REMATE AL MARTILLO

Although some employers had noted improvements in the quality of Nepalese education, participant FG 01 summarises a general feeling expressed by many graduates in that: 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 P er ce n tage % A (UG) 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 P er ce n tage % B (PG) 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Training and Graduate Skills Reputation Teaching Methods Work Experience, Internships and Entrepreneurial Skills P er ce n tage % C (UG and PG)

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“What happens is that the universities, in Kathmandu especially, are run by the Nepalese Government. So, education is not as good and is not as strong as the education you get in the UK or abroad.”

Explaining the frustration regarding the lack of jobs in Nepal for graduates, this employer, participant EMP 01, was critical about the lack of capital for financing business expansion and inadequate investment in the national infrastructure to support development.

“I can understand their frustration. The youth population is growing. So many thousands of graduates. Not too many companies wanting to invest, right now. Local resources are not adequate [referring to electricity, infrastructure in general] and not enough capital for big companies to expand and employ sizeable numbers of people.”

The problem of finding employment was said to be far worse outside major cities as participant MG 10 stated:

“You see if you go out of the Kathmandu Valley, you’ll see it’s an underdeveloped country. You have less opportunity over there. You have to have your own business. You have to be more innovative.”

The importance of training in managing people and organisational skills were identified in this research with participant, PG 07 saying, “Here, you have to earn the respect by

doing things.” He goes on to confirm that regardless of whether the organisation is seen

to be friendly or not, “They will test you. That’s the thing here. Nothing is handed to

you”. He continues by saying:

“If you go into a management trainee job in a UK company, it’s not the same thing. It may be a better experience in some ways but different to starting up a business from nothing.”

This citation draws attention to the differences between management training in the UK and the importance of developing the entrepreneurial skills required for starting a new enterprise in Nepal.

144 Another graduate, participant MG 08, who had worked on a management training scheme in a major manufacturing company was disappointed with its outcomes. He found the schemes had inhibited, not enhanced, his personal development so questioned the integrity of his training.

“When I started there, they had a management training programme but they were doing that just for the sake of showing to society that they were a company who also promoted young professionals. But there was no training mechanism in their system which would bring them up in the organisation.”

Although recognising the importance of training, the employer confirmed they had withdrawn from externally procured and expensive schemes because, as explained by an employer participant EMP 07, “It’s not from Kathmandu. Training comes from (consultants in) Singapore or London”. In his opinion, this type of training offers a poor return on their financial investment, arguing that employees often left for new employment after their training and adding that, “Unless you know that you have people

who are loyal to you, why would you invest in them?” However, although sceptical

about externally sourced training, this employer still recognised that investment in training for professionals was essential. It was a risk both to employers if staff moved as well as employees who, as seen in Chapter two, had no job security from employment regulations at the time of these interviews with EMP 07 confirming, “Because

employers don’t have a safety net either”.

Employers in larger organisations, including multi-nationals as well as family owned firms, advised that there were significant skills shortages in some subject areas. Although vacancies were currently being filled by recruiting graduates with qualifications gained from overseas study, employers were critical of the lack of career(s) advisory services in state and private schools as well as the lack of careers

145 information relevant to their specific situation from HE providers and education consultancies, including the British Council in Kathmandu. This lack of information on appropriate courses for career opportunities resulted in many graduates studying subjects for which there were few opportunities.

The following citation from an experienced human resources manager, participant EMP 04, shows concerns with respect to students’ motivation to study overseas in the first place. In this instance the cost benefit of overseas education is raised, given that there are educational opportunities that could be more cost effective in India or Nepal:

“Some students are going to the UK with the intention to work rather than study. If education had been their priority they could have gotten a good, and cheaper Indian education. I think it’s a craze to go to the Western countries. But some people, like me, have been here for ten years and after talking to people for a while you can get an idea of where they come from, their experience and attitude.”

Graduate participant MG 04 introduces what he sees as a difference between locally educated (domestic) graduates and UK educated Nepalese graduates. He raises the issue of a traditional, often described as an ‘orthodox’ management approach, when compared to the open mindedness of a UK educated Nepalese graduate:

“I know many of those corporate people of my age group who have returned from foreign education, they came from the UK they are better, they are open minded, they can execute things by themselves, but many of the people, skilled labour in Nepal cannot do. They (Nepalese) have to be guided, monitored at every turn when they execute their duties.”

Issues and implications around the meaning of these styles of management from both graduate and employer perspectives for both domestic and overseas educated graduates are discussed further in Theme 3 (Expectations) and Theme 4: Intrinsic Influences.

The major issues in the findings for this associate theme, focus on training and employment opportunities arising from UK education, difficulties in finding

146 employment and questions over training provided. Overall, overseas education is seen by the graduates in this study as a positive way forward.