Suliyan's Journey

Initial vocational education and training
14.10.2022
Mr. Suliyan Xayalath is the Head of Student Affairs at the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) College of Khammuane Province. He has also been appointed as the college’s coordinator for the Vocational Education and Employment Support Services (VTESS) project.

The college has been coordinating with government bodies involved in the project, such as the Department of Labor, the Provincial Department of Education and Sports, the Youth Organization, the Women's Organization, the Trade Union, and the Department of Trade and Investment to assist in reducing unemployment in the province. Stakeholders of the project, from both the public and private sectors, are expected to provide inputs and guidance on curricula, particularly those directly involved in the province's job market.

One of Suliyan’s roles in the project is to provide job placement assistance to graduating students, and he works to ensure that students receive training in the knowledge and skills that are highly relevant for their chosen professions.

“A critical aspect of the project is career counselling. We must prepare the students for their future careers. We must manage their expectations of what may happen. Explain how they can put into practice what they've learned. And besides having skills, learn what else is needed in order to be successfully employed.” he emphasized.

Image: Suliyan is presenting during the workshop

"The project's target audience are primarily young people who are unfamiliar with an educational system. During recruiting, our college coordinators must explain to them why criteria must be met and why they were eventually not chosen,” Suliyan said.

He explained that the selection of trainees for the project is sometimes very challenging because some applicants do not meet project criteria. For example, many have graduated from secondary school and not from primary school only.

Upon completion of training, teachers also support students to connect with companies where they may eventually find a job. 

"Before sending trainees to internships, we conduct site visits to interested businesses to ensure that expectations of the trainees, the college and the enterprises match," Suliyan said. "I've conducted a significant number of field surveys and made recommendations to the relevant departments."

"I am very happy to have the support of this project. It helps the underprivileged to have the knowledge, skills, and understanding of a career path."
- Suliyan Xayalath
Laos
Initial vocational education and training
Vocational Training and Employment Support Services in Laos
The VTESS project aims at vocational training and labour market insertion or re-entering of schooling of the main project beneficiaries, who are people between 15 and 35 years of age, have completed primary and/ or lower secondary education only (early school leavers), and are subjected to income poverty. The main objective of the project is to improve the income and, ultimately, the livelihood of its beneficiaries.