha) ArtistVillage Animal Health Worker
WeldingOverall
Months
Tra
de
Female
Male
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
36
Table 17: Employment Seeking Strategy Strategy No. Percent Assistance obtained from the T&E 254 38
Directly approached by the employer 80 12 Application left to the employer for consideration 34 5
Made use of personal connections 302 45
Total 670 100 Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
7.24 Activities of Graduates Up to Two Years after Completion of Training More than 80%of the graduates engaged in wage or self-employment at different time intervals within two years after completion of training. Others were either engaged in training or remained unemployed.
Chart 24: Activities of Engagement within Two Years of Training
Around 9% of the graduates were involved in further training within the first six months after graduation. This is partly a reflection of OJT and continuity of previous schooling.
The proportion of self-employed graduates was relatively less compared to wage-employed graduates within the initial three months of training. However, this situation changed over the months with an increase in the number of self-employed graduates. The
11%
7%
8%
10%
11%
11%
12%
12%
9%
1%
1%
1%
35%
44%
47%
48%
50%
50%
49%
49%
45%
48%
45%
42%
39%
39%
38%
38%
0% 20% 40% 60%
(N = 640)
(N = 570)
(N = 568)
(N = 556)
(N = 559)
(N = 556)
(N = 548)
(N = 543)
1-3
m
on
ths
4-6
m
on
ths
7-9
m
onth
s1
0-1
2
mo
nth
s13
-15
mo
nth
s1
6-1
8
mon
ths
19
-21
m
on
ths
22-2
4 m
on
ths
Percent of Graduates
Per
iod
Afte
r T
rain
ing
In wage employment In self-employment In training UnemployedSource: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
37
proportion of unemployed graduates in the first three months after training was around 11%, which decreased to 7%withinfour to six months. The reduction can be attributed to rigorous follow up of the graduates by both T&E and EFS prior to the verification of gainful employment encouraging the candidates to cross specified threshold of income within the first six months.
The proportion of unemployed graduates was 11%–within five to six months, and rose to 13%within 22 to 24 months. This indicates declining retention of the employed graduates. Some of the reasons influencing this situation are low return to labor and the absence of support for upgrading skills to develop higher level career path (i.e., the training support to upgrade skills from Level 1 to Level 2 for better job prospect).
7.25 Changes in the Employment Situation after Trai ning
The graduates reported changes in their engagement pattern after the training. Around 52% graduates were unemployed before the training. This proportion declined to 11% right after training but rose slightly to 15% by the time of the survey.
Chart 25: Percent of Employed Graduates before and after Training
Of the total number of graduates unemployed before and after training, greater percentages were female graduates over their male counterparts.
Table 18: Proportion of Male and Female Graduates a mong the Unemployed Candidates
Sex Before Training Immediate After Training At Present Female 55 55 63 Male 45 45 37
Total 100 100 100 Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
Considering the current unemployment rate of 15%among interviewed graduates, around 85% have been found still working. This proportion tallied with 80.5% gainful employment
52%
11%15%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Before Training Right After Graduation
At Present
N = 670
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
38
rate reported by the EFS Progress Report (2008/09), which indicates an employment retention rate of 68.4% (i.e., 85% x 80.5%). Among other things, this rate of retention can be attributed to the regular follow up and income verification mechanisms adopted by the EFS to promote its “outcome based financing” approach.
7.26 Graduates Engaged in Wage Employment and Self- employment Among the employed graduates, around 57% were engaged with wage employment. Remaining others were holding self-employment.
Chart 26: Proportion of Wage and Self-Employed Grad uates
The proportion of engagement in wage and self-employment varied across the trades. For some (e.g., welding and brick molding) all employed graduates were engaged in wage employment.
43%
57%
In Self-employment
N =
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
39
Chart 27: Percentage Distribution of the Wage and S elf-Employed Graduates by Trade
7.27 Proportion of the Currently Employed Male and Female Graduates More male trainee graduates were employed graduates, compared with females.
Chart 28: Distribution of Male and Female Graduates Currently Employed
50.0
76.7
13.2
76.738.2
70.012.5
53.866.7
82.827.3
68.44.3
23.566.7
43.5
50.023.3
86.8100.0
23.361.8
30.087.5
46.233.3
17.272.7
31.695.7
76.533.3
100.056.5
0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0 120.0
AutomobileBeautician
Brick MasonBrick Molder
Cook
ElectricalElectronics Repair
Food and BeverageFurnitureGarment
Hand Embroidery
Junior PlumberMechanical
Stick RollingThanka (Paubha) Artist
Village Animal Health WorkerWelding
Overall
Percent of Employed Graduates
In wage employment In self-employmentSource: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
38.3% 35.4%
61.7% 64.6%
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
Self-employment (N = 308) Wage Employment (N = 260)
Female MaleSource: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
40
7.28 Caste/Ethnicity Representation of the Currentl y Employed Graduates The priority of the EFS has remained to train maximum number of disadvantaged groups (i.e. Category “A” followed by the Category “B” and “C”). To materialize this, it has followed a policy of providing post-training incentive to the T&Es on the basis of the number of gainfully employed graduates. In order to make sure that they would try their best to enroll and employ the most disadvantaged groups, the rate of incentive has been differentiated by making a provision of 100 percent additional training cost for the Category “A” graduates, 80 percent additional training cost for the Category “B” graduates and 60 percent additional training cost for the Category “C” graduates.
Despite the incentives provided to the T&Es to enroll greater number of disadvantaged groups, they had difficulties to find adequate number of trainees in Category “A” in the initial stage. Realizing this, the project followed an open policy by not fixing any pre-determined quota for each caste/ethnicity category except encouraging the T&Es to find more to be entitled for greater incentive. Due to such situation, the proportion selected for training from different caste/ethnic groups could not remain uniform. Therefore, the figures quoted for employed or unemployed graduates in this section has to be viewed with this limitation (meaning that the proportion represented by different caste/ethnic groups in this section is the distribution taken from the figures of whole lot but not a caste/ethnic group specific comparison on one-to-one basis..
The study revealed greater proportion of employed graduates among the Janajatis for both wage and self-employment. This was mainly because of greater coverage of this ethnic group during training too. In the second place, Brahmins and Chhetris were represented.The Brahmin and Chhetri were largely engaged in wage employment compared to self-employment. In the case of Adibashi, the situation was just reverse. The percentage of self-employed Adibashi graduates was greater than the percentage of wage employed graduates. Similar trend was observed for Janajati also.
Chart 29: Ethnic Distribution of Currently Employed Graduates
21.5
13.1
13.1 41
.9
4.6
6.211
.0 35.7
8.8
39.0
4.9
0.6
0.010.020.030.040.050.0
Adi
bash
i
Bra
hmin
/Chh
etri
Dal
it
Jana
jati
Mad
eshi
Mus
lim
Percent of Employed GraduatesSelf Employment (N = 308) Wage Employment (N = 260)
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
41
Those who were found unemployed, they represented following proportion:
Chart 30: Ethnic Distribution of Currently Unemploy ed Graduates
7.29 Employment Accessed by Graduates in Rural and Urban Locations The type of employment accessed by the training graduates did not vary much with the urban and rural category of the geographic locations. This could be because all training programmes were implemented upon assessment of the local employment potential during the RMA. In the case of proportion of unemployed graduates also, there was no significant variation between urban and rural areas.
Chart 31: Employment of the Graduates in Rural and Urban Areas
7.30 Nature of Employment (Full Time and Part Time) Around 90%of the employed graduates were working full time, while the rest were engaged part time. Among the male graduates, a greater proportion of full time employees were self-employed, followed by wage employment. Among female graduates, the situation was just reverse.
1.0%
4.6%
2.8%
6.1%
0.1%
0.1%
0% 2% 4% 6% 8%
Adibashi
Brahmin/ Chhetri
Dalit
Janajati
Madeshi
Muslim
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
N = 100
47.537.7
14.8
44.8 40.1
15.1
0.0
20.0
40.0
60.0
Self-employment Wage Employment Unemployed
Percent of Employed Graduates
Urban-semi urban area Rural areaSource: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
42
Chart 32: Distribution of Full and Part Time Employ ed Graduates by Gender
7.31 Working Hours Spent by the Employment Type
The working hours spent by the wage-employed graduates per week was 51. For the self-employed graduates, it was 53 hours per week; both are slightly greater than the number of weekly hours endorsed by the ILO convention for the workers.8
As the working hours reported in this section cover only the time involved for employment, it does not reveal full status of work burden. Considering that the graduates are also involved in household activities, the work burden in number of hours per week maybe more, especially for women heavily involved in household chores.
7.32 Migration of Graduates from their Original Loc ation after Training Around 13% graduates moved from the rural to semi-urban and urban areas for jobs after training. Before training, the rural areas represented 64% graduate candidates, while 33% were living in the semi-urban and urban areas. This situation has now changed to 53% in the rural area followed by 47% in the semi-urban and urban areas. These shifts are recorded for sampled graduates only. If migration of other kinds (e.g., conflict or foreign employment) is considered, the rate of movement could be higher.
8 The Article 2 of the ILO Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 states that working hours of an employee in any public or private
industrial undertaking or in any branch thereof, other than an undertaking in which only members of the same family are employed, shall
not exceed eight in a day and 48 in the week.
88.1
%
10.7
%
91.3
%
8.7%
93.2
%
6.3%
86.4
%
12.7
%
0.0%
25.0%
50.0%
75.0%
100.0%
working full-time
working part-time
working full-time
working part-time
male female
Gender - Employment Status
in wage employment
in self-employment
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
43
Chart 33: Migration after Training
7.33 Extent of Application of Knowledge and Skills Acquired in Training
Around 90% of the respondents reported using skills and knowledge acquired from training in their present jobs, with an average score of 4.0. Out of the 17 trade groups surveyed, 11 trade related graduates reported utilization of their learning as “good”, while those from the other six trade groups ranked utilization between “moderate” and “good”, especially from the mechanical trade, Thanka painting and VAHW.
