The Republic of Korea through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) provided a grant worth 6 million USD to Sri Lanka to develop a career platform for 4 sectors including Construction, Manufacturing, Tourism, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) of Tertiary and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Sri Lanka. Through this grant, it aims to improve the employment status of TVET trainees in Sri Lanka by providing clear and quality guidance in career development.
The Record of Discussion for this project was signed on 18th October 2022 at the Skills Development and Vocational Education Division, the Ministry of Education. The event was graced by the presence of Mr. Nihal Ranasinghe, Secretary of the Ministry, Mr. Ajith Abeysekera, Director General of the Department of External Resources, Ms. Kim Myung Jin, Country Director of KOICA Sri Lanka Office, Mr. Kim YongWhan, Deputy Country Director of KOICA Sri Lanka Office and other High-Level Officials.
The career platform will provide career guidance for the TVET trainees and prospective students of NVQ Levels 5,6 and 7 of the 4 specific sectors; from the University Colleges, Colleges of Technology, Technical Colleges, UNIVOTEC, Vocational Training Institutes and etc.
Under the project, the career platform will be designed and developed with the consultation of experts in the field from Korea. Further, technical equipment and assistance will be provided to ensure the sustainable management and operation of the career platform. To strengthen the capacities of the career guidance service providers, capacity building training will be provided for the relevant policy makers in the TVET sector; career guidance professionals; career platform administrators. Through the project, activities such as career guidance gap analysis, advocacy and promotion of the platform will be also conducted over the course from 2022 to 2026.
In the signing ceremony, Country Director KOICA stated that “This project aims to provide a sustainable solution for the youth unemployment in Sri Lanka. Under this project, students can acquire required skill sets and competencies for new job opportunities to compete in the job market through the career guidance platform. Korea is one of the top countries in digital transformation. The Korean Government and KOICA plan to share its digitalization knowledge and experience to partner countries in ODA. This project would cover a greater scope of the TVET sector of Sri Lanka.”
Secretary of the Ministry of Education stated that “Signing of this Record of Discussion is an important milestone in the development of the Skills sector. This project would increase the capacities of students by guiding them to identify employable skills and matching careers. The Ministry of Education has received the continuous assistance of KOICA in developing the Tertiary and Vocational sector. We are expecting to move forward focusing on the long-term plans to achieve sustainable development in the skills sector. Once again, I am thankful for all the KOICA support granted to Sri Lanka in this challenging period”.
