An estimated 350,000 youth enter the job market every year. Most of them leave school early and try to find employment without formal skill training. Governmental and private institutions provide skill training to about 50,000 youth per year. However, many of these skill-trained people have problems to find employment as the training is not sufficiently linked to the needs of the employment market. Thus, the identification of modalities for market-oriented skill training with a clear linkage to employment is an important challenge.

FRANCHISING-SKILL (F-SKILL)

The Franchising-SKILL (F-SKILL) project intends to develop modalities of skill-training with a high probability for gainful employment or self-employment. The project capitalized on the experiences of SKILL, taking it to the wider scale employment market and scaling up the training opportunities for youths.

OUTCOMES

• Employment-market relevant skill training packages have been developed, targeted to specific employment sectors and to markets in Nepal, India or overseas.

• Outcome-based financing modality introduced whereby payment is done only for people trained and employed for at least 6 months with a minimum income threshold.

• Franchising system is operational as a modality to upscale the training plus employment with strict quality control.

PRESENT STATUS

• About 1500-2000 youths are trained and employed every year

• Disadvantaged youth are reached through a special incentive system: 10% of trainees are Dalit, 73% are Janjati

• The franchising system is operational with more than 20 franchisees across the country; the Project Management Unit functions as the franchisor but operates under the modality of a private company since January 2005. It is expected to convert into a private company in 2006

• Quality management is ensured through the gradual introduction of ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management System

• More than 200 trainers are accredited with F-SKILL and receive Training-of-Trainers courses

• Rapid Market Appraisals and Sub-Sector Studies are used to assess employment markets

• Training opportunities for migrants to India and overseas have been explored and first targeted training courses have been initiated

• Employment Fund concept introduced as a possible modality for pool funding in the sector

PARTNERSHIP

Private companies are the main actors. They orient their training according to the employment market.

• Franchisees as private entrepreneurs link training and employment; they hire F-SKILL accredited trainers

• Enterprises/companies seeking skill trained persons

• Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT) and National Skill Training Board (NSTB) as governmental bodies for skill training and occupational skill testing

FUNDING

About CHF 700,000 per year from SDC. The creation of an Employment Fund opens opportunities for other actors to come in and co-finance the initiative from 2007 onwards.

Contact Details

F-SKILL

Ekantkuna, Jawlakhel, Kathmandu

Tel: + 977 91-5555301

E - mail: fskill@helvetas.org.np