We doubled our outreach efforts last year and introduced our Vocational Education and Career Counseling (VECC) program to 1,292 impoverished young men and women in Nepal, including 1,118 former child slaves (Kamlari).
Of those who attended the orientation sessions, 478 enrolled in long and short term trainings to prepare them for jobs as midwives, computer technicians, cooks, graphic designers, furniture makers, and farmers.
Nearly half of all Nepalis – even those with advanced college degrees – cannot find a job. Yet plumbers and electricians are often recruited from neighboring countries because most young people in Nepal lack training in these and other skilled jobs.
Unfortunately, vocational counseling and training is severely lacking in Nepal, and without this kind of support many young people languish in unemployment and poverty.
Nepal Youth Foundation’s VECC program provides career counseling and assessment, as well as short and long term vocational training programs. VECC staff work with each student to help them decide whether to pursue higher education or vocational training for a particular career path. Our staff has conducted extensive research throughout Nepal to identify vocational courses that provide high quality training and have proven success in placing young people in satisfying jobs.
VECC staff then identifies the best training program for each student's chosen field, pays for the cost of training, and helps them to find jobs. In some cases, VECC provides graduates with support for starting a small business of their own. More than 80 percent of our graduates are now employed!
We also offered preparatory classes for the freed Kamlari girls to help them pass the entrance examination for some of the highly sought-after technical training programs. As a result, 51 of 133 girls who took the classes passed the entrance exam and enrolled in the program.
Thanks in large part to the generosity of our supporters, the VECC program is proving to be a highly effective means of putting impoverished youth on a track for life-long success.
Asmita was sent away from her family and spent five years of her childhood working as a Kamlari indentured servant before NYF rescued her in 2004. After high school, we sponsored Asmita in an agricultural training program, and then she started her own farm with a loan from the freed Kamlari business co-op. Now Asmita tills the fields with her family by her side. She's also trained 40 other former Kamlari in farming to help ensure their independence.
Renu learned a trade and is studying for a college degree. Bright and hardworking, she received an NYF scholarship and finished high school, passing the SLC exam. Renu then completed the 18-month Auxiliary Nurse Midwife training program and now earns 15,000 rupees ($150) a month (good money in this impoverished country) helping to deliver babies at a small clinic in Western Nepal. But Renu still has larger ambitions, and so she continues in college working towards a bachelor’s degree.
Thank you for giving young women like Asmita and Renu a chance for a brighter future.
Namaste!
Links:
More than 300 former child slaves enrolled in vocational training last year, preparing for jobs as lab assistants, electricians, auto mechanics, farmers, plumbers, hairdressers, cooks, midwives and seamstresses.
For these young women who have spent their childhoods as bonded household servants in a practice known as Kamlari, the training represents a bright and hopeful future.
Nepal Youth Foundation’s Vocational Education and Career Counseling (VECC) program provides career counseling and assessment, as well as short and long term vocational training programs. VECC staff work with each student to help them decide whether to pursue higher education or vocational training for a particular career path. Our staff has conducted extensive research throughout Nepal to identify vocational courses that provide high quality training and have proven success in placing young people in satisfying jobs.
VECC staff then identifies the best training program for each student's chosen field, pays for the cost of training, and helps them to find jobs. In some cases, VECC provides graduates with support for starting a small business of their own.
We also offered preparatory classes for the freed Kamlari girls to help them pass the entrance examination for some of the highly sought-after technical training programs. As a result, 51 of 133 girls who took the classes passed the entrance exam and enrolled in the program.
Nearly half of all Nepalis – even those with advanced college degrees – cannot find a job. Yet plumbers and electricians are often recruited from neighboring countries because most young people in Nepal lack training in these and other skilled jobs.
Unfortunately, vocational counseling and training is severely lacking in Nepal, and without this kind of support many young people languish in unemployment and poverty.
Thank you for your support.
Namaste!
Links:
Nearly half of all Nepalis – even those with advanced college degrees – cannot find a job. Yet plumbers and electricians are often recruited from neighboring countries because most young people in Nepal lack training in these and other skilled jobs.
Unfortunately, vocational counseling and training is severely lacking in Nepal, and without this kind of support many young people languish in unemployment and poverty.
