IT training enhances job skills

IT training has helped enhance employability and job skills of migrant workers said Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Minister Dilan Perera at a ceremony to present grant for migrant worker ICT training.

Microsoft Sri Lanka in partnership with the Sri Lanka Anti Narcotic Association (SLANA) and the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) under the patronage of the Ministry of Foreign Employment pledged to support the program to empower migrant workers. “Enhancing IT literacy and computer skills are vital to boost employability and income earning capacities of migrant bead workers. Sri Lankan migrant workers are able to work overseas under very competitive environments due to the training they obtained prior to their departure”, the Minister said.

A youth employed in South Korea speaks to his mother on skype. Foreign Employment Promotion Minister Dilan Perera and other officials look on. Pic: Kavindra Perera

The Sri Lankan migrant worker community which is currently around 1.6m people is the largest foreign exchange earner in the country. Foreign remittances crossed $4.1b last year recording the highest foreign exchange earning for the year.

“Besides enhancing job skills IT training helps proper communication with their kith and kin and boosts confidence among expatriate workers”, the Minister said.

Foreign employment aspirants said that the training has boosted their confidence to face challenges and excel in their jobs.

“We are better equipped for employment abroad thanks to the training program which is an asset for job seekers”, a job aspirant said.

Microsoft Sri Lanka Country Director, Sriyan De Silva Wijeyeratne said that migrant workers need IT training to be effective in their jobs.

Microsoft has been involved in many community service programs such as the donation of free software to students and NGOs, and the Gamata It program which provides IT to rural schools around the country.

Fear and anxiety among migrant workers is due to lack of proper communication with the family. The training has helped migrant workers to use skype and internet facilities to communicate with their kith and kin.The computer literacy rate in the country is growing at a rapid pace due to the infusion of facilities at grassroot level to enhance work-place efficiency. The IT literacy rate has increased from 9.3 percent in 2003 to 20.3 percent in 2007.

The government targets a 75 percent literacy rate by 2015.

- LF