Chart 34: Utilization of Knowledge and Skills Gaine d During Training
33%
67%
47%53%
(Semi-)urban area Rural area
Before training
After training
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
4.28 4.09
4.24 3.98 4.05
3.71 4.10
3.50 4.28
4.05 3.49
4.00 3.92
4.61 3.85 3.91
4.17 4.03
1 2 3 4 5
AutomobileBeautician
Brick MasonBrick Molder
CookElectrical
Electronics RepairFood and Beverage
FurnitureGarment
Hand EmbroideryJunior Plumber
MechanicalStick Rolling
Thanka (Paubha) ArtistVillage Animal Health …
WeldingOverall
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
44
7.34 Satisfaction Regarding Placement Services Prov ided by the T&Es When the graduate respondents were asked to rank the placement service provided by their respective T&Es, around 27% graduates said “very good”, 54% considered it “good”, and 19% said it was “just OK”. Chart 35: Satisfaction Regarding Placement Service Provided by T&E
7.35 Income of the Graduates before and after Train ing Average income of the graduates before training was Rs.2,471 (ranging from Rs.600 toRs.3,057). After training, their income level rose by around 261.5% and reached an average of Rs.8,933 per month. The increase was different for different trade groups.
Table 19:Average Monthly Income Before and After Tr aining Trade Group Before Training After Training Percentage Increased Automobile 2,153 7,741 259.5% Beautician 2,429 9,064 273.2% Brick Mason 2,559 10,702 318.2% Brick Molder 2,328 9,707 317.0% Cook 2,822 9,683 243.1% Electrical 3,057 10,803 253.4% Electronics Repair 2,429 10,282 323.3% Food and Beverage 2,856 8,532 198.7% Furniture 2,143 9,167 327.8% Garment 1,125 7,195 539.6% Hand Embroidery 2,978 6,860 130.4% Junior Plumber 3,008 9,379 211.8% Mechanical 2,616 10,173 288.9% Stick Rolling 600 5,264 777.3% Thanka (Paubha) Artist 2,000 8,424 321.2% Village Animal Health Worker 2,892 8,363 189.2% Welding 2,350 9,875 320.2% Overall 2,471 8,933 261.5% Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
The average income after training was greater for male graduates over their female counterparts. The income of female graduates rose from Rs.2,143 to Rs.7,568, while the income of male graduates rose from Rs.2,573 to Rs.9,730.
27%
54%
19%
Very Good GoodSource: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
45
Chart 36: Average Income of Female and Male Graduat es Before and After Training
The overall rate of increase in the income of graduates after training was 265% in the semi-urban/urban work areas, and only slightly less (258%) for those in rural areas. Table 20: Average Monthly Income of Graduates in Se mi-urban/Urban and Rural Work Areas
Trade
Urban and Semi-Urban Areas of Work Rural Areas of Work
Before Training
After Training
Percentage Increased
Before Training
After Training
Percentage Increased
Automobile 2,025 7,262 258.6% 2,667 9,000 237.5%
Beautician 2,250 9,583 325.9% 2,667 8,619 223.2%
Brick Mason 2,856 12,583 340.7% 2,354 9,950 322.7%
Brick Molder - - - 2,328 9,707 317.0 %
Cook 2,925 11,122 280.2% 2,000 7,735 286.8 %
Electrical 3,225 11,925 269.8% 2,050 8,731 325.9 %
Electronics Repair 2,520 10,185 304.2% 2,200 10,456 375.3%
Food and Beverage 2,957 9,025 205.2% 2,500 6,560 162.4 %
Furniture 2,417 9,321 285.7% 1,938 9,080 368.6%
Garment 1,125 7,239 543.5% - 7,139* NA
Hand Embroidery 3,467 8,071 132.8% 2,000 5,318 165.9%
Junior Plumber 2,120 10,169 379.7% 3,563 8,825 147.7 %
Mechanical 3,158 10,270 225.2% 2,115 10,075 376.3%
Stick Rolling - 4,750* NA 600 5,316 786.0 %
Thanka (Paubha) Artist 2,000 8,705 335.3% - 5,750* NA
Village Animal Health Worker 3,600 9,165 154.6% 2,750 7,667 178.8%
Welding 2,467 10,150 311.5% 2,000 8,500 325.0 %
Overall 2,617 9,552 265.0% 2,299 8,367 258.0% * The increment for these trades is not calculated as there was no income earned from them prior to training. Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu
The income analysis under this section reveals greater increase in the income after training. This was more or less an obvious result, as their current engagement was with skills and for remunerative job. Prior to training, most of the graduates did not have such chance to work in the specialized fields. They were either engaged in the non-skilled and
Rs. 2,143
Rs. 7,568
Rs. 2,573
Rs. 9,730
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
Before Training After Training Before training After Training
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
46
less remunerative jobs or were unemployed.
The distribution of average income across the caste group/ethnicity after training revealed highest earning of Brahmin/Chhetris followed by Janajatis in the second place. In the case of Muslims, it was the lowest, while second lowest income was earned by the Madeshis.
Chart 37: Average Income of Female and Male Graduat es Before and After Training
7.36 Difficulties of Starting Up Self-employed Ente rprise The respondent graduates were asked whether they had encountered any difficulties in starting up their self-employed enterprise. Around 30% reported “no difficulties”, while the remaining 70%described some problems. Chart 38: Difficulties Encountered
The difficulties reported included insufficiency of the investment fund (37%) followed by imperfect location of the enterprise (27%). Around 21% of the respondents observed insufficient entrepreneurship skill as a difficulty, preventing them from having enough confidence to start their own enterprises. The remaining 15%observed unfavourable or inadequate market conditions for their training and entrepreneurship specialty.
Rs.
2,0
70
Rs.
2,7
08
Rs.
2,1
31
Rs.
2,8
64
Rs.
1,9
67
115
0 Rs.
2,4
71
Rs.
8,6
37
Rs.
9,7
79
Rs.
8,0
70
Rs.
9,2
35
Rs.
6,6
35
Rs.
6,1
11 R
s.8
,93
3
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
Adi
bash
i
Bra
hmin
/ C
hhet
ri
Dal
it
Jana
jati
Mad
eshi
Mus
lim
Ove
rall
Rs.
EthinicityBefore Training After Training
70%
30%
Yes NoSource: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
47
Chart 39: Major Difficulties Reported
The reasons given by different self-employed graduates varied across the trades. The Village Animal Health Workers encountered insufficient entrepreneurial skills as one of the major problems in their case, while insufficient investment fund was the major problem encountered by most of the electronics repair trade graduates. Likewise, the imperfect location of the enterprise was a major problem reported by automobile trade graduates, while inadequate market condition was the major problem encountered by the beauticians.
15%
21%
37%
27%
Inadequate market conditionsInsufficient entrepreneurial skills
N = 234
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
48
Chart 40: Trade-Specific Difficulties Reported by t he Self-Employed Graduates
7.37 Graduates Enhancing Training/Education Capacit y Afterwards
Around 84% graduates attended further education after the completion of EFS supported training. They were enrolled in the academic field as most of them were interested to pass SLC and pursue their studies in the college. The other16%of graduates attended vocational subject related training.
25.0
6.3
3.1
9.4
12.5
9.4
15.6
3.1
6.3
6.3
3.1
2.9
17.1
11.4
17.1
2.9
5.7
5.7
11.4
2.9
8.6
8.6
5.7
4.1
10.2
2.0
6.1
6.1
2.0
2.0
4.1
10.2
2.0
10.2
6.1
6.1
6.1
22.4
4.7
11.6
1.2
11.6
7.0
18.6
4.7
2.3
15.1
1.2
2.3
8.1
3.5
8.1
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0
Automobile
Beautician
Brick Mason
Cook
Electrical
Electronics Repair
Food and Beverage
Furniture
Garment
Hand Embroidery
Junior Plumber
Mechanical
Stick Rolling
Thanka (Paubha) Artist
Village Animal Health Worker
Percentage of the Response
Insufficient investment fund Insufficient entrepreneurial skillsInadequate market conditions Imperfect location of the enterprise
N = 234
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
49
Chart 41: Further Training/Education Pursued
The discussions held with the graduates revealed that the proportion of graduates attending the vocational training could have been higher than reported now, had institutional support been offered to them to access to Level 2 training as is done presently for Level 1.
7.38 Graduates as Contributors to Household Incomes Before/After Training The income earning pattern of the family members in the households of training graduates has changed by around 19%. Before training, the graduate candidates could contribute 48% to their household income in average. However, after access to employment facilitated by training, the contribution of the graduates to their household income reached 67%. Chart 42: Respondents Contributing to the Household Income Before and After Training
7.39 Saving Habit of the Graduate Households On average, around 45.5% of the graduate households practice saving from their family earnings. However, the saving habit varies significantly across the trade groups represented by the graduates. Households belonging to the cooking trade group graduates largely follow the saving practice (76.2%), followed by furniture graduate household (70%). The lowest saving practice was applied by the households related to the graduates of Thanka (Paubha) Artist trade (4.8%).
84%
16%
School/College Education Vocational Training
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
48%
67%
52%
33%
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%
Before After
Graduate
Others
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
50
Chart 43: Percentage of the Graduate Households Inv olved in Saving Practice
The average amount saved by the household of the employed graduate per year was Rs.59,751. Such savings vary across the trade groups represented by the graduate households. The lowest savings was recorded for households of the stick rolling trade graduates (Rs.2,800 per year).The highest savings, of Rs.104,800 per year, was recorded households represented by the electrical trade group. Chart 44: Average Annual Saving of Family Members I ncluding Graduates
55.2%60.0%
31.0%56.1%
76.2%45.5%67.4%
7.7%70.0%
54.5%37.2%
40.5%66.7%
8.7%4.8%
61.5%8.3%
45.5%
AutomobileBeautician
Brick MasonBrick Molder
CookElectrical
Electronics RepairFood and Beverage
FurnitureGarment
Hand EmbroideryJunior Plumber
MechanicalStick Rolling
Thanka (Paubha) ArtistVillage Animal Health Worker
WeldingOverall
Tra
de
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
49,267 44,481
64,462 69,696
83,719 104,880
59,185 17,733
66,071 33,050
30,007 49,267
73,731 2,800
73,000 42,000
70,000 59,751
- 40,000 80,000 120,000
AutomobileBeautician
Brick MasonBrick Molder
CookElectrical
Electronics RepairFood and Beverage
FurnitureGarment
Hand EmbroideryJunior Plumber
MechanicalStick Rolling
Thanka (Paubha) ArtistVillage Animal Health Worker
WeldingOverall
NRs.
