The Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT) sector can be traced back to 1930 when an engineering school was established to produce skilled workforce in the country. Similarly, the Butwal Technical Institute (1962) and the Balaju Technical Training Centre (Mechanical Training Centre, 1963) have been substantially contributing to produce trained and skilled workforce in the country.

On the recommendation of the National Education Commission (1954), secondary level curriculum and regulations were amended to accommodate vocational education in secondary and multi-purpose secondary schools. As a result, the National Vocational Training Centre (NVTC) as backbone for the national Education System Plan (NESP) was established, which introduced vocational education in the secondary education curriculum throughout the country.

The formal system of technical education evolved after 1980, when the Karnali Technical School, the first technical school in the country, was established. After the termination of New Education System Plan (NESP), a Technical and Vocational Education Committee was formed with the responsibility of managing technical schools following the establishment of the Directorate for Technical and Vocational Education (DTVE), which was a division of MOES.

The directorate's functions were to coordinate the training activities of technical schools, design curricula, conduct final examination and certify successful candidates and approve the programs of each technical school and allocate resources.

Before the establishment of CTEVT, some technical schools were under the DTVE and some others were under the Tribhuvan University. Later, the need of coordinating and facilitating body for the overall development of Technical and Vocational Education system was realized. Thus, after series of efforts, the CTEVT was formed legally under the TEVT Act in BS 2045 (1989). In 1993, it was re-organized by the amended TEVT Act.

The head quarter of CTEVT is stationed at Sanothimi, Bhaktapur. The council has now its own Training Institute for Technical Instruction (TITI), two Rural Training Centres, 1 polytechnic, and 12 Technical Schools. Together with these, 173 private training centres (to run TSLC programs) are affiliated with CTEVT, out of which only 114 are running. Similarly, 32 private training institutes (to run Diploma programs) are affiliated with CTEVT. In addition, CTEVT has stared 5 new Diploma programs in its Technical Schools.

• Ensure organizational stability and continuity
• Develop policies for managing TEVT sector
• Coordinate TEVT stakeholders for enhancing efficiency, effectiveness and responsiveness
• Provide services to TEVT sector
• Develop professional staff and competent trainers
• Increase self-reliance through income-generating activities
• Prepare competent work force
• Develop, expand and promote training and services for employment opportunities
• Broaden the access and equity in TEVT activities
• Encourage participation of business and industries in order to improve labour market relevance.

In order to accomplish the responsibilities assigned by the TEVT Act 1989, the following provisions are made under CTEVT specific policy statements:

• Coordinate training and support mechanisms among all TEVT providers both in the public and the private sectors.
• Ensure the uniformity of the curriculum of TEVT providers by CTEVT endorsed curricula;
• Ensure that TEVT graduates are recognized and equivalency granted;
• Coordinate with national and international higher education institutions in order to improve the quality of TEVT program.

• Help TEVT providers formulate new plans and programs.
• Assist for organizational stability and sustainability;
• Decentralize administrative and financial decision-making;
• Develop grant funding, production units and other cost recovery mechanisms;
• Develop programs and activities incorporating gender and equity issues;
• Emphasize demand-driven training programs;
• Promote business/industry-based training programs;
• Focus on rural employment generation activity;
• Promote partnership with business and industry.

• Develop and refine examination and certification procedures.
• Develop and implement accreditation procedures;
• Build-up skill testing capacities;
• Enforce certification system;
• Provide training for preparing competent instructors and managers;
• Enforce supervision, monitoring and evaluation systems;
• Revise curricula as per the job market.

• Emphasize mobile and other training programs for women and underprivileged groups;
• Provide technical services and support for the TEVT sector;
• Provide training services (management, instruction, curriculum development, and media) to TEVT professionals;
• Facilitate cooperation between training institutions and industry offer services to encourage poverty alleviation;
• Provide information related to career development;
• Provide information related to career development of TEVT graduates;
• Provide career counselling and vocational guidance to the potential workforce;
• Carry out research and development of TEVT.

• The programs and activities of CTEVT are designed to fulfill the following objectives:
• To develop policy and to provide the necessary technical services and support to both its own institutions and to private institutions so that training is need-based, effective and as efficient as possible;
• To encourage the growth of independent (private) training providers through services and support which will help them to be effective, efficient and recognized for producing high-quality trainees;
• To increase the number of trainees, especially women and others representing underprivileged groups, from both government training programs and private training programs; (These trainees will help replace foreign skilled workers, and to meet the increasing demand from the non-government sector.)
• To ensure the quality of middle and basic level TEVT training, so that it results in self-employment, wage employment, or income generation, and ultimately, improvement of quality of life.