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Although youth research has highlighted the importance of a holistic understanding of the changing nature of youth education to work transitions, few studies have examined these transitions from a process perspective. In this study on continuity and discontinuity of work, the process perspective proved to be useful to analyse the education to work transition of rural-urban migrants in Kathmandu, Nepal. Qualitative longitudinal data, consisting of two consecutive in-depth interviews, with twenty-one participants, reveal how they shift choices, negotiate positions, embrace changes and decisions. A reemphasis on the understanding of rural-urban migrant youth education to work transition as part of a process is suggested calling for a holistic understanding of rural-urban migrant youth education to work transition among scholars and policymakers in Nepal and also in other contexts.

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Against the background of education expansion and economic transformations, little is known about how education shapes the transition to work in developing countries. Drawing on the cases of Vietnam, Cambodia and Nepal, this study examines the association between education and the timing and quality of transition to work. In Vietnam and Cambodia, school enrolment delays the transition to first paid employment, but upon leaving school, higher education attainment is associated with faster rate of transition. The education gradient is even stronger in probabilities and rates of transition to first stable, long-term employment. In Nepal, school enrolment does not preclude transition to paid employment, and the relation between education attainment and transition to work differs significantly by gender.

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Labour markets are becoming more dynamic in response to pressures from globalisation, new technologies and trade agreements, as well as cross-border migration, inter-generational differences, changing education imperatives and employer expectations. By focusing on several Asia Pacific countries, this book explores the differences in their workforces: ageing, or abundant in labour but lacking in skilled employees. One similarity these countries share is the difficulty in attracting and retaining employees with the required skillset and capabilities, and these constraints can stymie national economic growth and long term development. This book brings together national and international perspectives on employability challenges faced by selected countries in the Asia Pacific region. While the region is forecast to enjoy high growth in the coming decade, a recurring challenge is addressing skill shortages and ensuring effective transition from training colleges and universities into employment. Consequently, the book focuses on the roles of multiple stakeholders, primarily: governments, education providers and employers - in more effectively addressing these key socio-economic challenges.

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The contents are as follows: Part I, 'The issues and challenges', contains the following chapters: Introduction: applicant work-readiness and graduate employability challenges in the Asia Pacific / John Burgess, Roslyn Cameron, Subas Dhakal and Kerry Brown; Graduate work-readiness in Asia Pacific economies: a review of the literature / Alan Nankervis, Verma Prikshat and Roslyn Cameron; Part II, 'Country studies', contains: Labour market and work-readiness challenges: the case of Taiwan / Min-Wen Sophie Chang and Julia Connell; Enhancing graduate work-readiness in Vietnam / Nguyen Danh Nguyen and Nguyen Ba Ngoc; Work-readiness in Malaysia / Noorziah Mohd Salleh, Jude Emelifeonwu, Jonathan Winterton and Kwok Mow Chan; 'The perfect storm': constraints on Indonesian economic growth posed by graduate work-readiness challenges / Soegeng Priyono and Alan Nankervis; Work-readiness in Singapore / Peter Waring, Christopher Vas and Azad Singh Bali; Antecedents, consequences and strategic responses to graduate work-readiness: challenges in India / Verma Prikshat, Sanjeev Kumar and Parnita Raje; Graduate employability in Australia: time for a VET and HE overhaul? / Alan Montague, Julia Connell and Barbara Mumme; The state of higher education and vocational education and training sectors in Nepal: implications for graduate work-readiness and sustainable development / Subas Dhakal; Work-readiness in Lao PDR / Vipapone Aphayvanh.

Part III, 'Comparative analysis and conclusions', contains the following chapters: A comparative perspective on work-readiness challenges in the Asia Pacific region / Subas Dhakal, John Burgess, Roslyn Cameron and Alan Nankervis; Conclusion: the future for work-readiness and graduate employability in the Asia Pacific / Roslyn Cameron, John Burgess, Subas Dhakal and Barbara Mumme. Individual chapters are available in VOCEDplus from TD/TNC 136.324 to TD/TNC 136.336. Show less

This article examines the experiences of youth transitioning from education to work, within the specific context of rural-urban migration in Nepal. This context is chosen as, compared to developed countries, experiences in developing ones have remained under-researched in the transition studies literature. The study is informed by a biographical research approach, using qualitative longitudinal life (hi)story methods, with a view to revealing local transition patterns and the life events influencing these. The study identifies four different patterns reflecting the education-to-work transitions of young rural–urban migrants in Nepal. These patterns encompass different pathways involving education, migration, work, and mandatory waiting periods. The analysis of these transition patterns highlights how migration for education and work from rural to urban settings, taken together with mandatory waiting periods, exerts key influence on the overall life trajectories of young rural-urban migrants in Nepal's capital.

