Minister for Education, Science and Technology Bidya Bhattarai has pointed out the need for revising the age-old policies and restructure the curriculum in the education, science and technology sector.

She said that the CTEVT was established 36 years ago, but the country was still using the same old policies without revision.

“If we make an effort to revise the curriculum and restructure CTEVT, we can also make suggestions for policy level change,” she said, addressing the National Seminar on Education and Employment Linkage, jointly organised by the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN), and the Nepal Automobiles Dealers’ Association (NADA) in Lalitpur.

The participants underscored the need to strengthen the synergy between education and employment to equip Nepalese youth with employable skills.

Professor Ursula Reynolds, chair of Education Systems at ETH Zurich, delivered a keynote speech, saying that industry partnership is important to ensure that the education system produces the human resource that industries want.

CNI Vice President Birendra Raj Pandey pointed out a significant shortage of skilled labour in the country. “Industries are struggling to find qualified human resources, while youth are searching for employment opportunities,” he said. “As a result, industries are compelled to hire skilled workers from neighbouring country India.”

Chargé d'Affaires a.i. of Embassy of Switzerland in Nepal Matthias Meier said that they have the hard scientific evidence that dual VET apprenticeships approach is indeed a win-win proposition for both, the apprentices and the industries that employ them.

Mahesh Bhattarai, member secretary of Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT), Binayak Shah, president of the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN), and Karan Chaudhary, president of the Nepal Automobiles Dealers’ Association (NADA), emphasised the importance of linking education with employment to better prepare the youth.