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Reducing unemployment

Employment Service Outlets will be opened in every district in October through Jobs Net, the National Employment Sourcing and Delivery Systems Project, Employment and Labour Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told the Sunday Observer last week.

Women make reed tea packs for export at the first Export Production Village in Dambadeniya. This project which had been operated by the Export Development Board since 1981, has now developed further with the formation of Export Processing Companies.

He said this initiative will enable unemployed persons find jobs according to their qualifications and skills.

Accordingly, prospective job applicants can go to the service outlet in their district and obtain information about job opportunities available and if they have the necessary qualifications and skills, submit their bio-data. They can also get the necessary advice and guidance to secure a job according to their qualifications.

If the officers at the centre feel that the individual lacks the necessary skills, he or she will be directed to the Vocational Training Authority to acquire these skills. Minister Samarasinghe said that in addition to the job skills, they will get an exposure to English as well as computers.

This is one of the recommendations in the first employment policy designed for Sri Lanka by the Ministry of Employment and Labour. The centres will be manned by trained personnel and cater to the employment needs of the district, the Minister said.

The Ministry will also form a partnership with the private sector to get information on the trends in the domestic and international labour market and use this knowledge to train people since one of the main aims of the Government is to create a talented and efficient human resource pool.

The Ministry of Employment and Labour will also launch the Tharuna Aruna Graduate Employment Scheme in a more comprehensive manner on August 20. The scheme will not only train graduates, but find them employment either here or abroad, said Minister Samarasinghe. He said the Tharuna Aruna Graduate Employment Scheme was handed over to his Ministry recently.

Under this scheme, graduates get 16 months of in-house training in a reputed organisation and are paid a monthly allowance of Rs 3000. Once Jobs Net is launched in October, it will be linked to the Tharuna Aruna programme, he said.

The core objective of the Jobs Net policy is poverty reduction through an approach of empowering people by providing them opportunities to be gainfully employed as wage earners or through self employment.

The initiative will serve as an integral part of the Poverty Reduction Strategy and the Relief Reconciliation and Rehabilitation Strategy for Sri Lanka.

Jobs Net will be implemented by the Ministry, Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment, Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Agency and the International Labour Organisation.

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