Opportunities for the young generation:

Young Diplomats earn int’l qualification through SLT

SRI LANKA Telecom Training Centre, held its awards ceremony for the Diplomats who successfully completed the BTEC Higher National Diploma (HND) at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall recently. This was also the first batch of students to have been awarded diplomas for the above named course.

Sri Lanka Telecom is the only Telecom major carrier in Sri Lanka to offer a Higher National Diploma in the field of Telecommunications through the partnership with Edexel International of UK. Therefore making it an internationally recognized Higher National Diploma.

The students who qualify are eligible to continue their final year studies in recognized universities in the UK to obtain the B.Eng. Degree. The Centre’s unique and unmatched academic training capabilities is expected to deliver benefits to the society in the years to come.

Chairman, SLT Asoka Weerasinghe De Silva addressing the gathering at the ceremony stated that SLT Training Centre has acquired a noteworthy achievement as an academic and skill development centre by opening its vast human resource development potential for the benefit of the society.

Chief Executive Officer, SLT Shoji Takahashi, drawing special emphasis to the collaboration with Edexel stated that the SLT Training Centre joining with Edexel BTEC has opened up a new opportunity for the young generation and for those who are looking for a career in the telecommunication industry to pursue their tertiary education.

BTEC Higher National Diploma is a study course of a period of two years in SLT Training Centre. The first one and half year are purely academic and the balance six months consists a industrial training.

Forty five students were awarded their diplomas at the recently concluded awards ceremony and the SLT Training Centre has already started its second programme on September 3, 2007.

The fee for the study course is reasonable, thereby making it affordable to many young students in Sri Lanka.

Edexcel International UK is one of the three major awarding bodies in the UK. It is a vital and innovative force in education and training. It was formed in 1996 through the merger of two of the leading examination and assessment boards in the UK - the Business and Technology Council (BTEC), which is offered widely and is a recognised vocational qualification and the University of London Examinations and Assessment Council (ULEAC).

The SLT Training Centre was started in 1973 to cater mainly to the training needs of the Telecom Department. In the early 1980’s it was developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) who provided a new building, new equipment as well as upgrading available equipment, training the trainers as well as formulating courses.

The joint programmes structured the training centre with all facilities.