Importance of professional education

Thursday, 6 June 2013 01:33 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) Sri Lanka Chairman Romesh David, Founder and Chief Storyteller at Position: Global Scott Case, and CILT International President Dr. Dorothy Chan all stressed on the need to develop education and professionalism within the industry to achieve sustainable growth. We need to create professionalism in the business industry which will help the country compete successfully and survive in the global environment, they said.

David asserted that CILT Sri Lanka will work towards this by spending time and energy on delivering professional education in the logistics and transport business as a viable alternative or option for young people starting their working life.

“We have had a few institutions in the past that have been working diligently in delivering professional courses in transportation business,” he said. Among the top on this list are University of Moratuwa and CINEC, while Colombo University started a similar program recently. “Our aim as an institute is to induct at least two or three more professional educational service providers in the coming months to deliver CILT’s professional education starting from certificate level right through to advanced diploma,” David commented. “We hope that this will add to the attraction of the transportation and logic business as a profession to young people joining workforce in the country.”

Case further added that identifying youth and women and giving them due recognition is important for the future of the industry. “It is important to give people formal training and knowledge of the industry to enhance solutions, help them better understand regulations and to uphold ethics and values,” Case said. “There is going to be demand and a need for people to know and understand what is current in the marketplace today. The ability to do that through a recognised and continued educational qualification would be wonderful.”

Coinciding with the CILT International Conference 2013, an extensive session on young professionals was held earlier this week which was attended by young professionals from all over the world and a strong delegation from Sri Lanka. Young professionals for the first time also organised a Logistic and Transport Research Symposium at which some of the brightest minds in the logistics and transport business presented research papers which have now published.