TVET Development in Sri Lanka T.A.Piyasiri Vice Chancellor University of Vocational Technology 1 UNESCO – UNEVOC Seminar, Sydney 2014

Key indicators of Sri Lanka 2013 Mid year Population 20,483 million Population growth rate0.8 % Labour force8.802 million Unemployment rate4.4 % GDP (2013)7.3 (Agriculture 4.7 Industry 9.9 Service 6.4 ) 2013 new school admissions342,000 TVET Enrolments Public116,000 Private 56,000 Source: Central Bank Annual Report

Sri Lanka’s development Policy Framework Sri Lanka to become hub in Asia in Five strategic spheres Naval Aviation Commerce Energy Knowledge Government gives the highest priority for development of its human resources. 3

Government Mission for Skills Development Create a society where there is no person without employable skills by 2020 Bring down the rate of unemployment from 4% to 2.5% by 2016 Meet the full requirement of skills for domestic industries, particularly; Construction – Tourism – ICT – Light Engineering 4

Objectives of Skills Development Plan Improve supportive policies, systems and structures of TVET Improve quality of skills development programmes Improve the relevance of skills development training system Increase the participation rate in TVET by expanding access Improve recognition of vocational education and training. 5

Enablers to investment in TVET Commitment of the government and medium term investment plan – US $ 1 billion Sustainable economic growth in the post-conflict period – Increased opportunities in foreign employment Availability of systems and structures – NVQ Framework Commencement of Technology Stream at Secondary Education Flexibility for private investment 6

Barriers to investment in TVET Lack of demand side labour market analysis and information Lack of awareness amongst the population about career opportunities within established and emerging sectors Lack of adequate number of TVET teachers Limited government support for private training providers 7

Evidence-based Research In the recent years, the World Bank conducted several research on TVET Skills demand in Sri Lanka Cost of Financing of TVET Private provision of TVET Assessment of Work Force Development - SABER Analysis Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission has the TVET Research Cell that coordinates and promotes research for quality and efficiency improvement. Currently a major research on Labour Market Demand is undertaken. 8

SABER – WfD Benchmarking Results 9 1 – Latent 2 – Emerging 3 – Established 4 - Advanced

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Thank you 11