ADB grant education construction industry Mongolia

Grant Project Launched to Upgrade Training and Skills in Mongolia’s Construction Industry

Manila, Philippines -ADB has launched a grant project to enhance job and income-earning opportunities in the construction industry for unemployed youth and adults of Mongolia.

The project, backed by a grant of US$1 million from ADB’s Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR), financed by the Government of Japan, will focus on boosting skills of those wanting to enter construction.

It will establish public-private partnerships to promote training, design and test a new training system that utilizes such approaches as on-the job training and placements within the industry, and upgrade selected public and private training centers, including facilities, and the teaching and learning environment.

The project is designed to complement a proposed ADB loan project – the Third Education Development Project (TEDP). But while TEDP will improve formal vocational and technical education (VTE) for youth enrolled in public VTE institutions, the JFPR project will focus on providing informal skills training for dropouts and poor adults living in Ulaanbaatar.

“The grant project’s work to improve the relevance and quality of skills training in the construction sector will provide valuable lessons for the VTE system,” says Megumi Araki, an ADB Senior Cofinancing Specialist.

It is expected to develop, jointly with curriculum specialists and construction companies, 50 course modules for nine construction occupations and train about 2,500 out-of-school youths and poor adults. About 50 teachers from training providers and 50 enterprise-based instructors will also receive training to upgrade their teaching and technical skills through coaching, workshops, on-the job training, and work experience.

The Ministry of Education, Culture and Sciences (MOECS) will execute the Project.

The JFPR was set up in 2000 with an initial contribution of $90 million, followed by additional contributions totaling $155 million in 2002, and annual contributions up to 2006 bringing the total amount to $360 million.

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