Skills sets critical to employability:

USAID vocational training programme for youth

Representatives of leading education and training institutions and private sector employers and Chambers of Commerce from western, eastern and north central regions recently gathered for an intensive half-day session to fine-tune a tailor-made curriculum to train unemployed youth.

The event also marked the official launch of the Accelerated Skills Acquisition Project (ASAP) made possible by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Creative Associates International, Inc. in partnership with Christian Children’s Fund and International Youth Foundation.

ASAP staff and USAID representatives, including Mission Director Rebecca Cohn, participated.

“With this programme we can help build a favourable employment climate for aspiring members of Sri Lanka’s work force,” Cohn said.

“We hope the programme can foster an attitudinal shift in how young people see opportunities in the private sector.”

“ASAP will increase the preparedness of school leavers to succeed in the workplace; disseminate information on vocational training models and best practices to a network of partnerships; and establish linkages between training providers and employers,” Cohn added.

The project will assist private- and public-sector training institutions to deliver quality training, job counselling and placement assistance and school-to-work services that promise to improve employment possibilities for participants between the ages of 15 and 25. The project is targeting more than 20,000 youth.

According to a 2006 Central Bank report, the rate of women’s unemployment is 9.7 per cent compared to 4.7 percent for men in Sri Lanka, but among youth between the ages of 15 to 29, unemployment is a staggering 39 percent.

For this target group, ASAP provides skills sets critical to employability, including ‘soft’ skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, team work, career awareness, performance orientation and confidence building, USAID Workforce Development Advisor Dr. Mark Sorensen told the conference.

Other skills will include computer literacy, English language, an analysis of self-employment, and basic small business management.

ASAP also seeks to forge partnerships between employers and the education sector to facilitate the growth of a more demand-driven workforce development system and to link students with employment opportunities.