During 2003-2006, TPAF gave priority to practical, apprenticeship training to about 385 unemployed Tibetan youth in basic employable skills. Many of the trainees possessed little more than primary level education, but had a strong desire to secure employment in Tibet’s rapidly developing modern sector. About 230 of the trainees received training in the area of rural housing construction skills, mainly masonry and cement construction, household and furniture carpentry and Tibetan painting skills. This training took on additional importance with employment opportunities opening up as a result of a new TAR Government program to promote the construction of improved housing for all rural households in Tibet during 2006-2010. This training has generally included one month theoretical training followed by seven months of practical on-the-job training in which trainees actually constructed and painted houses under instructor supervision. By mid 2007, most trainees found employment in relevant skill areas. In 2006 and 2007, the housing construction skills curriculum was adopted for use by the Nakchu Vocational Training Center in its own government-funded rural construction skills training.
During this same period, TPAF also provided other on-the-job skills training to Tibetans. This included: training of hotel workers in housekeeping, restaurant, cooking and management skills (76); training in construction truck driving skills (50); training in motorcycle maintenance and repair skills (22); and training of Tibetans for employment as guides, cooks and accountants at the Drolma Valley cultural tourism site (7). About 85 percent of the trainees are currently employed at various work sites. Others have sought more skills training or are still in the process of looking for employment.
In the employable skills training programs, some of the trainees also received basic instruction in the establishment and operation of small businesses in the expectation that some would return to their townships and villages and set up small service enterprises. Trainees also received basic training in HIV/AIDS prevention.
During 2007, new apprenticeship training programs were initiated: rural housing construction skills in Namling County (85), Nakchu Prefecture (37) and in Rong Township of Lhoka Prefecture (28); motorcycle maintenance and repair skills training in Nakchu Prefecture (60); tractor and other agricultural machinery maintenance and repair skills in Namling County (18); and stone cutting skills for workers from Kuluk and Tsaring Townships of Nakchu Prefecture (22). Again, substantial numbers of enterprises are expected to form in 2008 as a result of this training.