ILO to help train 400 youth in N&E

Under the European Union Support for District Development Program (EU-SDDP), the International Labour Organisation (ILO) yesterday entered into an agreement with the Vocational Training Authority to introduce labour market-oriented skills training and improve delivery capacity of selected vocational training centres in the north and east. 

These centres are located in the Vavuniya, Mannar, Batticaloa and Ampara Districts.

Under the agreement, nearly 400 youth will receive skills training in nine selected high-demand trades, namely bakery, plumbing, electrical, offset printing, welding, heavy equipment operating, modern dressmaking, hospitality and ICT at selected VTASL Centres, the ILO said in a statement. 

“The trained youth will be linked with District Public Employment Services (PES) Centres also established by ILO in respective districts for employment placement. It will also help to achieve the One Million Jobs for Youth initiative of the new Government by enhancing market-oriented vocational training,” it added. 

The objective of this agreement is to support the centres of the Vocational Training Authority of Sri Lanka (VTASL) in the respective districts to conduct quality skills training based on labour market demand and agreed curricula through effective utilisation of the provided and available resources and to ensure that the graduates of this training get gainful employment. 

The support through the agreement covers equipment, consumables, transport allowances for trainees, operational costs and the cost of assessment and certification for National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ). 

The agreement was signed by the Chairman Eng. Dr Lionel Pinto on behalf of VTASL, and by Donglin Li, ILO Country Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives. This initiative was facilitated by Vice Chairman of VTASL D.G. Dayaratne, Director General Chulangani Perera, Director Technical Training K.J. Koralage, Director HRD W.A. Ranaweera, Director Career Guidance, Job Placement and Promotion Saman Kulasuriya, Director Training Punnaka Madawala and Deputy Director Training N.K. Illesinghe.