Author(s): Prof. Uma Kant Silwal, Kushmakar Bhatta

Abstract: Education has tremendous scope as an instrument of socio-economic change. Through education knowledge is imparted and skills, interests, attitudes, aspirations and values are developed which contributes to promote socio-economic status. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of Vocational Education and Training (VET) programs in job creation among youths in Nepal. The problem of this study is to ascertain the potency of VET in poverty reduction through engagement in self or wage employment among youths in Nepal. The area of study comprises of the six semi-urban districts of the country in two different occupations; Mason and Solar PV Technician. Descriptive survey design was employed for the study with a population of 226Vocational Education and Training (VET) graduates. Four research questions were formulated and analyzed using arithmetic mean method. The finding of this study revealed that vocational education and trainings can play a vital role in equipping, building and making our youths self-employed, reliable and employable in an industry or company.The study also found that vocational training programs are effective in contributing socio-economic development and poverty reduction. However, the paper recommends that one of the ways by which government should generate employment and reduce poverty is to focus on a functional, technical and vocational education. Relevancy of the trainings and linkages with employment market is to be increased through market study and revising the existing curriculum.

Keywords: Vocational, Occupation, Employment, Gender, Ethnicity.

DOI: 10.24001/ijels.2.5.16