Home / Region + Country Categories  / Asia & Oceania  / South Asia  / Nepal  / NEPAL: Center launches for advanced vocational training in energy

NEPAL: Center launches for advanced vocational training in energy

Don Bosco Technical Institute and Schneider Electric Foundation launch new Center of Excellence in Lalitpur

NEPAL

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Technical Institute and Schneider Electric Foundation have launched a new Center of Excellence in Lalitpur, Nepal. The state-of-the-art facility will provide vocational training and skill development to close to 1,000 youth over the next five years in home and building installation, basic automation, home automation, safe and secure building operations, and industrial installations controls and drives.

Speaking at the launch event, Anil Chaudhry, CEO Schneider Electric India Pvt. Ltd. and zone president, greater India, said, “At Schneider Electric, we believe that access to energy is a basic human right. With this vision, we are proud to launch the Center of Excellence in partnership with Don Bosco Institute. Job creation and skill development must accompany universal energy access for maximum benefit. Through the launch of this center, we aim to contribute towards skill development in the industry and create a pool of highly skilled youth in Nepal.”

Gilles Vermont, senior vice president of corporate citizenship at Schneider Electric added, “Under the umbrella of the Foundation de France, we at Schneider Electric Foundation focus on global change and promote a fair society to ensure a better future for the younger generations. We aim to provide a fantastic opportunity to the youth of the country by helping them to acquire adequate skills and give them access to better job opportunities.”

The Center of Excellence will provide youth advanced vocational training in energy, which is beneficial to their professional development and society. Father Pulickal Augusty, rector of Don Bosco Technical Institute, said, “Our institution is doing a significant service to the society by skilling young people in various technical fields. The Schneider Electric Foundation France-sponsored lab is an added boon to the training imparted at this center.”

Nepal Don Bosco Society, which helps facilitate projects like the collaboration with Schneider Electric Foundation and is under the jurisdiction of the Salesian Province of Kolkata, India, promotes the education of poor youth in the Kathmandu Valley. Nepal Don Bosco Society began its work in 1999 with a high school in Siddhipur, a village within Lalitpur District. Schneider Electric Foundation has philanthropic initiatives focusing on training youth to improve their life and job prospects. The organization has already supported more than 150 ambitious professional training programs in the electricity sector, providing access to energy in emerging countries. The foundation aims to train a million young people and 10,000 trainers by 2025 globally.

Nepal is among the least developed countries in the world, with about one-quarter of its population living below the poverty line. Salesian missionaries are still hard at work with long-term reconstruction efforts after a devastating 7.8 earthquake struck Nepal on April 25, 2015 with a second striking on May 12, 2015.

More than 8,000 people died and close to 20,000 were injured as a result of the earthquakes and their aftermath. Forty of Nepal’s 75 districts were affected, 16 of them severely, with homes, schools, buildings, cattle, fields ready for harvest and other property destroyed. More than 500,000 people were displaced and in need of shelter and other assistance. The United Nations reported that more than 1,300 schools were destroyed during the earthquakes.

The construction of schools that can withstand earthquakes and provide access to education for the youngest and most vulnerable children is the daily commitment of Salesian missionaries in the country. The goal is to help equip youth to have the education and skills necessary to change their lives and become agents of development.

###

Sources:

ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – Nepal – Don Bosco Institute Launches First Centre of Excellence in Nepal

Nepal Don Bosco Society Facebook

Salesian Missions – Nepal