New Act to improve value of graduates
by Uditha KUMARASINGHE
The Higher Education Ministry is to introduce a Human Capital
Development Finance Act (HCDFC) with the intention of providing a
helping hand to the thousands of undergraduates who possess skills in
various fields to enhance their skills and become professional
graduates.
On a request made by Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake,
President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Cabinet have given approval to this
Act. After obtaining the Legal Draughtsman's approval, the Act will be
presented in Parliament, Higher Education Ministry Secretary Dr. Sunil
Jayantha Nawaratne told the Sunday Observer yesterday.
According to Dr. Nawaratne, though many undergraduates possess
various skills, they have not been able to follow any advanced training
courses during their three or four years in university due to lack of
financial assistance.
Under the proposed HCDFC, undergraduates can obtain a bank loan from
any State or private bank to follow a training course of choice.
According to the agreement reached with the bank, a graduate should
start paying back the loan from the first month of starting employment
and make monthly instalments from his salary, he said.
The Ministry is also negotiating with the World Bank to get funds to
successfully implement this program.
The intention of this program is to assist graduates to become
professional graduates to suit present day needs, he said.
This Act would facilitate graduates to follow any professional course
outside the university such as CIMA, CMA, ACCA or AAT.
It would help produce professional graduates in relation to specific
areas such as human resources, marketing management, sales, advertising,
BPO, KPO, and IT.
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