Vocational Training and Employment Support Services (VTESS)


The exit phase of VTESS will further promote an inclusive vocational skills development (VSD) system in Lao PDR. Within the current context of economic crisis, early school leavers from disadvantaged backgrounds will thereby benefit from improved and labour market relevant training, employment support services and a sustainable funding model for VSD.

Pays/région Thème Période Budget
Laos
Formation professionelle
Emploi & développement économique
Formation professionnelle
Création d'emplois
01.12.2023 - 30.11.2027
CHF  8’800’000
Contexte The country’s economy has not yet been able to resume since COVID-19. Economic growth has decreased drastically from an average of 7.5% to an estimated 2.7% for 2023, and Laos has slipped into a deep financial crisis with a depreciation of the kip and a galloping inflation. Increasing fuel and consumer goods prices are directly impacting the livelihoods of the population, particularly of vulnerable households. Young people are migrating for work in Thailand, where average wages are three times higher. While this trend is challenging for labour-intensive sectors such as garment manufacturing and hospitality, paradoxically the unemployment rate has increased from 15.7% in 2019 to 18.5% in 2022. Indeed, low education levels and skills mismatch with needs of the private sector make it difficult for the latter to grow and create employment. The reduction of school enrolments in secondary education and TVET is an additional element showing the depth of the crisis, with signs of coping strategies of vulnerable households getting exhausted. This context provides the rationale for the continuation of the VTESS project, with a focus on young people who have fallen out of the schooling and skills development system. 
Objectifs Early school leavers (aged 15-35) from disadvantaged backgrounds (gender, ethnicity, income poverty) in the Lao PDR increase their annual net income through productive (self-)employment.
Groupes cibles

Direct beneficiaries:

  • 3’500 early school leavers from disadvantaged groups (gender, ethnicity, income poverty)
  • 2’200 unemployed youth and job seekers (including 300 benefitting from seeds money)
  • 60 local coaches from Non-Profit Associations, government organizations and the private sector equipped for ESS coaching
  • 784 IVET trainers & key staff, ESS partners, coaches and enterprises trained on technical skills for service delivery

Indirect beneficiaries:

  • 2’000 visitors (job seekers, parents, other interested) having access to job fairs and job information
Effets à moyen terme
  1. Early school leavers from disadvantaged groups benefitting from Integrated Vocational Education and Training (IVET) courses are gainfully engaged in self- or wage-employment or re-enter the education system.
  2. Early school leavers from disadvantaged groups benefitting from employment support services (ESS) are gainfully engaged in self- or wage-employment.
  3. Graduates from the ESS coaching cycle benefitting from enterprise coaching and seed money successfully established a micro-enterprise.
  4. A sustainable financing model for both IVET and ESS programmes has been endorsed by key stakeholders. 
Résultats

Principaux résultats attendus:  

(1) IVET pathway for early school leavers

  • Labour market relevant C1 and C2 equivalency program courses implemented in IVET schools
  • Outreach Programme for early school leavers from disadvantaged groups implemented

(2) Employment support services (ESS) for early school leavers

  • Full Coaching Cycle offered, incl. by ESS partners, with a special focus on women
  • Students complete Enterprise-Based Training
  • Selected ESS partners have been capacitated to operate the ESS program on an ongoing basis

(3) Enterprise coaching and seed money for ESS coaching cycle graduates

  • Entrepreneurially minded ESS graduates enrol in Basic Entrepreneurship Training, with some graduates receiving start-up seed money
  • Entrepreneurship partners capacitated to implement BET/seed money on an ongoing basis

(4) Sustainable financing model for IVET and ESS programmes

  • A framework for broader implementation of the TVET Development Fund for IVET and ESS developed and endorsed


Principaux résultats antérieurs:  

  • 2’980 graduates from short courses (40% female, 10% female who completed male-oriented programs); 56% of graduates gained employment.
  • 1’175 young benefitted from the Employment Support Service coaching programme (12 months full cycle), of whom 72% gained (self)employment.
  • 404 disadvantaged youth benefited from the Basic Entrepreneurship Training; around 200 with seed money successfully self-employed after 6 months.
  • The Legal Framework for Equivalency Programme to support lower secondary school dropout was developed, approved and piloted in 2 provinces.
  • 124 trainers trained on the updated curriculum to support inclusive TVET. 
  • Coaching for Employment and Entrepreneurship model developed by Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU) adopted, with 50 coaches trained; 14 coaches received the Certificate of Advanced Studies in coaching from the HSLU.

The external evaluation acknowledges the good results. Its two key recommendations at strategic level are:

(i) raise awareness on stakeholders and increase their commitment and ownership
(ii) social inclusion to be fostered at all implementation levels


Direction/office fédéral responsable DDC
Partenaire de projet Partenaire contractuel
Secteur privé
Organisation suisse à but non lucratif
  • Sectreur privé étranger Sud/Est
  • Swisscontact


Coordination avec d'autres projets et acteurs

SDC: Skills for Tourism, Agriculture and Forestry (STAF); ASEAN-Swiss TVET Initiative (ASTI)

Other DPs: KfW (Vocational Education Financing Facility), World Bank (Priority Skills for Growth)

Budget Phase en cours Budget de la Suisse CHF    8’800’000 Budget suisse déjà attribué CHF    2’511’300 Projet total depuis la première phase Budget de la Suisse CHF   20’250’646 Budget y compris partenaires de projet CHF   29’050’646
Phases du projet Phase 3 01.12.2023 - 30.11.2027   (Phase en cours) Phase 2 01.08.2019 - 30.11.2023   (Completed) Phase 1 01.01.2013 - 30.06.2019   (Completed)