TVET: A Corner Stone for Decent Livelihood and Resilient Growth

TVET: A Corner Stone for Decent Livelihood and Resilient Growth

Efforts to foster Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Cambodia are a cornerstone of sustaining decent livelihoods especially among the marginalised and rebooting resilient economic growth.

To embrace and further build the awareness of the significance of TVET, Asian Development Bank (ADB) in cooperation with other stakeholders supports the Royal Government of Cambodia to virtually mark her third National TVET Day 2020 themed “the TVET for a Better Life” on June 15.

Since 2014, ADB has been working with the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training to bring Cambodia’s TVET system and programme to a new level, investing nearly US$175 million.

This includes enhancing the skills and competitiveness of Cambodia’s industrial sector labour force and developing human resources for Cambodia’s four priority sectors: manufacturing, construction, electricity, and electronics.

Selected technical training institutes (TTIs) have been transformed into leading technical and vocational education and training institutes across the country to produce high-quality technicians in the priority sectors and respond to changing technology and industry needs.

The ADB’s support in education and skills development has also contributed to improve skills enhancement facilities, learning resources and teaching quality of close to half a million upper-secondary students (40 percent female) and help 34,000 students (52.8 percent female) to enroll in TVET programmes.

Factoring in the “new normal” imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, ADB’s project is also strengthening industry’s role and engagement in skills development, focusing on upskilling and reskilling of existing workers.

Industry and technical training institutes (TTIs) have forged partnership to promote work-based learning (WBL) programmes and expand the skills development fund (SDF) as an innovative TVET financing mechanism.

Quality and resilient TVET programme will significantly contribute to boosting Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) which is the backbone of Cambodia’s resilient and sustainable economic growth.