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  • Closed Compact Report:  Closed Compact Report: Mongolia Compact
  • October 2015

Vocational Education (TVET) Project

  • $25,512,856Original Compact Project Amount
  • $49,322,727Total Disbursed

Estimated Benefits

Estimated Benefits for the Vocational Education Project (TVET)
Time Estimated Economic Rate of Return (ERR) over 20 years Estimated beneficiaries over 20 years Estimated net benefits over 20 years
At compact closure 20 percent 170,000 $27,500,000

Estimated benefits corresponds to $49.2 million of project funds, where cost-benefit analysis was conducted.

Project Description

As the Mongolian economy transitioned to a market economy after the fall of the Soviet Union, its technical vocational education and training (TVET) system remained outdated and dysfunctional. The technical content of the trade and occupational courses no longer applied to increasingly sophisticated economy sectors. TVET Learning programs focused heavily on theory, and graduates had a reputation of being ill-equipped for the modern workplace.

In response to a growing economy‘s strong demand for skilled workers, the Vocational Education Project was designed to upgrade technical education and training. This would increase employment and income among the unemployed and marginally employed by improving technical skills and productivity, and by developing the TVET sector to become more responsive to labor market demands.

The project had five main components:

  • policy and operational framework reform,
  • implementing professional development programs for TVET instructors,
  • updating curricula based on competency-based training standards,
  • establishing a labor market information system, and
  • providing state-of-the-art equipment.

By the end of the compact, nearly 12,000 students had graduated from MCC-supported educational facilities, 54 technology labs had been installed and upgraded, and 106 practical training sites had been modernized.

Additional funds were made available after the Rail Project was withdrawn from the compact.

Evaluation Findings

MCC is conducting a rigorous impact evaluation of the Improvement of Learning Environments activity of the Vocational Education Project to measure the impact of attending the TVET schools on students’ academic achievements, skill levels, post-graduation employment rates, and salary levels. It is expected to be available in August 2018.

The remaining TVET project activities will be evaluated in a performance evaluation, expected to be available in May 2019.

Key performance indicators and outputs at compact end date

Key performance indicators and outputs at compact end date
Activity/Outcome Key Performance Indicator Baseline End of Compact Target Quarter 1 through Quarter 20 Actuals (as of Dec 2013) Percent Compact Target Satisfied (as of Dec 2013)
All Activities Students participating in MCC-supported education activities
  • Reported end-of-compact student participation and public-private partnership funding was based on preliminary monitoring data. An independent evaluation firm is currently analyzing the final dataset that will be published as part of the impact evaluation results.
 0 50,000 17,480 35%
Competency Based Training System Activity Instructors trained 0 1,500 1,370 91%
Improvement of Learning Environment Activity Educational facilities constructed or rehabilitated 0 18 18 100%
Reforms to TVET Framework and Operational Framework Acitivity Public-Private Partnership (PPP) funcing contributed to Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) schools (%)
  • Non-governmental funding of vocational education (%) – Data from Ministry of Labor is not currently available. This figure includes only non-governmental funding from private partners given directly to the schools.
  • Reported end-of-compact student participation and public-private partnership funding was based on preliminary monitoring data. An independent evaluation firm is currently analyzing the final dataset that will be published as part of the impact evaluation results.
 1 16 2 7%
Skills and Standard Competencies Activity Instructors trained 0 1,500 1,370 91%