Tra
de
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
51
7.40 Non Cash Income Earned by the Employed Graduat es The employed graduates were asked if they received any non-cash benefits from their employment after training. Around 17% reported access to fringe benefits such as transportation cost, food during the work and uniforms. Those who had access to such benefits were associated with cooking, food and beverage and furniture trades.
7.41 Improvement in the Living Condition after Trai ning
When the graduates were asked about the effects of training on their living conditions, around 91% mentioned that their living conditions have improved, while around 9%said that they noticed no significant change.
The proportion of graduates reporting improvement in the living condition after training was slightly higher among male graduates as compared to their female counterparts. However, in both cases, no graduates reported their condition worsening after the training.
Chart 45: Change in the Living Condition after Trai ning
7.42 Investment of Income for Family Wellbeing
The employed graduates were requested to report spending of their incomes for the family welfare besides the expenditures incurred for food. Of the various answers recorded, the greater response said improvement of housing condition was first priority (27.6%), followed by investment in their children’s education (24.3%). Besides these investments, the graduates also reported spending money to buy tools and machinery, land and animals.
88
93
91
12
7
9
0 20 40 60 80 100
Female
Male
All
Percent of Graduates
No significant difference Improved
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
52
Chart 46: Graduates Reporting Purchase of Items for Family Well Being
7.43 Relevance of Training to the Graduates' Curren t Work Around 80% graduates mentioned that their training was relevant to the type of job they are now doing. The proportion of respondents expressing such relevance was greater among male graduates as compared to female graduates.
Chart 47: Relevance of Training to the Graduate’s P resent Work
In order to understand the extent of relevance maintained by the graduates between their subject of training and the current work being done, a probing question was asked about the type and extent of relevance. In response to this, around 46% graduates mentioned their continued work in the field of attended training (e.g., mason graduate working as mason), while another 44% said that they were engaged in other jobs but which were still related to the subject of their training (e.g., mason graduate working for tile fitting and plastering).The remaining 10% said they were working in other jobs not related to the subject of their training (e.g., carpenter working as plastic and steel furniture shopkeeper).
15.0
6.8
1.4
8.5
16.3
27.6
24.3
0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0
Motorcycle/bicycle
Land
Animals
TV/computer
Tools & machinery
Improvement of house
Education for children
Percent of ResponseSource: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
60%
65%
70%
75%
80%
85%
90%
All Male Female
80%
85%
71%
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
53
Chart 48: Nature of the Relevance of Training with the Graduate’s Present Work
7.44 Importance of the Acquired Skills and Qualific ation at Work The graduates were requested to rank the importance of their acquired skills and their qualifications at work, to which 84%said “highly important”. Another 9% said “moderately important”, and 8% said “less important” or “not important”.
Chart 49: Importance of the Skill and Qualification at Work
The graduates were also asked to specify how important they found aspects of their training in current work. Of the four subject areas listed (e.g., vocational theory and practice, entrepreneurial skills, and accounting literacy −calculations, mathematics and bookkeeping), more than 60% ranked all of these aspects as “highly important”.
46% 44%
10%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Still in job related to training
Engaegd in other job but related to the sector of
training
Engaged in other job not related to the training
Relevance of TrainingSource: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
84%
9%8%
Highly important (4, 5) Moderate (3)
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
54
Chart 50: Aspects of Training Found Important for W ork
7.45 Graduates Disseminating Knowledge and Skills t o Others Nearly 81% graduates reported sharing their knowledge and skills (learned from training) voluntarily with co-workers. In relative terms, the proportion of male graduates sharing such expertise was greater than the female graduates. Such sharing was useful in creating multiplier effects on competence among the neighbouring youths and friends.
Chart 51: Graduates Passing on their Knowledge to O thers
86%76% 72%
62%
84%
8%18% 20%
28%
9%5% 6% 8% 10% 8%
0%
50%
100%
Pra
ctic
al V
oca
tio
na
l Sk
ills
Th
eo
reti
cal V
oca
tio
na
l Sk
ills
En
tre
pre
ne
uri
al S
kill
s
Ca
lcu
lati
on
s /M
ath
em
ati
cs
/Acc
ou
nti
ng
Skil
ls a
nd
Qu
ali
fica
tio
ns
Ov
era
ll
Highly important (4, 5) Moderate (3) Less / not important (1, 2)
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
72%
74%
76%
78%
80%
82%
84%
86%
All Male Female
81%
84%
76%
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
55
7.46 Graduates Attending NSTB Skills Test The EFS had encouraged T&Es to take their graduates through the NSTB skill test process for certification of their performance skill standards. Till 2008/09, it was an optional choice provided to both T&E and the graduates, but was made mandatory later.
The survey reveals that around 78%of the graduates attended NSTB skills test. Those who did not attend the test knew the about the support provided for the test but could not attend as the time gap between the completion of training and skills test schedule was wide.
Chart 52: Graduates Taking NSTB Skills Test
7.47 Holding of the Seasonal Jobs As not all graduates were working throughout the year, they were asked if their employment was seasonal. In response to this, around 13% gave “yes” answers. In the case of remaining 87%, they were engaged in a regular job.
Chart 53: Seasonal Job Holders
Of the graduates seasonally employed, around 60% were engaged for seven to nine months in a year, while 31% had opportunity to work for from four to six months only. In the case of the others, around 6% were engaged for 10 months and above (but below one year) followed by 3%, who were engaged for less than three months.
22%
78%
No
Yes
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
87%
13%
No
Yes
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
56
Chart 54: Duration of the Seasonal Work
7.48 Satisfaction of the Graduates over their Prese nt Jobs
Around 93% of the employed graduates were satisfied with their current employment, while the remaining 7% were satisfied. The level of satisfaction differed trade group. Chart 55: Satisfaction of the Graduates over Presen t Job
7.49 Magnitude of Satisfaction
Around 91% employed graduates scored 4 and 5 (where 5 is maximum) to indicate their highest satisfaction level. In expressing their justification for the score given, they mentioned that they had no difficulties encountered like others faced to find the job.
3%
31%
60%
6%
Less than 3 months
4-6 months
7-9 months
N = 74
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
11%
8%
3%
2%
13%
8%
2%
31%
3%
2%
14%
3%
3%
0%
9%
9%
0%
7%
89%
93%
98%
98%
88%
92%
98%
69%
97%
98%
86%
97%
98%
100%
91%
91%
100%
93%
0% 50% 100% 150%
Automobile
Beautician
Brick Mason
Brick Molder
Cook
Electrical
Electronics Repair
Food and Beverage
Furniture
Garment
Hand Embroidery
Junior Plumber
Mechanical
Stick Rolling
Thanka (Paubha) Artist
Village Animal Health Worker
Welding
Overall
Yes
No
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
57
Around 7%of the employed graduates reported their satisfaction level as “moderate”, and said that they could look for better opportunity and could earn more but have not done yet. There was small variation between the level of satisfaction perceived by the employed male and female graduates.
Chart 56: Job Satisfaction
Those not satisfied with their current work represented only 1%. Their dissatisfaction about the present job was largely due to a heavy workload against a small wage. Likewise, some self-employed candidates were disappointed with their small earnings.
When the satisfied graduates were asked to report the reasons for their gratification, around 82.4%indicated“income for family support” as encouraging, followed by the “job closer to house” (8.2%), another 6.4% were satisfied due to “skill friendly work”, while 3% were delighted with their “family support”. Chart 57: Reasons for Satisfaction
Around 7%of the graduates who expressed dissatisfaction did so because they earned low income despite their hard work, or the location of work was far away from their home, or the employer was less cooperative and the working environment was unsafe.
91% 90% 94%
7% 9% 4%1% 1% 1%0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
all male (number, %)
female
Satisfied (4,5)
Moderately satisfied (3)
Not satisfied (1,2)
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
6.43.0
82.4
8.2
Skill friendly work Family supportIncome for family support Job closer to the house
N = 535
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
58
Chart 58: Reasons for Dissatisfaction
7.50 Employment Challenges Experienced
The graduates were asked about the employment challenges they experienced, so far. In response, around 44.2% indicated “low salary” as one of the major challenges. They explained that most of the employers do not provide extra benefits (such as transport, insurance, dress and medical allowance, etc.) besides the salary. However, the graduates felt that it should be made a part of their job package. The second highest response was “no scope for further training in employment”, and another 13.5%of responses said “age, caste and gender discriminations”. Chart 59: Employment Challenges
7.51 Preferred Employment Types
The graduates were requested to indicate the type of employment they would prefer had there been a choice provided to them. In response, around 91.4% said that they would prefer “self-employment” (micro-enterprise) if it is packaged with some initial investment
12.5%
5.0%
77.5%
5.0%
Distant location of the working place Less cooperative employerLow income despite the hard work Unsafe work environment
N = 40
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
42.3%
44.2%
13.5%
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0
No scope for further training in employment
Low salary
Age, caste and gender discrimination
Percent of Response
N = 697Multiple Answers
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
59
support. They also mentioned that self-employment provides them enough flexibility to select the targets and related processes of implementation independently.
Chart 60: Preference of the Graduates over Wage and Self Employment
Around 97.9% graduates preferred fulltime job, while only 2.1% preferred a part time job.
Chart 61: Preference of the Graduates over Fulltime and Part Jobs
The graduates were asked if they would prefer local area employment or other area based employment. In response, 59.8% mentioned any other location based employment, while 40.2% mentioned local area based employment. One of the arguments for preferring the local area based employment was lower living cost as compared to other or new locations.
