News

Rarely are women observed exploring unconventional occupations. Of many societal and gendered barriers, awareness, to some extent, is a component that keeps women away from lucrative job roles such as heavy equipment operators. Out of 978,000 employed in the construction industry, according to the Nepal Labour Force Survey 2017-18, only 111,000 were women, and those too were under informal employment. With no awareness of the benefits of the construction industry for women, it posed difficulties to involve women, skill them, and shape them as notable construction workers. To make the construction industry convenient for women and create equal opportunities for all, MAW Skills Academy (MSA) and its co-investor, UK aid’s Skills for Employment Programme (SEP) concentrated on Province 2 and Lumbini Province. In addition, to specifically increase women’s participation in operator training, MAW Foundation pledged scholarships to support needy women.

Anjana Sharma, 28, from Rukum district, is among the 13 women trainees supported by the Foundation. She had first visited the operating training center in Nepalgunj to enquire about the requirements of the training. Due to the lack of financial aid, she could not pursue the operator training until the MAW Foundation declared its scholarship offer to women. Anjana, who worked odd jobs at a department store to make ends meet, now works as a practical instructor at Nepalgunj’s operator training center, implemented by the academy’s partner – Citizen Prabhidik Shikshalaya. She practically assists trainees, monitors the classes, reports to the Senior Instructor, and prepares daily log sheets. In a different chapter of her life, Anjana, with an adamant will to make a mark in the sector, exclaims, “I am whole-heartedly grateful for the scholarship. The one-month excavator operator training has skilled me to become a practical instructor and has boosted my confidence, belief, and willpower. I hope thousands of women will explore this field and progress in their lives like I did.”

The injection of the scholarship in the training enabled women like Anjana to explore and foray into what was once deemed to be a man’s domain. Already Anjana has set herself as a role model to women like Shova Baniya (who has just joined the training after seeing Anjana) and has paved the way for other aspirants like herself. Because of such monumental progress, the partner organizations are determined to introduce more innovative approaches in the coming days.