Analyzing the outcomes of skills for employment project (SEP) in Nepal: the case of Kaski district

This paper tries to analyze the outcomes and effects of an intervention aimed at contributing to reducing poverty in one of the world’s most poverty-stricken countries, Nepal. Nepal initiated the Skill for Employment Project (SEP) in the year 2006 with the objective of providing market oriented short-term training for 80,000 people from the disadvantaged groups, particularly women and Dalits (lower caste), within the period of five years. The training is expected to enhance the employability of the training participants and facilitate them in obtaining employment. The engagement in employment is then supposed to help them increase their income, sustain their livelihoods and ultimately bring them out of the poverty trap. The study tries to examine the outcomes of the training, mainly the employment and earning outcomes. The study is based on primary data collected from 41 selected training participants who were trained at least a year prior to the field work. Besides, relevant information was also collected from the training providers, employers and professionals in Technical Education and Vocational Training. Although more than half of the participants were employed, only around one-third were employed in occupations they were trained in. The average monthly earnings of the employed look reasonable. However, a majority of the employed were earning less than the government defined minimum salary. The overall finding, therefore, does not portray a favourable picture. The study also makes an attempt to analyze the potential factors behind this unfavourable picture of the ambitious project. -- Relevance to Development Studies -- Poverty has been a much discussed agenda at all levels of the development debates, from local to global. These discussions have often resulted in several strategies to reduce poverty from the world. In recent times, investment in health, education and the skills development of people has been a top priority among the governments in most of the countries. The relevance of this study lies in its attempt to analyze the outcomes of one of such efforts to reduce poverty in one of the least developed countries in the world.