New life to Trinco youth in leisure trade

The first batch of 23 students, trained in Hotel Operations under the first “JEEVANA” Livelihood Development Scheme, promoted by the NDB Bank, passed out at a ceremony held in Trincomalee on Tuesday 19th April 2011.

Initiated in September 2010, the new Livelihood Development Programme endorses NDB Bank’s commitment to national development with special emphasis on propagating same in the North and East.

The first programme, initiated in collaboration with the International Hotel School of Mount Lavinia Hotel, proved to be an instant success in the eastern town, where hospitality trade has already indicated clear signals of resurgence and dearth of skilled manpower continues to be an obstacle.

The ceremony also featured the launch of the second training session on Hotel Operations, where a batch of 32 new students were enrolled to  participate in the  six month comprehensive course , covering four months of theory  followed by  two months of practical training in star class hotels .

 At the end of the 30-year conflict in Sri Lanka, the tourism industry was the first to benefit with increased number of tourists arriving in the country.  To cater to this increasing number the Ministry of Economic Development set a national goal to have 70,000 direct and indirect employees serving a target of 2.5 million tourists set by President Mahinda Rajapaksa by the year 2016. In line with the tourism development goals, NDB Bank has initiated strides to serve the growing needs of employment on a national platform through its “JEEVANA” scheme.

Commenting on the NDB JEEVANA Livelihood Development Scheme, Chief Executive Officer of NDB Bank, Russell de Mel said, “At a time when tourism in Sri Lanka is well poised for a major uplift, NDB Bank’s JEEVANA initiative will help to nurture youth in the East by creating an opportunity for them to find a vocation in the booming hospitality industry”. Endorsing the statement made by De Mel, it was in fact noteworthy to mention that all students trained under the programme had already found employment in star class hotels, immediately upon completion of the course. He added that the continued need and the interest on the part of the eastern youth has prompted the Bank to extend the scheme to the second batch as well.

De Mel also extended a special word of appreciation   to  Mahendra Hulangamuwa, the Principal of the International Hotel School of Mount Lavinia Hotel, whose  commitment and passion for training  played a major role towards molding the fresh school leavers from the east to take  up many responsible positions in the hospitality trade.

NDB Bank with its development banking roots has always placed specific emphasis towards the development of the nation and more particularly fostering entrepreneurship amongst the youth. Under the JEEVANA Livelihood   Scheme, the Bank aims to identify careers that play a vital role in the current development momentum and to enter into partnerships with industry leaders, to provide the academic and practical training which will undoubtedly enhance the potential of the youth to gain employment opportunities immediately after the training.

In pursuance of this worthy national cause, the Bank had already commenced a similar programme in motor mechanism in Jaffna, in partnership with DIMO and the second Programme is to commence in Ampara shortly.

 Another unique feature of the scheme is that in addition to the theoretical and practical vocational training in their selected future careers, the students were also drawn into the formal financial and banking sector, which for many of them and their families proved to be a novel experience. As commented by De Mel in his address at the Tuesday’s ceremony in Trincomalee “This is our contribution to the nation since they are our leaders of the future.”