John Mountford – TVET Employer Partnership Expert (TEPE), Dakchyata, British Council

Establishing an Employer led Labour Market Secretariat (ELMS) project secretariat office was visited by Mr. John Mountford and Mr. Manoj Sharma Neupane on 4th April 2022, Monday. They were welcomed by the communication manager and five EA LMI Unit Coordinators at the ELMS Operation Unit (EOU) office. John appreciated the ELMS staff for their hard work and dedication and also congratulated them for accomplishing occupation standard development despite the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown, and immobility.

The primary objective of the visit was to review the progress made by five implementing EA LMI Units on the Labour Market Information (LMI) survey within 27 districts of Nepal and among 3000 member enterprises. Each EA LMI Unit coordinators shared the progress made until today. The LMI survey commenced from 27th February 2022 from Bagmati and Gandaki province. 20% tourism sector enterprises are closed due to the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and more than 80 percent of sample enterprises in the construction sector are from D class and were shared by the unit coordinators. Despite these FNCCI, CNI, FNCSI, FCAN, and HAN and their stronger network in all seven provinces and 27 survey districts has been a major support for proper coordination and communication for the LMI survey.

John also suggested that issues are basically learnings made by the project which the project can learn from their experiences. He further indicated that how ELMS can generate green skills and green jobs within private sector business/industries is one of the key concerns of the British Council and the European Union. He further shared that the best way to have sustainability is to create and have value. John further indicated that the productivity of the ELMS structure is the key element being observed by the European Union (EU) within ELMS.

He further indicated ELMS to concentrate on and prioritize emerging issues such as green skills, linkage with supply-side stakeholders (CTEVT), creating value for sustainability, collaboration and use of the dashboard of the survey in the upcoming months. He further appreciated LMI Unit and EOU for proceeding toward unique findings within the labour market system in Nepal. ELMS has been conducting LMI surveys within 27 districts and among 3000 member enterprises in Nepal for employment creation and also to enhance the quality of the TVET sector.