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This report is part of the series of studies undertaken in Cambodia, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal and Vietnam. Consolidating all the country studies, UNESCO Bangkok has published a synthesis report entitled 'Gender, jobs and education: prospects and realities in the Asia-Pacific'. In Nepal, as in other participating countries, an empirical study was undertaken in 2013 to understand the relationship between Nepal's labour market and the education system. The major lens used to see this relationship was gender. This report focuses on the involvement of women and men participating in education and the labour market, Nepal's education system, and female and male students' perceptions about suitability of different occupations. The report then analyzes the relationship between different dimensions of education and the labour market. The study was conducted among 319 (158 female, 161 male) grade 10 students and 470 women and men engaged in different occupations. Research was conducted in eight districts including Kathmandu Valley.

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This paper is part of the output of the project 'Linking Education and Labour Markets: Under what conditions can Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) improve the income of the youth?' (short title: LELAM TVET4Income). The project, financed jointly by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), aims to find out under what conditions and to what extent TVET can help to improve the labour market situation of the youth, especially in east developed, low and middle-income countries. The project consists of six teams coming from five different countries and four continents: Chile, Costa Rica, Benin, Nepal and Switzerland.

The aim of this country case study is to provide an overview of Nepal's formal and non-formal technical vocational education and training (TVET) landscape. In particular, it aims to provide detailed descriptions of some TVET programmes, its actors and institutions, which were selected based on a conceptual framework classifying TVET programmes into four categories. Such categories show whether the TVET programmes are formal or non-formal and whether they involve workplace-based training in the formal or informal labour market.

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Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programs are most successful at supporting youth labor markets when they combine education and employment. Education-employment linkage theory describes this combination in terms of power-sharing between actors from the education system and their counterparts in the employment system over key processes in the curriculum value chain of curriculum design, curriculum application (program delivery), and curriculum updating. The KOF Education-Employment Linkage Index measures linkage at every function in a TVET program where actors from the two systems interact, aggregating those into processes and phases and eventually an index score. We apply that index to the largest upper-secondary TVET programs in Benin, Chile, Costa Rica, and Nepal.

We find that Benin has relatively high education-employment linkage, while the other three countries score very low. Benin's situation is unique because its TVET program is moving from employer-led to linked, rather than the typical employer integration into an education-based program. Other countries with large informal economies, low formal education and training rates, and existing non-formal employer-led training may be able to implement similar approaches using functionally equivalent institutions. Furthermore, we summarize the results of discussions with policy-maker focus groups in the four case study countries.

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This paper analyses the relationship between formal education and the formal employment sector in Nepal. The analysis of several individual-level surveys between 1995 and 2014 shows that completed tertiary education increases the probability to be wage-employed in the non-agricultural sector, while primary and secondary education has little relationship with wage-employment. However, primary, secondary and tertiary education all increase an extended measure of formal sector employment that accounts for company registration and size. This highlights the relevance of choosing the appropriate measure of formal sector employment. The strength of the relationship between completed primary and secondary education and formal sector employment has decreased over time. This decrease provides suggestive evidence that the relative returns to formal education in the informal sector have increased, implying that the informal employment sector provides relatively more opportunities in 2014 than 20 years earlier. The relationship between tertiary education and wage-employment has also decreased but the relationship between tertiary education and the extended measure of formal sector employment has remained stable. This might reflect the large share of tertiary educated working in government related sectors.

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This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book outlines a contemporary labour market policy challenge for many countries, both developed and developing, in the Asia Pacific region. It discusses the definition and conceptualization of job readiness and identifies the attributes and competencies that contribute to developing job readiness. The book then provides a more detail around analytical framework for identifying and positioning stakeholders in the job transition process. The countries are: Australia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam. It also outlines the responses and policies that are being implemented in each country to improve graduate work-readiness. The book provides a synopsis of the issues and initiatives across the multiple stakeholders and the Asia Pacific region and presents a research agenda around work-readiness and graduate employability for the future.

Abstract from publisher's website.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 133.148. Show less

This paper is part of the output of the project 'Linking Education and Labour Markets: Under what conditions can Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) improve the income of the youth?' (short title: LELAM TVET4Income). The project, financed jointly by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), aims to find out under what conditions and to what extent TVET can help to improve the labour market situation of the youth, especially in east developed, low and middle-income countries. The project consists of six teams coming from five different countries and four continents: Chile, Costa Rica, Benin, Nepal and Switzerland.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview and synthesis of this research activity. We do so by documenting the research output related to each of the four questions, indicating how this research contributes to answering the driving question of the project. The key achievements of the first phase of the project have been the development of a theoretical framework to measure the social institutions of TVET, indices that capture the extent and quality of institutional linkages and youth labor market situations, and assessments of system linkages and effectiveness of new reforms and programs in the partner countries. We also discuss how this knowledge generation and development of measurement tools make a broader contribution to the TVET policy and practice. Finally, we outline in which areas the second phase of the project (2020-2023) will focus to develop further contributions to research and policy for TVET to have a higher impact on the livelihoods of the youth.

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