SLASSCOM and Open University of Sri Lanka sign MoU

The SLASSCOM team and OUSL team at the MoU signing

Sri Lanka’s IT and BPM industry is one of the nation’s fastest growing sectors with burgeoning potential both locally and overseas. With the industry in need of almost double the workforce it commands today, the Capacity Forum of Sri Lanka Association for Software Services Companies (SLASSCOM) has been continually investing its efforts to bridge the existing talent gap for IT professionals in the market.

“The IT industry has always looked at graduates to fuel its workforce, but given the urgency of the sector to bridge its skill gap, the Capacity Forum has been looking outside the box to empower non-graduates to take on such jobs that in turn will open up a plethora of new career opportunities for them,” said SLASSCOM Chairman Channa Manoharan.

In line with this mission, the Capacity Forum of SLASSCOM has initiated a Bootcamp series targeting A/L qualified students. With its Future Careers Bridge programme in place to assesses youth on their suitability for the IT sector via a series of IT-centric assessments, and undergo soft skills development and IT fundamentals for six months, prospective students are selected for the Boot Camp program where they are provided scholarships for learning while working for internships with reputed companies. Based on an open source syllabus compiled by industry experts to prepare students for the industry, the Boot Camp program is centred around the concept of industry-focused development. 

We want to fix the gaps in the existing education system and move away from a theory-heavy teaching to include a lot of practical application,” says SLASSCOM General Council Member Mangala Perera. 

The first in this series was an MoU recently signed between SLASSCOM and the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL). The MoU was signed by SLASSCOM Chairman Channa Manoharan and Open University of Sri Lanka Vice Chancellor Prof. S.A. Ariadurai, with key members from both SLASSCOM and OUSL that included SLASSCOM Vice Chairman Ashique M. Ali, SLASSCOM Board Member – Capacity Forum Nishan Mendis, SLASSCOM Executive Director Chaminda De Silva, SLASSCOM Program Manager Didula Perera, OUSL Registrar Vindya Jayasena, OUSL Industry Liaison Center Senior Lecturer and Director Dr. Ajith Madurapperuma, and OUSL Industry Liaison Centre Manager Nadeshani Pragnarathne.

Through this program students will be picked to complete an initial training following which, they will undergo interviews for internships starting from February with reputed IT companies which in turn are offering them scholarships to learn while working.      

“We want students to learn industry relevant skills in the preliminary six months, falling under three-broad categories: soft skills such as developing a growth mindset and positive thinking; communications skills including language skills in writing, reading, comprehension and presentation, and of course technical skills which will encompass the essential tech stack needed for IT jobs. 

“The tech skills will include fundamentals of programming such as computational thinking, data structures, creating data bases and APIs, and web and mobile development based on the latest available technology stacks. We will also cover entrepreneurship, industry insights, how to apply software development methodology and user experience among others,” explained Mangala 

The program’s delivery will be via paired teaching where for each module, students will learn from an industry expert who will show the applicability and industry context as well as an academic from the university who will cover the theory areas.

With the IT sector being an integral part of a country’s economic development, justified ever more strongly by the current pandemic which has rendered the sector as the backbone of a functioning society, the growth of IT jobs and the demand for IT experts are increasing at an accelerated pace. SLASSCOM as the national chamber for the knowledge and innovation industry in Sri Lanka, hopes to make the Bootcamp program, a game changer in the industry.