‘Lanka’s workforce lacks critical job-specific skills’

The World Bank has approved a US $101.5 million line of credit to expand the availability of employable workers in Sri Lanka by increasing access to quality, labour market skills development programs.

This project supports the Skills Sector Development Program (SSDP) launched by the Government as part of its public investment strategy for 2014-16.

The project will have two components, program support to SSDP (US $93.6 million) and innovation, results monitoring and capacity building (US $7.9 million). The project through policy interventions in three areas, will strengthen governance and management, enhance the quality and relevance of training and increase access to training opportunities.

A report released by the World Bank last week said that Sri Lanka’s workforce lacks critical job-specific skills that are in high demand, threatening the country’s sustained economic growth. According to the report, the lack of technical and soft skills of the workforce, undermines private sector growth and the government’s ambitious development plan, Mahinda Chintana, to sustain economic growth at 8 percent annually while transforming the country into a commercial, energy and knowledge hub. Achieving such growth needs a skilled workforce and dynamic labour market.

A lead education specialist at the World Bank and one of the report’s authors Halil Dundar said that to reach middle-income status, Sri Lanka needs to address the mismatch between the supply and demand for skilled labour. A large share of Sri Lanka’s economy has shifted from agriculture to industry and services. Between 2000 and 2013, agriculture’s share of GDP declined from 20 percent to 11 percent, while the share of industry increased from 27 percent to 33 percent and the share of services from 53 percent to 56 percent leading to substantial shifts in labour and skills.

- GW