Chart 62: Preference of the Graduates over Local an d Other Area Employment
91.4
8.6
Self Employment Wage Employment
N = 526
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
97.9%
2.1%
Full Time Job Part Time Job
N = 47
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
59.8%
40.2%
Local Area Job Any Other Area Job
N = 470
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
60
7.52 Future Employment Plans The graduates were asked about their future plans for employment. In response, around 46% expressed their interest to work in their home area on the subject in which they were trained. Another 44%of the graduates had not planned anything yet, and the remaining 10%expressed interest to work in foreign countries. This is a small number in proportion to the around 1,500 youths flying abroad from Nepal to foreign employment every day. It could be a reflection of positive influence created by the EFS supported training programmes in promoting retention of technical training graduates at or near home. Chart 63: Future Employment Planned by the Graduate s
The graduates who preferred to work in Nepal, were further asked what they intend to do. In response around 54% said that they want to start their own business, and another 43% said that they would look for better paying jobs. The remaining 3%said that they would like to be engaged as partner in the enterprise run by family members or friends. Chart 64: Future Employment
The graduates were also asked if they had any plans to change their current job. In response, around 93% said “no”, noting that it is not easy to find a new job. The remaining 7%said they were thinking of changing their current job in order to secure a better livelihood condition of their family members.
10%
46%
44%
Work Abroad Work in the Home Country Not Planned Yet
N = 670
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
54%
3%
43%
Start Own Business
N =
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
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Chart 65: Plan of the Graduates to Change Their Cur rent Job
7.53 Information Shared by Key Informants about Sam pled Graduates Not Met During the Field Visit
Parents, relatives and friends of the graduates were consulted for secondary information, especially where the sampled graduates could not be met for an interview. These respondents were interviewed using a separate checklist (different from the questionnaire used for the interview of sampled graduates).
The number of key informants interviewed in this category was 47. They provided information related to three types of graduates: (a) internally migrated to other districts, (b) seasonally migrated to India, and (c) gone to other countries for foreign employment.
Chart 66: Type of Graduates Represented by the Resp ondent Key Informants
According to the salary figures mentioned by these key informants about the graduates, the internally migrated graduates (those moved to other districts) were earning Rs.7,683 per month on average with an average monthly expenditure estimated at Rs.4,897. In the case of those going to India, their monthly income estimate averaged Rs.9,714 per month, spending per month at Rs.5,544. Compared to these migrated workers, the earning of the graduates working abroad (in the country other than India) was relatively high. They earned an average estimated income of Rs.13,768, spent an estimatedRs.5,856 for living expenses per month.
93%
7%
No Yes
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
N = 526
42.6%
34.0%
23.4%
Internally migrated to other districts
Seasonally migrated to India
N = 47
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When asked about how the graduates made their choice about the location of migration, the key informants reported that their first priority was to work locally. When such opportunity was not available, then only they decided to migrate to other areas. However, there were some exceptions; for example, the graduates migrating seasonally to India were largely influenced by their friends and relatives who sought the seasonal work for them. In the case of those migrating to other countries for foreign jobs, most of those decisions were already determined before joining the training.
When asked if there some migrants came from semi urban /urban to the rural areas, they said that the migration trend was largely one way. Since most of the youth were unemployed, they migrated from rural to semi-urban and urban areas in quest of jobs.
Around 78% internal migrants were wage-employed, while 22% were self-employed. Among the graduates migrating to India and other countries, 97% were wage-employed. Around 3% graduates migrated to India were self-employed by taking sub-contracts at construction sites.
Sending remittances back to family members (parents and spouse) was common among the migrants. Such remittances helped improve living conditions of family members. The average remittance sent by a migrant per month was Rs.2,700 (comprised of Rs.1,700 for the internal migrants followed by Rs.2,643 and Rs.3,756 for the migrants to India and other countries, respectively).
According to the key informants, around 50% of the migrating graduates were working in their respective areas of training, and about 95% of the migrating graduates were male.
7.54 Information Shared by the Employers
This section covers information obtained from 35 employers (28 private sector, seven public sector).To solicit information from them a checklist was prepared to guide the interviews. Attempts were also made to cross check the information provided by the graduates wherever relevant. The interviews focused on the performance of graduates and the preference of employers to make their roles more labor market friendly.
Chart 67: Sectors Represented by the Employers Cons ulted
71%
29%
Informal Formal
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
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Of the employers available for interview, around 71% were engaged in informal sector enterprises and the remaining 29% were associated with the formal sector.
The formal sector employers revealed recruitment of 21 technically skilled employees on average, while the average number of such employees in the informal sector was only five. Of these numbers, around 19 and 40% EFS supported graduates were working in the formal and informal sector enterprises, respectively, and 95% of them were working in their respective subject area of training.
7.54.1 Recruitment Practice Followed
The public sector agencies recruited the graduates based on their NSTB Skill Test Certificates. In the case of private sector, the submission of certificate was optional but the potential employees had to prove their performance skill standards by working for about a month without pay before obtaining the employment offer.
The employers identified their employees by multiple methods. Around 40%of the employers made inquiry about the graduates with their family members and friends, while 13%of the employers contacted T&Es or directly obtained applications from job seekers taking advantage of their familiarity with the graduates during OJT.
Chart 68: Recruitment Approach Followed
7.54.2 Competence Preferred on the Graduates
Besides the technical skills acquired, the employers also preferred that their employees have adequate knowledge of business skills as well. When asked about what importance they would like to assign for various aspects envisaged as competence of the graduate, they largely emphasized entrepreneurial skills (ranked 2.8 out of 3) followed by calculation and accounting competence (ranked 2.6 out of 3).
14%
9%
37%
40%
Advertisement
Direct Application
from the candidate
Contact T&Es
Contact through
family and friends
Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu.
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Table 21: Employer Preferred Competence besides the Technical Skills
Skill Type Average Rank Score Practical Vocational Skill 2.1 Theoretical Vocational Skill 1.9
Entrepreneur Skill 2.8 Calculation/Accounting 2.6
Work Ethic 2.5 Note: 1=Not Important, 2= Important, 3= Very Important Source: DVN (2012), EFS Tracer Study (2008/2009), Kathmandu
The employers were also asked if they agree or disagree with some statements indicating competence of their employees. In response to this, around 68.6% employers agreed to the fact that their employees had thorough knowledge about the trade (in which they were trained). Likewise, around 51.4% considered their employees to be hard working with full commitment. Around 80% of the employers agreed that the employees were largely eager to learn more. When asked whether their employees have adequate capacity to demonstrate high quality skills at work, around 60% employers gave positive answers. In response to whether they saw any potential for their employees working independently, around 62.9% said “yes”.
Chart 69: Comments over the Competence of the Emplo yed Graduates
11.4
17.1
14.3
17.1
11.4
25.7
22.9
5.7
31.4
20.0
62.9
60.0
80.0
51.4
68.6
0.0 50.0 100.0
The graduates are able to work
independently
The graduates have capacity to
demonstrate high quality skills on the
trade in which they are working
The graduates are eager to learn more
The graduates are hardworking and
committed
The graduates have thorough
knowledge related to the trade
Percent of Response
Agree Cannot Say Disagree
N = 35
65
7.54.3 Female Employees
About 40%of the employers recruited female graduates, while 55% showed interest to employ them in future in female-friendly trades.
7.54.4 Additional Training Needs Foreseen
About 35%of the employers interviewed indicated the need for higher level training to their employees so as to add value to their productivity. They thought that most of them need additional knowledge about market-friendly skills.
7.54.5 Interest to Recruit More Graduates in Future
Around 90%of the employers said that they are interested to expand their business in the future, and hoped to add more technically trained graduates in their enterprise soon.
7.54.6 Salary Offered to the Graduates
Around 60%of the employers paid an average salary of Rs.7,200 per month to their employees (ranging from Rs.4,400 as the lowest to a maximum of Rs.11,000).
8. LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE STUDY
The study generated several useful lessons for the improvement of future interventions. This chapter captures such lessons with the following recommendations for the consideration of EFS.
1. The distribution of graduates working in the rural and semi-urban/urban areas was found almost equal. Considering the more disadvantaged position of the youths living in the rural areas and the increasing tendency of out-migration, it would be useful for the EFS to increase support to the rural youths by promoting more rural-area-friendly training. The RMA conducted before the training should emphasize such potential as a priority. This should then be followed by the implementation of mobile training at the local level so that the disadvantaged rural youth who could not attend the training externally could be attracted to participate at the local level.
2. The exposure of females to training and education is less when compared to their male counterparts. Females are also lagging behind in accessing employment opportunities. To ensure more gender balance, it would be useful for the EFS to emphasize more women-friendly programmes and wherever necessary to support business literacy classes to compensate their poor educational status.
3. Most of the graduates attending training programmes reported family and friends as their major source of information about training. As EFS had not added communication component for the dissemination of information in 2008/09, this was more or less an obvious choice for them. However, in the context of serving the
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interest of more disadvantaged groups, the EFS should now promote access to information through an open market environment. In this regard, it should emphasize application of multiple sources of information dissemination including the mass media (e.g., FM radio).
4. Average transition period spent by the graduates between the completion of training and connection to job was about 2 months. The transition period observed for self-employment was relatively longer than wage-employment. This indicates the lack of preparation of the graduates at the earlier stage of training. To overcome such situation, the EFS should emphasize monitoring of counselling and placement efforts made by the T&Es for different types of employment at different stages of the training course.
5. Personal initiatives taken by the graduates were instrumental in providing quicker job accessed after training. In order to promote such enthusiasm further, the EFS could think of piloting some pre-training counselling activities. Such counselling would make the trainees better prepared for the expected employment linkage well in advance, instead of waiting to think of it at the end of training.
6. Most of the graduates were happy to recommend their subject of training and T&E to other colleagues. This indicates a positive attitude towards disseminating information about the training. As these graduates also have potential to explain the difficulties and opportunities they encountered during training and employment efforts, their message could be more convincing for the new applicants. In view of this, the EFS should use selected graduates as ambassadors for information dissemination and counselling.
