The education and skills development ministry plans to expand the Technical Training Institute Samthang in Wangdue Phodrang. It is to increase the employability of youth and transform the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system in the country. The expansion project includes the construction of additional infrastructure. The new facilities will help ease the accommodation shortage, enabling the enrolment of more trainees in the future as the institute prepares to introduce new courses soon.
The Salang Tendrel for the construction of new infrastructure was held today.
New facilities proposed for construction include a creative art block, a dining hall, site development, an internal road, a water and sewer network and renovation of warden and matron quarters, spanning more than 11 acres of land.
There will be five courses under the creative art section such as hair and beauty therapy, sound technician, movie making, lighting technician and electric vehicle technician.
These new courses are expected to enhance the employment opportunities for youth.
According to the management of the institute, hair and beauty therapy training was introduced last year but the trainees have been facing accommodation shortage. This issue is expected to be eased once the infrastructure development project completes.
“We are focusing on two structures at the moment, one is the dining hall because we don’t have an adequate dining hall for the students. The second one is the creative art building where we will have five new courses. For example, hair and beauty, we have already started last year but we are conducting this training in the old infrastructure, which is not really conducive for the course,” said Sangay Dorji, Officiating Director, MoESD.
Through the expansion project, the institute plans to go inclusive by enrolling children and youth with disabilities from Special Education Needs (SEN) schools and TVET institutions along with their instructors and teachers.
Sangay Dorji said, “The project will make a unique contribution to strengthening infrastructure as well as inclusive education and skills development by engaging private training providers, Civil Society Organisations, and local communities by introducing digital fabrication technologies to produce assistive devices for children with disabilities.”
The expansion project is part of efforts to reform TVET through strategic plans such as skills development, industry partnership, private sector engagement, and capacity strengthening.
Samthang Technical Training Institute has thirteen courses excluding the five new courses expected to be introduced soon.
Likewise, the institute currently has around three hundred students and plans to enroll over two thousand trainees after the completion of the construction project.
The Asian Development Bank is funding the project worth USD 32 M.
The project is scheduled for completion by 2027.
Changa Dorji, Wangdue Phodrang
Edited by Phub Gyem
