Skills development as key for membership management

On the third of June, the first online training on skills development took place for members of employers’ organisation MONEF, Mongolia. MONEF had requested DECP to follow up on previous advisory missions to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of the country, in 2018 and 2019. 30 representatives of the mining sector, construction and transportation participated.

Some economic sectors suffer from skills mismatch and gaps of skills. MONEF uses the methodologies developed within DECP to analyse skills gaps and find solutions. As a result of the workshops held in 2018 and 2019, small and medium-sized companies in the construction and meat processing sector have developed a number of training courses on safety and hygiene. These training courses are complementary to the regular curricula and are followed not only by newcomers, but also by employees. It is the intention that, on the basis of a series of meetings, trajectories will be started that will better match regular vocational education with the needs of companies. The training sessions have to take place online. MONEF experts will coach their members on the spot.

During the first training session, the DECP experts asked a lot of questions to explore the needs of the participants. Is became clear that growth is hindered by a lack of skills, due to outdated curricula and the absence of interaction between schools for vocational education and training (VET) and companies. Two more training sessions are planned before summer leave. They will focus on several methods that contribute to sustainable improvements, based on cooperation between key stakeholders striving for win-win situations.

Members of MONEF value the employers' organisations for their expertise in skills development and their power to lobby the government. MONEF therefore cooperates with DECP in this field in order to stay innovative and an attractive and reliable partner for their members.