7. EFS has maintained a database of graduates as shared by the T&Es. After the verification of post-training income in six months, this database is left untouched without an update. As a result, it does not reflect information about the movement of graduates nor their most recent employment and income status. To overcome this situation, the EFS might consider establishing a graduates’ network for the future exchange of information. It could also organize workshops involving network representatives for sharing information at least once a year.
8. Most of the trade groups were successful in linking their graduates to employment opportunities. However, the performance of Thanka artists and brick molding trainees was relatively poor in this respect. These trades are perhaps more suitable for the promotion of self-employment in groups than wage employment, as the Thanka painting and brick molding activities largely operate on a contractual basis. For such trades, the EFS should devise a suitable employment strategy during the RMA. One such option could be to encourage group activities through the formation
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of cooperative.
9. Around 59%of the graduates reported inconvenience in joining training due to distant location of the training centre. To overcome this, the EFS should increasingly support mobile training to cover more number of disadvantaged groups as its priority target.
10. OJT was found useful both for refining the performance skills standard of the graduates as well as employment access. However, it was not consistently applied for all trades. In order to improve the performance skills standards of the graduates and to increase the employment opportunities, the EFS might consider making the OJT mandatory for all trade related training programmes.
11. Around 23%of the graduates reported that the working environment for some OJT were not conducive to learning. To improve the situation, the EFS should define acceptable standards of OJT working environment (in view of the basic minimum facilities required to meet necessary conditions for the learning atmosphere).
12. For linking the graduates with work, multiple strategies were followed. In this regard, the contribution of T&E counselling and placement was around 38%. Against the gainful employment incentive provided for 80.5% success rate,9 this level of contribution shared by the T&Es is considered low. To enhance their effectiveness, the EFS should monitor the counselling and placement functions of the T&Es more deeply across different stages of training (pre-training, training and post-training).
13. The analysis of activities covered by the graduates within two years after training indicated significant retention rates of employment (currently at 68%). The trend of employment over the years also indicates a gradual shift of graduates from wage employment to self-employment. Such moves can be attributed to the increased risk taking capacity of the graduates and the flexibility built into the self-employed work.
The move can be considered positive in increasing the number of enterprises in the country, which can potentially reduce out-migration of youth in the long-run. The EFS should capture such shift as an opportunity for more scope for self-employment. To facilitate this process, it should link training with post-training financial services for access of the graduates to initial stage investment fund. It should also provide follow-up support even after six months (from the date of completion of training) on special cases promoting value additions in the enterprises by involving a chain of producers, processors and marketing groups.
9 As mentioned in the EFS Progress Report, 2009.
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14. The study revealed that 23%of the female graduates were unemployed as opposed to only 9% male unemployment. This is a reflection restriction on the mobility of the female graduates on social grounds. To enhance their representation, the EFS should emphasize increased involvement of female in self-employment focused training programmes (especially where wage-employment is not female-friendly).
The female graduates changed jobs less frequently than their male counterparts. Therefore, the self-employment focus targeted to them also contributes to enhance retention of the graduates in the subject of training for a longer period. In view of this, the EFS might consider stimulating the T&E services on the female-friendly trades, which are self-employment focused.
15. The study revealed increased migration of graduates from rural to the semi-urban and urban areas after training. Though such migration has contributed to the remittance of money to the rural areas, it has also lost the local production potential of agriculture due to labor shortage. One way to balance the situation would be to emphasize self-employment of the graduates in their respective rural areas so that they can seasonally work for the agriculture sector as well.
16. The income of employed graduates increased manifold after the training across various trades. In order to make these achievements more competitive among the T&Es, the communication and outreach system of the EFS should disseminate these trade-specific earnings more widely, thus encourage the T&Es to internalize a sense of competition in securing their positions better. To maintain their motivation for a competitive environment, the EFS should introduce a reward system for T&Es whose graduates are successful in demonstrating higher earnings.
17. Around 70%of the graduates who selected self-employment option faced difficulties in the start-up of their enterprise. The problems were: insufficient investment fund, imperfect location of the enterprise, inadequate market condition, and insufficient technical know-how. To address these problems, the EFS might think of establishing links with the financial institutions to provide loans to graduates and also extend support for business skills development. Further, the sharing of experience among the self-employed graduates at least once a year would also be useful in knowing the labor market related problems and possible remedies.
18. The study revealed increased earning as well as contribution of the graduates to their respective family incomes (e.g., around 52% households saved nearly Rs.60,000 per year on average and their contribution to the household income increased from 48% to 67%). The EFS should encourage T&Es to promote mobilization of savings by linking them to the financial institutions so that these resources can be mobilized as loans to self-employed graduates who need them.
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19. Around 7 % of the employed graduates were not satisfied with their present jobs due to low return on their labor, low demand of their skills in the labor market and unsafe working environments. To overcome these gaps, the EFS should raise its “gainful income” criteria at par with the government-specified basic minimum wage of Rs.6,200 per month. Secondly, it should familiarize potential employers with dissemination of information on the quality of performance skill standards developed by various T&Es. Thirdly, it should monitor whether the safe working environment is included as a verification agenda in the list of counselling and placement interventions followed by the T&Es.
20. The income and saving figures for some trades (e.g., Thanka painting and hand embroidery) were relatively low compared to other trades. These trades also encountered limited use of knowledge and skills acquired by the training graduates.hey also faced long transition after training before for employment. The EFS should consider reducing the implementation target for such trades. Around 30% of the income of the graduates was invested for productive activities, followed by 44% in children’s education. However, the scope of the current study did not cover what effects these investments generated in terms of the quality of livelihoods and economic well-being of family members of the graduates. In order to make these aspects clear, the EFS might consider undertaking a follow-up study for exploring income and expenditure patterns of the graduate households in more detail (i.e., reflecting upon the multiple sources of income and the proportion spent for food, festivals and other household needs).
9. CONCLUSIONS
The overall finding of the study indicates positive contribution of the EFS supported technical skills training. It has been successful in engaging unemployed youths in jobs. As a majority of them are continuously working in the subject area of training they had undertaken, it indicates sustainable result of outcome based intervention. This can be attributed not only to the skills training conducted but more importantly to the follow-up verification of knowledge and skills applied at work to meet the gainful income threshold.
Around 93% graduates did not plan to change their current job, as they knew that finding a new job is always difficult due to the limited employment opportunities available in the labor market. Although the EFS was successful in ensuring the first foothold job for its target group, it should now proceed to develop their career path with higher level training (i.e., Level 2 and above).
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Name: Ms Renu Devi Malla Address : Kanchanpur District Bhimdatta Town Development Committee Ward No. 18. Occupation : Beautician/Parlor Owner Contact No : 9848-724515
Case Studies
The cases covered by this study represent three situations:
1. Satisfactory Employment after Training; 2. Struggle for the Dream Come True; and 3. Fragile Link between Training and Employment
These variations have been chosen to provide critical perspectives on the positive and/or negative effects of the trades, quality of training, institutional support and labor-market friendliness. The following case studies discuss these variations:
1. Satisfactory Employment after Training
1.1 Self-employed Within a Month after Training
Ms. Renu Devi Malla, aged 33, is a resident of Kanchanpur District, Bhimdatta Town Development Committee, Ward No. 18. She is a beautician graduate trained by the Business Consultancy and Training Centre Pvt. Ltd. (BCTC).
Her highest level of education is lower secondary, before attending the training. Renu is a housewife supporting her family, which runs an agricultural farm. As the farm income of family was small, it could not sufficiently help the family to cover household expenses. As a result, she was compelled to look for an alternative income earning opportunity. The beautician training offered by BCTC came as a blessing to fulfill her dream of earning additional income from an alternate source.
Not even one month had lapsed after the training before Renu opened her ‘Karuna Beauty Parlor’ in Gobriya, Mahendranagar, on her own initiative. Her initial investment for this enterprise was Rs. 12,000. She invested Rs. 9,000 for the purchase of tools and equipment and the balance of Rs. 3,000 for consumable items. This investment was fully made from her household saving source.
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Name: Mr. Bharat Kumar Bhattarai Address : Drakh VDC-5 Sukhad, Kailali. Occupation : Restaurant Owner Contact No: 9848-427923
Renu currently earns Rs. 8,000-12,000 per month from the parlor. She saves nearly 50% percent of that and spend the remaining 50% for the consumables, staff salary and house rent. Renu earns more during the wedding season. She has been charging Rs. 2,000-3,000 for the makeup of a bride. At other times, she serves the school/colleges girls and housewives who visit her parlor as customers.
Renu has been adding facilities to her parlor from the monthly savings. After three years, her total investment for the parlor has reached Rs. 50,000. She has added more equipment during this period, and has also purchased and sold consumables to her clients.
Renu’s husband is currently working in Saudi Arabia as a vehicle driver. He is happy to know about Renu’s progress. A mother of 4 children (three daughters and one son), Renu has started sending her two children to the Bhimdatta Boarding School.
Renu has a plan to construct a new house. She has already requested her husband to send more money, as much as he can, so that combined with her own savings she can realize her dream.
Renu intends to progress more. She wants further training to widen her business.
1.2 From Small Tea Shop to Restaurant Owner
At the age of 22, Mr. Bharat Kumar Bhattarai went to Punjab, India in the search of job. He worked as waiter there for two years. In the meantime, he thought that it is not worth working hard in this strange place for a meager wage. So he returned back to his home town of Sukkhad 5 in Kailali District, where he established a tea shop on the road side for local area customers and bus passengers.
After running his tea shop for a year, Bharat heard from one of his relatives that Sathi Traders, a franchisee of F-SKILL, had planned to organize cook training. He was interested to attend this and approached them and was successfully enrolled.
After completing cook training in 2009, Bharat opened a restaurant, hiring three staff members as helpers. In 2011, he enlarged his business by renting a 12 room-
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Name: Ms. Nursalina Khatun Address : Bahuwari-17, Birgunj of Parsa District Occupation : Garment Fabricator Contact No: 9845099340
building with kitchen, dining and bathroom facilities at the rate of Rs. 30,000 per month. To enlarge the business, he borrowed Rs 100,000 from his friends, with an interest rate of 16% per year, and doubled his staff from three to six.
