Unemployment in the nation can force many of them to opt foreign employment. However, these youths who couldn’t pass the general SLC can surpass in the technical field. In a context where catastrophic earthquake of 7.6 rector scale hit the country, next five years is the golden period of reconstruction. This reconstruction phase can be an opportunity for many youths so it is for the nation.
A recent report released by the National Planning Commission (NPC) says that labor demand for demolition, clearing of debris, and reconstruction of destroyed and damaged dwellings and other physical infrastructure will grow in the fiscal year 2015-2016.
The Post Disaster Need Assessment (PDNA) of the NPC also shows that at least 30000 technical manpower will be required for the reconstruction of Nepal.
Nepal is a country where 1500 to 1700 citizens leave the country for foreign employment in an average every day. Lack of job opportunities in the country is one of the major reasons people are migrating in hordes while no value for technical work is another compelling factor of external migration.
According to a government data, the catastrophic earthquake of April 25, has destroyed more than 800,000 buildings in Nepal. Calling back Nepali workers from abroad or fetching international workers is the only option available to meet the reconstruction goals in Nepal as we don’t have enough technical manpower. There has been acute shortage of manpower in the construction sector even before the earthquake hit the country.
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Director at Department of Education (DoE) Khagendra Nepal shared that lack of strong policies that accredits technical skills has bared many to pursue career in technical field.
“Even if people want to pursue career in technical filed, they don’t have access in technical education. Also, we need to develop a culture where any kind of work will be respected, he shared.
As construction, agriculture and tourism sector are the major areas of discourse in the post-disaster phase, the demand of engineers, masons, carpenters and technicians for solar panels among other are highly in demand.
Stating that the country will require thirty to forty thousand technical man powers for the reconstruction phase, Advisor of NPC Kishore Thapa informed that producing trainers is a major step to achieve the goal.
“The government will produce 500 trainers to produce the required technical manpower for reconstruction as soon as the monsoon ends,” said Thapa, adding, “The salary of the technical manpower is going to be high and they will get salary from the first day they enroll for training.”
He informed that the government will run training programs through CTEVT in order to produce engineers, masons, carpenters, electrician, plumbers and social mobilisers to meet the demand.
Sociologists Dr. Meena Poudel opined that the since the educational system of Nepal can’t produce technical man power, there is no option left to call back our migrant workers from Malaysia and the Gulf countries.
“The gap in development before the quake and the context created after the quake will be bridged by the reconstruction-oriented skills,” said Poudel. She added that the vocational training to the youths should produce such human resources as generating such manpower through our education system is not possible.
Unless we can provide students with the skills for employment in an increasing competitive economy, remittance will remain as a backbone of our GDP. However, there the shortage of manpower in the reconstruction phase will loom large.
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