ASIA : Training demobilised military personnel

As part of wider reforms by the Cambodian government to demobilise 31,500 soldiers this project aimed to provide general and technical training to unemployed former soldiers who seeking work in the hospitality industry. The pilot project showed that careful targeting of trained could achieve positive results for a relatively modest investment and provided a clear example to employers that human resource investment is the key to enhancing productivity and profits.

At the end of the project, over 70 per cent of trainees (17 per cent women) had obtained direct jobs, 10 per cent had gained the skills and confidence to start up their own SMEs and nine per cent had indirect jobs.,/p>

The two-phase project for the 357 participating soldiers constituted six months classroom training in basic hospitality skills, English language, interviewing, computer literacy and CV preparation, with six months subsequent work placement. The lead partner then helped people find permanent work in the hospitality industry. The second round was especially successful as children of the decommissioned soldiers were included and their schooling results improved dramatically.

The project expanded to other provinces, including Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, which boasted considerable success in securing work places for qualified trainees. A high standard curriculum for competency-based hospitality training in the Khmer language was developed, with substantial potential to impact one-to-four-star hotels, where training is limited.

Also, classroom and on-the-job assessments were developed and six Khmer trainers and assessors were coached to deliver the training in Khmer or English. An independent quality audit of all the systems and procedures to validate assessments for certification was performed, and a business training programme developed as a diploma programme for the Mekong private sector development facility.

Resources developed in the pilot have been shared enabling organisations to consider new solutions to existing problems such as web-enabling programmes and introducing competency-based training assessments in existing industries. Discussions also took place with the private sector and NGOs to use the syllabus and resources for other groups and the project has been identified as a training partner for the World Bank/IFC business edge programmes aimed at SME development.

For more information contact BLCF fund manager, the Emerging Markets Group at this address