Upgrading skills to alleviate poverty
Alleviating poverty in the country is top priority for the government
after the ending of the 30-year war on terrorism.
The government is exploring all means and in the Mahinda Chintana,
developing human resources is a priority to help alleviate poverty said
Secretary Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development S.S.
Hewapathirana.
He said that there are 18 organisations under the ministry, out of
which 11 are involved in skills development.
Though we produce skilled people we could not fulfil the needs of the
industries, creating a mismatch.
At present we are in constant dialogue with the private sector and
are catering to their needs by producing skilled people.
Hewapathirana said that at present the ministry is setting standards
for occupations and already 107 have been completed.
Director General Colombo Plan School Manila, Professor Shyamal
Majumdar said that there is a huge transformation taking place in the
Asia Pacific region with unprecedented economic growth. India recorded a
growth of 9.5 percent while China recorded a growth of 11 percent.
The financial crisis has not affected the region but still 1.7
billion people are below the poverty line. There is extreme growth and
there is extreme poverty, too.
Therefore poverty is the biggest enemy across the region at present.
Youth unemployment can be seen across the region. The solution is
technical education which can empower people and help fight poverty.
He said that if education is the key to development technical
education is the master key. But most youth do not prefer to be
technically skilled. They still prefer a desk job. What they do not know
is that more and more avenues are opening up in technical and vocational
education and training in the areas of nano technology, bio technology
as well as robotics.
The demand for skills in two years
* ICT workforce to be increased to 93,000 from 52,000 * Tourism
industry workforce to increase by 35,000 * Naval, aviation and energy
sector to increase by 40,000 * Building and road construction 50,000 *
Irrigation and Environment 20,000. SG
|
