With the support of FNCCI (Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries) and CTEVT (Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training), the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) organized the workshop on institute-industry partnership building on December 5, 2014 at Korea Nepal Institute of Technology (KNIT), Tamnagar, Butwal.

Through the active participation of industries of Rupandehi and Nawalparasi area, the workshop aimed for the development of a strong institute-industry partnership at the local level and promotion of the employment opportunities of the training graduates. The workshop in Butwal was the continuation of the workshop organized for the first time in FNCCI, Kathmandu on 24 November, 2014.

The Resident Representative Haeng Lan Jo extended her sincere gratitude to all the participants and gave a brief picture on how the workshop is helpful for strengthening the local participation and partnership with local industries.

According to a press release issued by KOICA, four presentations were delivered by the experts of training institutes and government agency including KNIT, KUTTC (Kathmandu University Technical Training Institute) and CTEVT.

Saurav Ram Joshi, the director of the CTEVT stressed on the need of appropriate training approach for strengthening the institute-industry partnership and employment promotion of training graduates.

Dr Bivek Baral, the director of KUTTC informed the participants about the on-going short term training programs in the training center as well as the skills and qualification of trainees. Dr Baral also briefed on the institutional effort to collaborate with local industries at Kavre region for providing training opportunities to the needy youth and manage their employment in future.

Arbind Kumar Chaudhary, the principal of KNIT delivered his presentation on the skills of the training graduates of KNIT and its future plan for their job placement by tying up with local industries. Dr Hwang Sung Yeon, the senior advisor of KNIT proposed the KNIT partnership strategy to collaborate with the major industries of Nepal like Laxmi Hyundai Motors and Samsung Electronics so as to manage job opportunities for KNIT graduates and also run capacity enhancement program for employees of those industries. The head of the local chambers also showed their commitment to support for managing the employment opportunities for the training graduates of Korean training institutes.

The workshop was aimed at sharing fruitful insights and suggestions among industrial associations and Korean training institutes on developing strong institute-industry partnership in Nepal. Various industrial associations working for the automobile, mechanical and electrical trades interacted with the managers and instructors of Korean training institutes on how they can build a suitable institute-industry partnership at local and national level.

KOICA supported for the establishment of KNIT (Korea Nepal Institute of Technology) in 2012 with the grant amount of 5.68 million USD located at Butwal, Tamnagar. KNIT runs 3 year diploma programs in Mechanical, Automobile and Electrical/electronic Engineering trades under CTEVT. Similarly, KOICA supported for the establishment of KU TTC (Kathmandu University Technical Training Center) in 2013 with the grant amount of 3.5 million USD located at Dhulikhel, Kavre. The KU TTC runs short-term training courses in Automobile, Carpentry, Wielding and Machine of duration ranging from 3 months to 1 year. These Korean training institutes aim at providing quality technical education and skill-oriented trainings to under privileged and unemployed youth of Nepal.

KOICA’s strategic goal for the education in Nepal includes providing vocational education opportunities to Nepalese people in order to increase their productivity and income level. KOICA has been providing development assistance to Nepal for the upliftment of education, health and agriculture sector since 1991.