He is now successfully running his Basista Restaurant and Lodge. His current turnover averages Rs. 400,000 per month. After deducting monthly costs for the house rent, staffing cost and the cost of materials, he normally makes a profit of Rs. 70,000 per month.
Bharat and his wife jointly manage the restaurant. They are assisted by other staff members. They work around 18 hours per day. The restaurant is open for all the 7 days of the week.
Aged 27, Bharat has a dream of enlarging his restaurant further. He gives credit to raining for the success he has accomplished. He is satisfied with the exposure he has gained in theory and the practice of cooking. He finds these useful for his currently self-employed enterprise.
1.3 Reducing Financial Burden of Parents
Twenty years old Ms. Nursalina Khatun is a resident of Bahuwari-17, Birgunj of Parsa District. She left school education from class 5 and started supporting family in the household chores to release the parents for earning livelihoods. When the Business Consultancy Center (BCC), Birgunj announced 3-months long Garment Fabricator training, she joined this course in 2009. During training, she acquired skills on different kinds of bag making. After training, she joined Ajay Readymade Industry in Birgunj through the placement arrangement made by BCC. She also obtained one sewing machine provided by BCC at a subsidized rate. Since then, she has been producing bags by bringing cut pieces and related materials from the industry.
Nursalina is happy to report that she has not faced any problem in the acceptance of her finished products and payment. The industry has allowed her to work at home and supports the transfer of raw materials and finished products, when informed.
Nursalina prepares 20-25 bags per day, working for 5 to 6 hours. At other times she supports her family members on household chores. Since beginning of the bag making work, her involvement in the household chores is relatively low. Her family members
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Name: Mr. Tek Bahadur Shrestha Address : Doramba VDC, Ramechhap Occupation : Bar Chief Contact No: 9843131518
encourage her to work and earn more. Currently, her earnings are between Rs. 250 to 300 per day, with a monthly income is NRs. 7,500 to 9,000.
Nursalina spends part of her income on household needs such as food, the schooling of her brothers, and clothing. She saves around NRs. 2,000 per month. The saving is deposited in a cooperative society located near her house.
Nursalina saved Rs. 100,000 last year. She does not want to leave this work even after getting married. She finds the contribution of training useful. It has not only provided her opportunity to earn but also to gain social dignity. When asked about possible use of her saving, Nursalina said that a part of it might go as dowry when her marriage is settled and the rest will be spent for household expenses. She also said that though she does not like the dowry system, she cannot totally deny and revolt against such practice. However, in the interest of her parents, she would try her best to minimize the worries for collecting money for her marriage.
1.4 From a Waiter to a Bar Chief
A graduate of food and beverage trade, Mr. Tek Bahadur Shrestha is from Ramechhap District, Doramba VDC. He is 23 years old.
Before attending training, he came to Kathmandu for study at school. However, his financial condition did not permit him to focus on this activity alone. Therefore, he started working as a waiter in "1905" Restaurant and Bar on Durbar Marga.
When he discussed his money shortage problem, one of his school friends advised him to join tuition free training being offered by GATE Vocational P. Ltd. located at Mandikhatar in Kathmandu, as he was also going there. Accordingly, Tek Bahadur joined their Bar Tender training course.
Upon completion of training, Tek Bahadur worked as a waiter at Tipsi Lunch and Bar for about six months. Thereafter, he joined a position of Bar Chief at the Bagaicha Restaurant and Bar, Jawalakhel. He earns Rs. 12,000 to 15,000 per month. He is also pursuing college education. He did SLC after completion of training.
He is satisfied with his work, and happy to be able to afford his own study costs. A pursuant of the Bachelor of Business Studies, he has a dream to complete this level and go abroad for foreign employment.
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Name: Ms. Anita Adhikari Address : Khajura-5, Banke Occupation : Food and Snacks Shop Owner Contact No : 9848186656
Tek Bahadur wants to acknowledge the role of the training institute in his successful career development. He found both trainers and training institution supportive behind his success. He appreciates the effort made by them for job placement.
1.5 Training Encouraged Self-employment
Ms. Anita Adhikari of Khajura-5, Banke District, left her school before completing the secondary level. She was running 17 years old when she left school. At the age of 19 she was married to a grocery shop keeper. As this shop was not making much profit, Anita and her husband were looking for some other opportunities to run a new and more profitable enterprise. Accordingly, Anita joined cook training run by the Sathi Traders, a franchisee of F-SKILL, in Khajura. Upon completion of this training, she opened a food and snacks shop in Khajura. She started running this shop with the help of her joint family members, while her husband was still engaged in running the grocery shop.
When Anita found her food shop making more profit than the grocery shop, she suggested that her husband should close the grocery shop and help her in running the food and snacks shop. He followed her advice, and the food and snacks shop is currently making a profit of about Rs. 8,000 per month. In addition, her family members take food and snacks worth Rs. 5,000 per month from this shop free of charge.
Encouraged by her success, Anita has a plan to expand her shop by recruiting more helpers. However, in her view, finding sincere helpers is often difficult.
1.6 A Career Journey from a Porter to the Junior Pl umber
Mr. Hom Bahadur Thapa (Magar) is a resident of Manikapur-8, Banke District. He is just literate and has not completed primary level education. He was working as a porter, but finding regular clients was a problem for him. His wife worked as dish cleaner for two families. She earned Rs. 500 per month from each employer. With these meager earnings, they had difficulty raising their two children.
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Name: Mr. Hom Bahadur Thapa (Magar) Address: Manikapur-8, Banke Occupation : Plumber
Contact No : 9848133219
When a local school teacher asked Hom Bahadur if he was interested to join Junior Plumber Training run by SKILL Nepal, he could not take a decision right away. He discussed this option with his wife, who encouraged him to go ahead. Not fully confident about what to do in future, Hom Bahadur again went to the school teacher for further advice. The teacher then advised him to join the training, as it might bring him better job in the future as the local area was emerging with many constriction works.
Accordingly, Hom Bahadur joined the training. For few days of training, he was not sure whether the decision taken by him was a right one. He was wondering whether he could work as Junior Plumber and also find a job locally. He was wondering what would happen if he had to return to work as a full time porter again after three months upon completion of training. Being less confident about his new venture, Hom Bahadur did not totally leave his porter job. He continued making use of leisure time to work as porter.
Upon completion of training, Hom Bahadur was approached by a local house construction contractor for plumbing work. It provided him good opening to utilize his skills. He is now a part-time worker at the local Drinking Water Supply Corporation office. His current income per month ranges between Rs. 15,000 to 20,000. He is happy to have made the right decision to join the training. He thought plumbing could be a seasonal job but he is full-time busy these days.
Hom Bahadur has admitted his children in a boarding school. He has already saved around Rs. 100,000 for emergency. This is a remarkable achievement for a less educated poor person like me, said Hom Bahadur.
1.7 Training Made the Earning Better
Mr. Balram Chaudhary is 32 years old. He is a resident of Tikuligadh, Dang District, and was trained by the Devotee Trade Centre Private Ltd (DTC), a franchisee of F-SKILL, on brick molding. He has studied up to the primary level.
Upon completion of training, Balram started working as brick molder on a job contract basis for a brick kiln owner. He earns Rs. 11,000 per month in the brick laying season. This is a substantial increment in his earning against an income of Rs. 1,500 which he earned while working as wage laborer before the training.
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Name: Ms. Sita Maya Yonjon Address : Lakhanpur VDC, Ward No. 9 Keureni, Ramechhap Occupation : Thanka Painter Contact No : 9849722363
Name: Mr Baliram Chaudhary Address: Sonpur VDC-5, Tikuligadha, Dang Occupation: Brick Molder Contact No: No phone purchased yet
Balram is happy to be engaged in this trade and he is frequently helped by family members in producing more bricks. It has helped him to earn more. He says that devotion to work is always necessary for better earning. He finds himself lucky to find a good brick kiln owner. He feels sorry about some of his batch mates, who have been roaming around to find a good job elsewhere, including India.
Balram’s annual saving is around Rs 30,000. He has plans to send his children to the big city of Nepalgunj or to Kathmandu for higher study in future. He finds himself fully satisfied with the skills he acquired from training as it has helped him to earn more and has made him capable of affording the cost of schooling for his children.
2. Struggle for the Dream Come True
2.1 The Dream of Becoming Thanka Contractor
Ms. Sita Maya Yonjon is a resident of Ramechhap District, Lakhanpur VDC, Ward No. 9. She is 21 years old. She comes from a middle class farm family. She wants to stand on her own feet financially before she gets married.
Sita was in Class 10 when she joined training offered on Thanka painting by the Sailung Training Centre, a franchisee of F-SKILL.
Currently, Sita is working part time for a Thanka Contractor at level two. (Thanka painters are categorized up to nine levels depending upon their skill quality). She earns Rs. 5,000 per month for 3 to 4 hours of work per day. She has been
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Name: Mr. Ramesh Bahadur Sunar Address : Manikpur, Magargaddhi 4 of Bardia District Occupation : Sweet & Snack Maker Contact No : 9848258427
supporting her education from this money without putting a financial burden on her parents.
Sita has a dream of becoming Thanka Contractor and to employ the village youths both to earn more money and help others at the same time. However, she does not know how long it will take her to become a successful Thanka Contractor. She knows that it will involve many more struggles ahead in her life. Sita has now completed SLC and has joined Plus 2 level study.
2.2 Social Barrier Despite Acquiring Skills from Tr aining
Mr. Ramesh Bahadur Sunar of Manikpur, Magargaddhi 4 in Bardia District is a Dalit graduate aged 27 years. After completing his secondary level education, he attended Sweet and Snack Maker Training organized by Saathi Traders, a franchisee of F-SKILL. Upon successful completion of this training, Ramesh started looking for wage employment to apply the skills acquired from training, but without success. Most of the Sweet and Snack shopkeepers turned him down by saying that they could not take the risk of employing Dalit in the Sweet Shop as they may lose customers once they know that the sweets and snacks are prepared by a Dalit (traditionally considered as ‘untouchable’).
