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| Tuesday, 5 August 2003 |
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$ 600,000 from ADB to check mismatch among jobless youth The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is helping Sri Lanka to reduce the mismatch between worker skills and labour market demands, through a technical assistance (TA) grant approved for US$600,000 to prepare a human resources investment project, the ADB said yesterday. The grant is from the Japan Special Fund, financed by the Government of Japan. The TA will study the technical education and vocational training (TEVT) system, looking at the relevance of programs and develop a national policy and action plan. It will also draw up an investment project to address key systemic problems and spearhead reforms. The Government operates more than 1,000 TEVT training centres offering courses that tend to be traditional, inflexible, and narrow. The result is a high dropout rate among students. "ADB has been working through a Skills Development Project approved in 1999 to improve the quality and relevance of skills training programs in Sri Lanka," said Jeoung-Keun Lee, ADB Principal Education Specialist. "Although progress has been made in upgrading some vocational training centres and establishing a national skill standards, testing, and accreditation system, further restructuring of the TEVT system is necessary to meet labour market demands", he said. Unemployment halved in Sri Lanka between 1990 and 2001, when the rate reached 8.3%, but this may rise in the near term in the face of the global economic slowdown, increased competition among developing countries and demobilisation of soldiers as the peace process progresses. After the economy grew at more than 5% per annum in the 1990s, 2001 saw a contraction of 1.4%. With about 140,000 people entering the labour force annually, the economy needs to grow by more than 7% per annum to absorb new entrants and some of the backlog of jobless. Meanwhile, universities and TEVTs cannot satisfy the demand for places, leaving a shortfall of about 80,500 either unemployed or waiting to be admitted. To help ease the youth unemployment problem, the Government plans to establish a Human Resource Investment Fund of about $10 million per year to teach job skills and provide youth with work placements. The TA will undertake a detailed study and development plan for the fund. It will also help draft a National Skills Development Policy to guide overall direction for education, training and employment of skilled workers. "The emphasis of the TA will be on finding ways to improve the effectiveness, and efficiency of skilled workers," Lee said. "Most young job seekers have few employable skills. This unemployment represents a loss to the economy, as the knowledge they have gained from the education system is not being utilised." The total cost of the TA is estimated to be $750,000, of which the Government will contribute $150,000 equivalent. The assistance is due for completion around the end of the year. |
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