Job-oriented IT scholarship to empower youth in apparel, hotel & tourism and agriculture sectors

Continuing to empower young people with knowledge based IT skills, HSBC recently handed out job oriented IT scholarships to youth in the North and West of the country, as part of the Bank’s joint Corporate Sustainability project conducted with Microsoft Sri Lanka and the Institute of Data Management (IDM).

The scholarships will empower young people to follow courses that focus on Apparel, Hotel &Tourism and Agriculture sectors. The handing over of 90 IT scholarships in the Western Province was made by Nick Nicolaou, CEO of HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives at the IDM centre in Bambalapitiya, while the scholarship presentation in Jaffna was led by Niranga Sebastian, Manager, HSBC branches, Fazeela Dharmarathne, Regional Manager HSBC  and Sivanathan Aravinthon, Manager of HSBC’s branch in Jaffna, in the presence of V. Janagan, Regional Director International Director, IDM Group of Companies and Gamini Hettiarachchi – CEO, Skills for Success (PVT) Limited (subsidiary of IDM Group of Companies).   

Noting the importance of these sectors and their contribution to the country’s growing economy, these scholarships will enable youth to drive the country’s growth, through employment generated in these sectors.

The project implemented in April this year, seeks to facilitate job oriented IT skills amongst youth to enhance their learning capacity. While, HSBC will provide the necessary funds to enable the learning process, Microsoft Sri Lanka, through its Unlimited Potential Partnership (UPP) will provide expertise, software and the curriculum to enhance the longevity of the project.

The project entails part funding 500 scholarships for young people in the Eastern, Northern /North Central/ North Western, Western and Southern Provinces. The training will be facilitated through IDM, the implementing partner who will contribute 25% of the total cost and conduct training sessions via its training centres in these areas.   

The Unlimited Potential Partnership (UPP) ICT  training program targets workforce development in the apparel, media, hotel and tourism, and agriculture industries and features basic and customized curricula designed to strengthen the employability of young people and adults in disadvantaged communities, as well as improve the availability of workers with ICT skills. By offering the program, study centers address the need for relevant skills training, strengthen the capacities of existing courses and help improve student employability.

This is a Global Development Alliance between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Microsoft and Infoshare.