Saturday, 30 August 2014 05:56
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The Korean Government has agreed to provide Rs.4, 000 million assistance to improve the Orugodawatte Vocational Training Centre and the Gampaha Technical College.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Youth Affairs and Skills Development Ministry Secretary B. Wijayaratne and Prof. Jeong Kyung Seok of the University of Technology and Education in Korea at the Youth Affairs and Skills Development Ministry.
Addressing the MOU signing ceremony, Youth Affairs and Skills Development Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said that this agreement between the governments of Sri Lanka and Korea is another milestone in Sri Lanka’s technical training development.
“Following a request by President Mahinda Rajapaksa from the South Korean President at bilateral discussions during his recent South Korean tour, the Korean government decided to provide this financial assistance,” the minister said.
Alahapperuma said it is necessary to develop the country’s vocational education sector to make Sri Lanka the Miracle of Asia.
He said previous governments didn’t pay much attention to this field and it resulted in the rise in unemployment.
“Sri Lanka experienced three youth uprisings. As we all know the reason for the youth uprising in 1971 was the 92.8 percent of unemployed middle class youth in the country. Unrest is the main reason for youth uprising anywhere in the world. As President Mahinda Rajapaksa recognized this, he implemented four programs to solve this issue by developing the country’s vocational training sector,” he said.
Introduction of the National Vocational Qualification, establishment of the UNIVOTEC, introduction of the Technology stream for G.C.E Advanced Level curriculum and the decision of establishing university colleges island wide are the four main decisions taken by the President to develop the vocational training sector. These decisions have opened various avenues for Sri Lankan youth to decide the course of their career, the Minister said.