Unhappy with the discriminatory behavior of local shop owners, Ramesh decided to undertake the challenge of establishing his own self-employing sweet and snack shop. Accordingly, he opened a shop at Rs. 30,000. He obtained this amount as loan from his friends and relatives. From this shop, Ramesh has now started earning Rs. 5,000 per month as profit even at the stage of moderate running of his shop. He has employed two helpers. Though some high caste people (especially the elders) still do not buy from his shop, he is serving the bus passengers and haat bazaar customers who are unfamiliar about his caste/ethnicity.
Ramesh finds that the feeling of discrimination is high among the elders from the so-called high caste groups, but almost none among the youths of the same caste groups. He thinks that this is an issue to be tolerated and that it will improve with time. Till then, he might have to struggle hard for success.
Ramesh is not discouraged so much and does not want to leave the work related to the subject in which he was trained. He knows the dark side of his abandoning customers
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Name: Ms. Dil Maya Rai Address : Gulbasti, Ilam-3 Contact No: 9742600373
against the other encouraging audience who appreciate the example set by him by taking risk (i.e., a Dalit taking the risk of establishing a sweet and snacks shop against the social taboo). He does not mind struggling against the discriminatory taboo. He hopes for socio-cultural change among people as the modernization progresses. He thinks that his aim should not simply confine to more earning but a he should become a model for change against social discriminations.
2.3 Challenge of Proving Women’s Worth as VAHW
Aged 27 years, Ms. Dil Maya Rai is a resident of Ilam, Gulbasti. She represents a middle class family. She has studied up to class eight.
Dil Maya joined Village Animal Health Worker (VAHW) training offered by Jhapa technical Institute (JTI). She is now familiar with the basics of livestock farming, diagnosis of diseases and the methods of treatment. However, being a woman, the villagers are still not accepting her as well trained VAHW with full confidence. They consider her a fresh practitioner and less knowledgeable as compared to male VAHW.
To enhance her trustworthiness, Dil Maya is working hard to the best of her knowledge. She has been charging fee against the service offered to the livestock raising household in the community. She has established a veterinary medicine shop. Her gross income from the services offered and the sale of veterinary medicine was around Rs10,,000 per month. She has been paying salary of one helper at the rate of Rs. 4,000 per month.
Dil Maya has been gradually gaining reputation about her competent service. She is still struggling hard to establish herself well and prove that women are competent to provide veterinary services like men. For this, she wants to enhance her skills further by attending Level - II training.
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Name: Mr. Bod Bahadur Magar Address : Bhatauli-3, Ramechhap Occupation : Furniture Shop Owner Contact No: 9844009626
2.4 Dreaming a Furniture Shop Ownership
Thirty year old Mr. Bod Bahadur Magar lives in Ramechhap District, Bhatauli-3. He left school after primary education to assist his father who was working as a mason. He worked as helper to his father from the age of eleven.
While visiting the construction sites with his father, Bod Bahadur was inspired to become a carpenter. His feeling coincided with the Skill–Nepal’s offer of a course on furniture, so he enrolled.
Immediately upon completion of his furniture making training, Bod Bahadur started working as a Junior Carpenter. It was a job offered to him by a Construction Work Contractor. In this job, he was earning Rs. 4,000 to 5,000 per month. As Bod Bahadur felt that he has more potential to grow as an entrepreneur, this job could not retain him happily. Therefore, he established his own carpentry shop with an investment of Rs. 80,000. Of this amount, he took a loan of Rs. 40,000 from a village merchant. He has purchased modern tools and equipment for Rs. 60,000 and materials worth Rs. 20,000.
In six months, Bod Bahadur was successful in repaying the loan taken from the merchant with 24% interest. His monthly earning now is around Rs. 20,000. Though not related to his subject of training, he has recently bought a rice mill, which is being run by his brother living in a joint family.
Bod Bahadur dreams of becoming a big furniture shop owner in the future. He is thinking to move to the district headquarters, where he expects bigger sale of furniture items. He says that his struggle for economic progress has just begun. He knows very well that he has a long ways to go to become a successful furniture shop owner.
2.5 One Should Not Get Tired with Hard Work in the Career Development Process
Aged 24, Mr. Kishor Kumar Bishowkarma was born in Kailali, Chuha- 9. After completing Grade 8, he started searching job to support his family. This took him to Pokhara for his first job as Helper in the Chandra Metal Industry. This job paid him a salary of Rs. 1,400 per month. As this remuneration was small, he moved to Nepal Telecom as a Helper on a daily wage basis. This job paid him Rs. 150 per day.
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Name: Mr. Kishor Kumar Bishowkarma Address : Chuha- 9 Kailali, (at present in Pokhara) Occupation : Marketing Manager (welder) Contact No : 9846226429
Name: Ms Santi Lepcha Address : Fikkal -6, Illam Occupation : Electronic Repairs Contact No: 9842647521
With a view to develop his career further, he then decided to enrol for welding training at the Butwal Training Center (BTI), a sub-contracted partner of Alliance Nepal. After completing this training, he appeared in the NSTB skill test for Level 1, where he was able to secure first position among other graduates.
The NSTB certificate helped Kishor to join Panchakannya Training Institute as a Trainer. In the meantime, he prepared himself for Level 2 skills test and also passed the examination conducted by the Western Engineering Campus. Currently, he is working as Marketing Manager at the Chandra Metal Industry. He earns a salary of Rs. 11,500 per month.
Kishor has a dream of establishing metal workshop himself with the recruitment of some skilled staff members around him. However, due to financial limitations, he cannot try this out all by himself. Therefore, he is now looking for a suitable partner who is interested to invest.
Kishor wants to earn a bachelor degree over the years. He has already passed SLC and has joined campus for further studies. Despite his academic interest, he is still eager to work as welding enterprise owner. He feels that one should not be discouraged with hard work in the career development process. He is confident that success is inevitable if a person goes on working hard will his full commitment.
2.6 Dreaming Ahead from Mobile Technician and Trainer
An unmarried girl of 21 years, Ms. Shanti Lepcha attended three months’ long Mobile Repair Training from Jhapa Technical Institute (JTI) in Fikkal Bazar, Ilam District. Upon completion of training, she started working with Ilam Electronics located in Fikkal Bazar. She repaired mobiles and installed software as per the request of her customers. She earned a salary of Rs. 4000 per month in this job.
Nine months after working with Ilam Electronics, Shanti joined Jhapa Technical Institute (JTI) at
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Name: Mr Dipak Sharma Address : Khadgkot 2, Gulmi Occupation : Student Contact No : 9841875359
Birtamod. She is now working as a Computer Operator in this institute. She also works as resource person for the mobile repair training. Shanti’s monthly income from these jobs is Rs. 8,000. She is also provided with the fringe benefit of transportation cost.
Shanti has recently attended Basic Computer Training and Training of Trainers (TOT) courses. She wishes to enhance her skills further and wants to establish repair shop with training on her own, while keeping the link with JTI intact as this is the organization which brought her up to this stage.
3. Fragile Link between Training and Employment
3.1 Training Alone Did Not Help Much to Access Empl oyment
Mr. Deepak Sharma 29 is a resident of Gulmi District, Khadgkot2. He graduated from GATE Vocational (P) Ltd. on food and beverage training. His three months long training exposed him to various technical terms and practices of food and beverage sector. However, he found that knowing these terminologies alone was not sufficient for accessing gainful employment. In the quest of a job, he was offered opportunities at a low rate of remuneration by some enterprises, which he refused to accept.
He holds the opinion that investing his time for any sub-standard job will not contribute to his career path. Realizing this, he did not join any job on the subject for which he was trained (food and beverage). He has remained unemployed for almost two years after the completion of training. In the meantime, he has realized that one of his weaknesses in obtaining gainful employment could be the absence of on the job training (OJT) after training. He thinks that he knows sufficient theory about the food and beverage trade but lacks practical experience. Had there been an OJT opportunity linked with training, he could have gained more knowledge and skills. Dipak is presently enrolled to the college after completing SLC.
3.2 Fulltime Employment Needs Favorable Market Situ ation
Mr. Sudha Ram Chaudary is 28 years old. He is the resident of Kailali District, Ramshikhar Jhala 7. He graduated on mechanical training offered by the Training and Consultancy Centre for Employment and Enterprising (TRACE). As he was unemployed, he had a dream that he would be fully employed after training. However, his dream did not come true.
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Name: Mr Sudha Ram Chaudary Address : Ramshikhar Jhala 7, Kailali Occupation : Mechanic
Contact No : 9848512395
Name: Ms. Punam Devi Bhagat Address: Inruwa Bhawatitole 7 Sunsari Occupation: Housewife
Contact No: 9842124605
When he did not get wage employment, he decided to establish a workshop for the mechanical repair works in his village. In this enterprise, he gets some seasonal work for 3-4 months in a year. For the rest of the months, he works as agricultural labor.
Sudha Ram earns Rs 20,000 from the mechanical work in a year. However, he has a desire to earn more. In the rural setting, it is easy. There are not many machineries being used in his surroundings and therefore not many clients requiring his repair work services.
A primary level education holder, Sudha Ram has a dream of educating his 4 children (2 boys and 2 girls) to the highest level possible. His elder son has already appeared in SLC examination. His younger son is at the 7th grade, followed by his two daughters studying in the 6th grade.
3.3 Sustainable Employment Needs Health Friendlines s and Better Earning
Ms. Punam Devi Bhagat is a Madeshi woman aged 40. She is a resident of Sunsari District, Inaruwa Bhawatitole 7. She was trained by Skill-Nepal in hand embroidery. She has studied up to lower secondary level.
During the training, Punam learned the basics of the embroidery skills. Upon completion of training, she started working on a job contract basis. Her earning received on a piece rate basis was around Rs. 2,000 per month. After working for about 6 months, Punam power started having back pain. She also realized that her vision had gradually declined as she had to do her work in a low light room. Suffering with these problems, Punam decided to stop pursuing embroidery work.
