First 3 Months: Competitive Vocational Education Grants in Mongolia

The Competitive Grant Programs, a three-and-a-half year program (2010 - June 2013) administered by the IBTCI Consortium (the Grant Administration Contractor) under the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Project in Mongolia has, during its first three-and-a-half months, initiated, developed and completed activities for the preparatory stage of the program. The Competitive Grants Program is the first of its kind in the TVET sector in Mongolia and therefore the processes and procedures are new concepts to the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (MECS) and to the TVET institutions across the country.

Two different types of awards are offered under the Competitive Grant Programs – the Employers and Training Institutions Cooperation (ETIC) award that promotes industry, enterprise and training partnerships, and the Incubation and Dissemination of Best Practices (IDBP) award that promotes the successes of the country’s vocational sector. Together, these awards aim to improve the quality and relevance of vocational training which, in turn, will increase enrollments by the youth of Mongolia to ensure that they gain sustainable skills for their own personal enhancement and the wealth of their communities and their country.

Forty (40) of the 64 TVET organizations across the country submitted at least one proposal (ETIC or IDBP), and 19 out of the 21 provinces were represented. It was a response that exceeded our expectations. The Millennium Challenge Account in Mongolia (MCA-M) awarded funding for projects of 2-year duration to 17 TVET organizations on March 4, representing a total first round of $1.23 million USD.

More than half of the expected awards were offered in the first round in March 2010. As these are implemented, another round of awards will be offered in October 2010 with a decreased total funding and number of grants. Depending upon the number of grants and the amount expended in 2010, a further round is expected to be offered in October 2011.

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