'Looking at industry-education-research partnership essential'

Ramani KANGARAARACHCHI

Looking at the partnership between, industry, research and education is essential as Sri Lanka is moving from a factor based economy towards a skill competency based one. Colombo Dockyard CEO Mangala Yapa said speaking at the inauguration of the Graduate Institute of Management (GISM) Research Industry Partnership Forum recently at Galle Face Hotel.

He said that such a transformation is to support the national economic growth and sustenance. It needs to be fostered fast and well-managed.

The industry is a domain that was predominantly left for the private sector, except for the few state-sponsored industries that came into being in the sixties and education is identified as the duty of the government; the research activities too are viewed as the integral domain activities of the government and industry. However, the industry is faced with many problems, which can create the demand for the researchers to conduct their research and in turn help the industry to grow and become globally competitive. The education system needs to produce employable and productive personnel, who can readily engage in value creation activities in the industry. In such a context, it is the role of the government to create an enabling environment and support the partnership between the three actors, adopting prudent policies and strategic initiatives in the right directions, Yapa said.

The integration of knowledge and labour can create many unprecedented opportunities for the people of this country and will definitely take the countries economic development in the right direction. Yapa said that globalisation is encompassing the country, irrespective of what positions it takes and there is no option, but to integrate with the global economy and move ahead, bringing prosperity to the country which should be the national objective.

Hitherto, the purpose of education has been to educate the youth in the country with an objective of transforming its future generation to a productive workforce.

Appreciating the initiatives taken by GISM in launching the Education and Research Industry Partnership Forum he said GISM is keen to move into both the areas of education and research, including education for those who are in employment and applied research much needed for the industry to move away from its primitive approach and creating value so that they can be competitive in a global context, and not necessarily in a protected, local environment, in collaboration with the academia and other researchers both in Sri Lanka and abroad.