Presently, she is busy helping her husband in running a grocery shop. She feels that the employment oriented training on embroidery should be launched only for the candidates who have access to suitable working environment. It should also make sure that it is a trade that can generate reasonable returns to labor (in terms of the hours spent for the
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Name: Ms. Anita Pun Address: Histan 4,Myagdi Occupation: Student Contact No : 9849704447 Note: Photograph of the graduate not included upon her request
Name: Mr. Sri Prasad Adhikari Address: Fulbari-9 Chitwan Occupation : Junior Plumber Contact No: 9845079426
work). Further, she thinks that it should be targeted to train young females than training a woman of her age.
3.4 Working Environment Matters
Ms Anita Pun aged 20 is a permanent resident of Myagdi District, Histan 4. Upon the suggestion of one of her relatives, she attended training offered by GATE Vocational (P) Ltd. (GATE). While attending this training, she was convinced that she will be carrying out the work of bar tender as her main occupation. She also thought that she would be successful in finding this job. When she found the work, she could not find herself comfortable with the late hour responsibilities to be undertaken in the absence of transportation facilities provided by the employer to return home after duty. This situation pressurized her to quit the job. She considers that perhaps it was her mistake to select this subject of training being a woman.
After leaving the job, Anita started pursuing further studies. She has passed SLC and is now studying at the college. She has a dream of becoming college teacher or else going abroad for a foreign job.
3.5 Comprehensive Curriculum Important to Ensure Co mplete Performance
Mr. Sri Prasad Adhikari 32, a resident of Chitwan District, Fulbari-9, is a junior plumbing graduate. He was trained by the Nepal Polytechnic Limited (NEPOLI), a sub-contracted partner of Alliance Nepal. Before attending this training, he was running a grocery store. His earning from this grocery was only Rs. 500 to 1,000 per month. Educated up to the lower secondary level, Sri Prasad thought that the knowledge and skills acquired by him were enough to undertake plumbing work. He believed that he could successfully install the plumbing sets and also operate related tools and equipment. However, he realized his limitations only after he encountered a problem when he was asked to fix the kitchen pipes for one of his clients. This
84
task demanded comprehensive knowledge and skills about plumbing, which made him realize that there is a difference between the market demand of performance skills standard and the curriculum followed for his three months’ training.
Sri Prasad has now realized that he needs to upgrade his skills by attending Level 2 training. Before attending training, he wants to know the training curricula in detail. He thinks that unless the training is made market need responsive, the graduates cannot access the job satisfactorily.
1
Appendix
List of Output Charts Related to the Questions Asked to the Tracer Study Respondents
Q. No
D. No Questionnaire Table No
Chart No
Page No
Selected Graduates Student Code
EF-Category (A, B or C) 4 16
1 Name of the respondent (Given Name, Middle Name,
Last Name)
2 Name of Training & Employment Service Providers (T&E
/TTP)
3 A.1 In which field/trade did you receive training? Trade
(Group Name)
4 A.2 Where do you currently live? 8 23
5 A.3 What did you do before you started your
studies/training?
9 23
6 A.4 How important were the following reasons for your
decision to study?
10 9 24
7 A.5.a Did you face any difficulties in going to the training
institution?
10 25
8 A.5.b What was the most important difficulty faced in going to
the training institution?
11 26
9 A.6 How did you get to know about this training/education
programme?
10 25
10 Retrospective evaluation of studies/training
11 B.1.1 Were you satisfied with your training/studies? 11, 12 25
12 In case you were not/moderately satisfied (scales 1, 2
and 3), please specify why:
13 B.1.2 How do you rate the following statements on your
training?
14, 15 28
14 B.1.3 How do you rate the study conditions you experienced at
your training institution?
13 27
15 B.1.4a When did you finish your training/studies? (Months
ago?)
16 B.1.4b How long was the duration of your training/studies?
(Months)
13 29
17 B.1.4c Reaction on the total duration of the training/studies. 16 29
18 If you found it too long or too short, please specify why:
19 B.1.5 Looking back, Comment on the training institute (would
you…?)
14 21 30, 33
20 If you would not recommend this course and school to
others, please specify why:
22 33
21 B.2.1 Were you satisfied with your OJT? 16, 31
22 In case you were not/moderately satisfied with OJT
(scales 1, 2 and 3) specify why:
23 B.2.2 The total duration of the apprenticeship was….
2
Q. No
D. No Questionnaire Table No
Chart No
Page No
24 If you found it too long or too short, please specify why:
25 B.2.3 To what extent do you agree with the following
statements?
16. 17,
18, 19
31, 32
26 B.2.4 How would you rate the working conditions you
experienced during your OJT?
20, 21 33
27 B.2.5 How long was the total duration of your OJT? (months) 15 31
28 B.3.1 What did you like about your training/studies?
29 What did you dislike about your training/studies?
30 B.3.2 Which key improvements or changes do you suggest?
31 C.1a Please indicate your employment situation in different
period following graduation.
18 25, 26,
27, 28
37, 38,
39
C.1.b Did you migrate abroad during the first two years after
graduation?
31 41
32 C.2 How did you try to find the first job after graduation?
Job-seeking Strategy
17 36
33 Ranking of T&E’s suggestion on employment. 33 43
34 If Ranking of T&E’s is poor, Suggestions for improvement
for T&E
35 C.3 How long did it take for you to find your first
employment/start your own business after completion
of your training/studies? (Months)
22 34
36 C.4 In case you went to school/did a further training after
graduation,
(Type of training/name and place of training institution)
37 D.0 How do you characterize your current employment
situation or activity?
27 39
38 D.1.1 Are you satisfied with your current occupation?
39 In case you are not or moderately satisfied with your
current occupation (scales 1, 2 and 3) specify why:
40 D.1.2 In which one of the following trade /vocational fields are
you currently employed /working?
41 D.1.3 Do you work full time? 30 41
42 D.1.4 If working part-time what type? Wage or Self
Employment?
31 41
43 D.1.5 How many hours per week are you working on average?
(weekly hours)
44 D.1.6 If you live abroad, do you send any money home?
45 Have you worked abroad?
46 Have you thought about work possibilities in abroad and
in the country?
47 If Self employed, Have you employed others?
48 D.2.1 How many people do you employ in your business/farm
besides yourself?
49 D.2.2a Did you start your business/farm independently or with a
partner/your family?
3
Q. No
D. No Questionnaire Table No
Chart No
Page No
50 Did you start your business with Credit/loan?
51 D.2.2b How much credit did you receive? (NRs.)
52 D.2.3 Did you encounter any difficulties when starting your
own business, farm and if yes, what was the main
difficulty you encountered?
35, 36,
37
44, 45,
46
53 Do you have saving habit? 43 50
54 If Yes, how much you save yearly? (NRs.) 44 50
55 Where do you spend the savings?
56 Are you taking part in any further
studies/training/courses?
57 D. 3.1 What are the (major) subject area(s) of your current
studies/training?
58 D.3.2 Name and place of training institution/college/university.
59 D.3.3 For what kind of degree are you currently studying? 41 49
60 D.3.4 What do you plan on doing after completion of your
studies/training?
61 D.4.1 What are the reasons for your current unemployment?
62 How much is your yearly main and side income? (NRs.)
63 E.0 How high was your average monthly income before you
started your training? (NRs.)
19, 20 37 45, 46
64 E.1 How much is your current monthly income? (NRs.) 19, 20 37 45, 46
65 E.2 Do you get any additional payments in kind?
66 E.3 Do you receive any additional benefits?
67 E.4.a Have your living conditions improved, worsened or
remained equal after completion of your
studies/training?
42, 45 49, 51
68 E.4.b If your living conditions improved, did you acquire any of
these items? (Motorcycle/bicycle, Land, Animals,
Television/computer, Tools and machinery,
Improvement of your house (tin roof, furniture,
household, appliances, etc.), Education for children,
Clothing, Jewellery)
46 52
69 E.5.a Who is the current main contributor to your household
income?
42 49
70 E.5.b Who was the main contributor to your household
income before your studies/training?
42 49
71 F.1 Is your present job related to your training/studies at the
training institution?
48 53
72 F.2.a How important are the qualifications and skills you
acquired during your training course/ studies for your
present job?
49 53
73 F.2.b When you look at your current professional tasks as a
whole, to what extent do you use the qualifications and
skills acquired during your course of studies?
50 54
74 F.3 Have you passed on the knowledge and skills gained 51 54
4
Q. No
D. No Questionnaire Table No
Chart No
Page No
during your training/study course to family members,
friends or other villagers?
75 G.1 What is your current age? 6 6 20, 21
76 G.2 What is your (permanent) contact address?
77 G.3 Where did you live before you started your
training/studies?
78 G.4 Gender
79 G.5 What ethnic background do you have? 5, 6 21. 22
80 G.6 What is the highest level of education you attained prior
to your studies/training?
7 21
G.7 What is the highest level of education attained by your
father?
7 21
G.8 What is the highest level of education attained by your
mother?
7 21
81 G.9 What is the main occupation of your father? 8 21
82 Are you satisfied with present job/profession? 55 56
83 If satisfied with present job/profession, What makes you
so satisfied?
56 57
84 If not satisfied with present job/profession, What makes
you so unsatisfied?
57 57
85 Did you participate in NSTB (National Skill Testing Board)
for testing your skill?
52 55
86 If not participated in NSTB, Reasons?
87 If you have an opportunity for employment your
preference will be in which sector/area?
60-64 59, 60
88 Why you choose the above mentioned sector/area
89 What are the main challenges that you experienced in
the training?
59 58
90 Is your job/work seasonal? 53 55
91 If your job/work is seasonal, how many months a year
you work?
54 56
92 Are you thinking to switch to another job?
93 If thinking to switch the current job, what do you want to
do?
62 59
94 If thinking to switch the current job, what are the main
reasons?
63 60
95 Any reaction /suggestion?
