In a bid to cater to the growing demand for skilled human resources to rebuild traditional houses after the Gorkha Earthquake and to mitigate unemployment in Nepal, the Nepal Vocational Academy (NVA), a non-profit affiliated with the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT), has extended its academic building in Kamalbinayak, Bhaktapur.

Education Minister Giriraj Mani Pokharel and Chairman of Germany’s Schülerhilfe für Nepal  Joerg Bahr inaugurated the building built by Rabindra Puri Foundation. The new building has capacity to give training for 200 people.

The NVA was established by Rabindra Puri, who champions a movement to restore Newari architecture in Panauti in January 2015. 

“Normally, I am not keen on attending inauguration programmes. But I have noted the works carried out by Puri—rebuilding the schools damaged by the 2015 earthquake in Kavre and Ramechhap. He has done something that the government is unable to do,” said Minister Pokharel during the inauguration function.

Puri has donated one ropani of land worth Rs 70 million, while Schülerhilfe für Nepal has donated Rs50 million to the academy.

The building houses four workshops, eight classrooms, an office, a meeting room and a conference hall.

The NVA has already trained 200 people from its academy in Panauti, Puri explained, “Many of the skilled workers have been employed in various quake affected areas.  They earn between Rs800 and 1,500 a day.”

The academy offers a year-long training programme—three months of vocational training based on CTEVT and nine months on the job training based on its curriculum. The academy in Bhaktapur will be running training programmes on electrical wiring, plumbing, carpentry and woodcarving from August. 

“The demand for traditional houses equipped with modern amenities has shot up after the 2015 earthquake, leading to the growth in the number of trainees. That’s why we have added another campus in Bhaktapur,” said Puri, the winner of Asia Pacific Cultural Heritage Award.