Commercial agreement signed for establishment of National Vocational Training Institute, Polonnaruwa

The Ministry of National Policies, Economic Affairs, Resettlement and Rehabilitation, Northern Province Development, Vocational Training and Skills Development and Youth Affairs has signed a commercial agreement with Gemco International B.V. Netherlands on 21 February at the Vocational Training and Skills Development cluster of the Ministry at ‘Nipunatha Piyasa’, Elvitigala Mawatha, Narahenpita, Colombo 5. 

Accordingly, it is proposed that the National Vocational Training Institute will be established in Polonnaruwa at a cost of ¤ 42 million of which ¤ 35 million will be funded under foreign loan assistance whereas ¤ 7 million will be funded by the local funds. This project is aimed at establishing the National Vocational Training Institute in Polonnaruwa under the Vocational Training Authority (VTA) of the Ministry and includes building facilities with state-of-the-art modern facilities consisting training and capacity building, training materials, marketing plan, and learning material development, said V. Sivagnanasothy, Secretary, Ministry of National Policies, Economic Affairs, Resettlement and Rehabilitation, Northern Province Development, Vocational Training and Skills Development and Youth Affairs.

Under the guidance of Ranil Wickremesinghe, Prime Minister and the Minister of National Policies, Economic Affairs, Resettlement and Rehabilitation, Northern Province Development, Vocational Training and Skills Development and Youth Affairs, this proposed initiative of establishing a centre  will be implemented and the agreement was signed by Jan Willed Kooistra, Managing Director, Gemco International B.V. and V. Sivagnanasothy, Secretary, Ministry of National Policies, Economic Affairs, Resettlement and Rehabilitation, Northern Province Development, Vocational Training and Skills Development in the presence of Karunarathna Paranawithana, Deputy Minister of National Policies, Economic Affairs, Resettlement and Rehabilitation, Northern Province Development, Vocational Training and Skills Development and Youth Affairs, Joanne Doornewaard, Ambassador, Kingdom of  Netherlands, Hans Docter, Head of Mission, DRIVE, Government of the Netherlands, other dignitaries and senior Government officials.

Under the guidance of the Tertiary and Vocational Educational Commission (TEVC), it is proposed that the courses offered will meet the international standards and cater to the National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) by providing opportunities to ensure 100% employment for the youth. The National Vocational Training Institute in Polonnaruwa is proposed a centre of excellence for the following five trade areas and the courses provided will cover Construction, Electro-mechanical, Automotive, Hospitality and Tourism, and Agriculture along with an Innovation Centre. There will be five dedicated schools which will provide technical, vocational and trade related courses in order to meet the local and international labour market requirements. At the initial stage, the National Vocational Training Institute will intake students from Polonnaruwa District and from its adjacent regions with an annual intake of over 1,000 students. The total capacity of students will be over 1,500 said Sivagnanasothy.

The construction is expected to be done by the Gemco International B.V. of the Netherlands and the financing will be offered by Rabobank, and concessionary financing arrangements will be offered through Development Related Infrastructure Investment Vehicle (DRIVE) program of the Government of the Netherlands. The program will commence after the signing of financing/financial agreement by the Department of External Resources of the Government of Sri Lanka and the project is proposed to be implemented as a Turnkey project with three-year implementation period and one-year operation period subject to finalisation of the financing agreement.

Once the project is operational, it will invariably support to address the youth unemployment in the area and provide employment opportunities in order to cater to the demands of the private sectors and thereby fulfil the aspirations of the youth community.