Department of Human Resources (DoHR)

Wednesday, 09 September 2009 11:33 |

Policy Guidelines
1.The Department will assume responsibility for all aspects of vocational training and skill development that relate directly to employment opportunities. This responsibility will not extend to training institutes engaged in skill development for employment in the civil service such as the Royal Institute of Health Sciences, the Institute of Indigenous Medicine, Natural Resource Training Institute and the Bhutan Forestry Institute.
2.The Department will focus on those training arrangements directly concerned with developing and improving skills for employment. This will include mostly certificate courses, apprenticeships, and short-duration training that offer good prospects for wage employment, or provide a base for self-employment. These arrangements will mean that the NTTA's involvement in the operational aspects of skill development will be transferred to the Ministry's Department of Human Resources. The NTTA will revert to its original role of registration of training providers, setting training standards, and developing a national system for skill testing and certification.
3.Under these arrangements the NTTA would relinquish its current responsibilities for the RBIT, RTI, National Institute for Zorig Chusum, Trashiyangtse Institute for Zorig Chususm, National Driving Training Institute, and the Construction Training Centers. It would also relinquish its involvement in the planning and administration of specific skill development activities for commercial accountants, linesmen, apprenticeship programs, and the training of workers for the construction industry.
4. The proposed arrangements have the advantage of bringing the skill development efforts of the nation closer to the world of work. The Ministry of Employment and Human Resources will be the repository of employment information and will use this information as a basis for advising training providers on the courses required to meet labor market realities. A closer link between training providers and the Ministry will reduce the possibilities of training institutions focusing purely on the supply side of the labor market without sufficient reference to employment realities.
5. The proposed arrangements provide opportunities for vocational training institutes to relate more closely to public employment services. It would be possible to locate an employment officer, at least on a temporary basis, in vocational training schools to provide job registration and referral services to assist trainees to find productive jobs. Employment officers will have the most up-to-date information on job opportunities and this will be readily available to all vocational training graduates.
6. Vocational training, skill development and employment services provide opportunities for productive synergies in the supply of human resources. Accordingly, the proposed arrangements to bring the operational aspects of vocational training and skill development under the responsibility of the Ministry of Employment and Human Resources and its line departments will contribute to improved effectiveness in both producing and placing the nation's skilled workers.
7. The Department will have responsibility for formulation of national human resource policy, human resource development planning and human resource forecasting as well as the preparation and implementation of the Human Resource Development Master Plan for the corporate and private sectors. The Master Plan will be prepared and implemented in close cooperation with enterprises and will dovetail with the country's five-year planning cycle.
8. The Department will play the leading role in human resource forecasting at the national level. This will involve assessing the current stock of particular categories of manpower and occupational groups, projecting future demand for those categories and occupations, and advising on strategies to meet the identified gaps. Human resource forecasting is closely dependent on the key assumptions adopted in preparing the forecasts including such things as economic growth raters, technological change, wages and labor costs, and fiscal and monetary policies. The Department will be expected to indicate the assumptions underlying all its forecasting activities and, indeed, prepare different forecasts based on different assumptions.
9. The skill development aspects of the Department's work will include it entering into contracts with training providers and, possibly, individual enterprises to train people on short-term, skill up-grading programs and apprenticeships for persons seeking their first job. These arrangements will encourage linkages between the Department and the private and corporate enterprises, and take advantage of the facilities and equipment they are able to provide for skill development activities.
Objectives
During the next five years the Department of Human Resources will strive to achieve the following objectives: VET Policy will be drafted and finalized Staff development in curriculum development, instructional Materials Development and Training of Trainers for the vocational training institutes under the direct control of the Department. Linkages with private sector training providers able to offer short-term skill development courses will be established and strengthened. Lines of communication and reporting between the Department and the vocational training institutes under its responsibility will be established and become operational. The planning of programs and courses offered by the vocational training institutes under the Department's responsibility will have benefited from improved information flows. The vocational training institutes under the Department's responsibility will be in direct contact with the Ministry's employment service centers and will benefit from improved registration, referral and placement services
Activities
These objectives will be pursued through a departmental structure comprised of three divisions.
a. The Vocational Training Division which will focus on: Ensuring the programmes and concerns of the vocational training institutes reflect available and projected employment opportunities. Overseeing the institutional strengthening, development and implementation of various programmes of the vocational training institutes. Coordinating the selection of candidates for various vocational in-country training programmes. Providing support services to the vocational training institutes. Providing vocational training institutes with relevant information to assist them in programme and course planning. Monitoring and Evaluating the implementation of various institutional activities and effective use of resources. Maintaining up to date Information Management System of the VET training Division. Facilitating and establishing closer links between the employment service centers, Bhutan Vocational Qualification authority, vocational training institutes, industries, etc. Promoting and supporting VET programmes in the general education system, through career counselling, etc. Implementing the Basic Skills Development through ADB Project and GTZ. Coordinating and implementing various Basic Skills Development programmes as per project implementation plan.
b. The Skills Development Division which will focus on Preparing and monitoring plans to encourage sectors and enterprises to undertake their own skills development activities. Planning and administering special projects for specific target groups. Preparing skill development proposals for training providers. Ensuring procedures for the bidding on the skill development contracts are rigorous and transparent. Developing and setting up of a monitoring and evaluation system for skills development activities. Preparing skills development guidelines for training providers. Establishment of inter-agency information network regarding skills development activities. Maintaining up to date Information Management System of the Skills Development Division.
c. The Skill Resource Training Division will focus on: Facilitate and coordinate the development of curriculum for new training programmes, as per the standards developed by the Bhutan Vocational Qualification Authority for the VET Institutes. Facilitate and coordinate the development of curriculum for the village skill development programmes/community based training programmes and other informal training programmes. Facilitate and coordinate the review and revision curriculum for various VET training programmes as required by the market demand. Train the trainers at the at the institution level in the methodologies of curriculum development. Facilitate and oversee the development of curriculum as per the respective training programmes. Supervise the development of instructional materials, manuals, brochures, etc. at the training institutions. Oversee the development of instructional materials, manuals, brochures, etc. at the institutional level. Train the trainers of VET training institutes and other training providers through various methodologies adopted in teaching and learning activities. Train the trainers of various VET training institutes and other training providers on how the assessment of skill competencies are done at the training or implementation level.
Resource Requirements and Operational Arrangements
The effective implementation of these strategies and activities involves the following operational arrangements and resource support to the Department and its three divisions. The appointment of the required number of officers, both men and women. Training for all officers, both initial and on-going. The production of technical desk manuals on human resource planning and skill development. Formal and informal linkages to both government and private training providers. Arrangements for the collection of information on in-house skill development activities conducted by enterprises. Procedures for tendering and bidding arrangements for skill development training contracts.