By Manjima Dhakal
Kathmandu, Feb. 25: At a time when news reports are published almost daily of Nepali women suffering in foreign countries and facing exploitation at the hands of their employers, Chini Maya Tamang of Nuwakot, who is preparing to go abroad, is assured that she will be safe and earn money.
Tamang is planning to go to Jordan, a country in the Gulf, to work in the garment sector and feels confident in her ability to work because of the month-long training she is receiving with the support of Safer Migration Project (SaMi).
SaMi is a joint initiative of the governments of Nepal and Switzerland implemented under the leadership of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security and 156 local governments in 39 districts. Helvetas Nepal is providing technical support to the programme.
Like Tamang, Liladhar Oli of Salyan is also obtaining scaffolding training in Kathmandu and aims to go abroad and earn more money. Along with Oli, about 20 other youths are participating in the scaffolding training hoping to get a good job and decent salary through foreign employment. There is a high demand for scaffolding workers in the Gulf countries.
Oli has previously worked as a migrant labourer in Malaysia and Dubai. But this time, he decided to go abroad only after attending this skill training. Oli said he witnessed how skilled and unskilled workers were treated differently. Sectors employing skilled workers were safer than sectors employing unskilled workers, Oli further said.
With a target to produce skilled manpower, SaMi has been providing free training to potential migrant workers since 2011. “This year too, SaMi plans to train 1,000 potential migrants in six different trades including plumbing, scaffolding, masonry, garment and others,” Chandu Rana, monitoring officer of the SaMi, said.
According to the data with the Department of Foreign Employment, about 70 per cent of the workers leaving Nepal are unskilled. As per the department’s labour migration report, there is a huge difference in respect and salary skilled and unskilled workers receive abroad. It further states, “If the government can send skilled manpower, it can boost the economy of the country.”
Therefore, the government has undertaken various initiatives to create skilled manpower. Besides this project, the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security has established Vocational and Skill Development Training Academy at Bhaisepati. And the government has also been initiating to establish such training centre even at the provincial levels.