State aiming to meet labour market needs

Hathoon SHERIFFDEEN

LABOUR MARKET: Minister of Higher Education Prof. Wiswa Warnapala said though the country’s literacy level is very high, the human resources it generates are not sufficient to cater to the labour market.

This situation is due to our inappropriate methods of teaching and discrepancies in curricular in the educational system.

Speaking during a discussion with the Country Director of World Bank, Naoko Ishii, at the Ministry recently, the Minister said though the World Bank has not promised to allocate funds for on the development of higher education, the Ministry will consider various issues in the higher educational sector.

“When compared to developing countries, we have fewer opportunities to enrol in private universities in our country.

We also should encourage the private universities to step in to the service of higher education sector, where we can enrich the quality of our educational systems and compete with the world labour market, Deputy Minister of Higher Education Mohamed Musthaffa said.

Prof. Wiswa Warnapala also emphasised the need to introduce a higher educational system where the total number of students who get through their G.C.E Advanced Level examination can step into a graduation programme within the country.

“Our reports disclose that out of 100,000 students who qualify their G.C.E Advanced Level examination, 80,000 students are qualified to enter an university in the country.

“I consider all the students who successfully complete their G.C.E Advanced Level examination are capable in various fields. So we should enhance them to specialise in those field with a degree certificate.

And also we have to establish sufficient amounts of Technical Colleges in the country, to educate these students in the field of technical aspects,” the Minister said.