But our Vocational Education and Career Counseling Program (VECC) is helping to change that. VECC has trained hundreds of electricians, plumbers, hairdressers, computer technicians, midwives, auto-mechanics and cooks since the program began in 2007 — and more than 80 percent of our graduates are now employed.
Talented young people like Amrita will begin a career as an electrical engineer after she completes her training at Balaju Technical Schoolin Kathmandu. The 15-yar-old passed the challenging School Leaving Certificate (SLC) exam, required of all Nepali students to graduate from high school, and won a coveted spot in the vocational program. Amrita entered her training with an eagerness to learn and a big dream — she wants to solve Nepal’s chronic power shortage by building more hydro-electric power systems.
Last year, we provided career counseling services to 1,200 young people and enrolled 475 youth in both short and long-term training programs. Before starting any course of training, students take a series of interest and aptitude assessments. VECC staff work with each student to help them decide whether to pursue higher education or vocational training for a particular career path. Our staff has conducted extensive research throughout Nepal to identify vocational courses that provide high quality training and have proven success in placing young people in satisfying jobs.
VECC staff then identify the best training program for each student's chosen field, pays for the cost of training, and helps them to find jobs. In some cases, VECC provides graduates with support for starting a small business of their own.
Asmita was sent away from her family and spent five years of her childhood working as a Kamlari indentured servant before NYF rescued her in 2004. After high school, we sponsored Asmita in an agricultural training program, and then she started her own farm with a loan from the freed Kamlari business co-op. Now Asmita tills the fields with her family by her side. She's also trained 40 other former Kamlari in farming to help ensure their independence.
Renu learned a trade and is studying for a college degree. Smart and hardworking, she received an NYF scholarship and finished high school, passing the SLC exam. Renu then completed the 18-month Auxiliary Nurse Midwife training program and now earns 15,000 rupees ($150) a month (good money in this impoverished country) helping to deliver babies at a small clinic in Western Nepal. But Renu still has larger ambitions, and so she continues in college working towards a bachelor’s degree.
Thanks in large part to the generosity of our supporters, the VECC program is proving to be a highly effective means of putting impoverished youth on a track for life-long success.
http://www.nepalyouthfoundation.org/programs/vocational-education-career-counseling/
Links:
With a staggering unemployment rate of 46 percent, choosing the right career is very important in Nepal. Unlike most Western countries where higher education is a stepping-stone to job opportunities, even people with advanced university degrees have trouble finding employment in this impoverished country.
There is a demand for skilled labor in a number of sectors and NYF’s Vocational Education and Career Counseling (VECC) staff research trends in the job market and tailor vocational trainings to meet those demands.
Counselors also help disadvantaged youth explore their strengths through aptitude tests and assessments and identify rewarding careers where they can excel. NYF also sponsors young people in vocational courses and helps them find jobs so they can become self-sufficient.
Since VECC started in 2007, more than 500 youth have completed a range of training programs including website design, hotel management, nursing, electrician, cooking, and lab technician. More than 80 percent of these VECC graduates are now working.
One graduate, Bed Bahadur Nepali, completed Cook Training Program and now prepares fine cuisine at a 5-Star hotel in Kathmandu.
Last year, 168 youth enrolled in various training programs.
Thank you for helping these young people develop real skills to find real jobs in this impoverished country.
Namaste.
Links:
To reach out the the thousands of girls rescued from indentured servitude, Nepal Youth Foundation set up a regional office in Nepalgunj, in the western part of the country where most of the former Kamlari call home.
Regional office staff provide career counseling to help the girls choose appropriate training programs and link them to cooperatives so they can start their own businesses.
Last year, 168 youths enrolled in training various programs including dressmaking, social work, auto mechanics, hospitality, farming and construction. Many of the 142 girls who enrolled in the Vocational Education and Career Counseling (VECC) program last year were former Kamlari who spent their childhoods as household slaves.
Many of these girls missed so many years of schooling that they could not catch up through traditional education. VECC staff work closely with each student to help them choose an occupation that they are both suited for and would enjoy.
To get the word out about our program, VECC broadcast a radio program called "Lauo Juni," meaning "new life" through seven local FM radio stations in Western Nepal. The radio broadcasts spotlighted the career accomplishments the girls and hoped to motivate other girls to pursue vocational training and entrepreneurship.
Thank you for helping these young people develop real skils to find real jobs in this impoverished country. Namaste.
Links:
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