Korea provides US$ 6million grant to improve employability of Sri Lankan workforce

Sri Lanka’s talent pool will receive support towards an upliftment through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) with Republic of Korea providing a grant to improve the employability of the local workforce.
The grant worth US$ 6 million will be channeled via KOICA to develop a career platform for four sectors - construction, manufacturing, tourism, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) of Tertiary and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Sri Lanka. 
The aim of the grant is to improve the employment status of TVET trainees in Sri Lanka by providing clear and quality guidance in career development.

“This project aims to provide a sustainable solution for youth unemployment in Sri Lanka. Under this project, students can acquire the required skill sets and competencies for new job opportunities to compete in the job market through the career guidance platform,” said Country Director of KOICA Sri Lanka Office Kim Myung Jin during the signing event.

As Korea is one of the top countries in digital transformation, Jin shared that plans are afoot by the Korean Government and KOICA to share its digitalisation knowledge and experience with its partner countries in ODA. 
“This project would cover a greater scope of the TVET sector of Sri Lanka,” he added.

The Record of Discussion for this project was signed on 18 October 2022 at the Skills Development and Vocational Education Division of the Ministry of Education. The event was also attended by Nihal Ranasinghe, Secretary of the Ministry, Ajith Abeysekera, Director General of the Department of External Resources. The career platform will provide career guidance for the TVET trainees and prospective students of NVQ Levels 5,6 and 7 of the 4 specific sectors; from the University Colleges, Colleges of Technology, Technical Colleges, UNIVOTEC, Vocational Training Institutes and etc.   

In a statement to the media, KOICA said the career platform will be designed and developed with the consultation of experts in the field from Korea.  Technical equipment and assistance will be provided to ensure the sustainable management and operation of the career platform.  Further, to strengthen the capacities of the career guidance service providers, capacity-building training will be provided for the relevant policymakers in the TVET sector; career guidance professionals; career platform administrators.  Through the project, activities such as career guidance gap analysis, advocacy, and promotion of the platform will be also conducted over the course of 2022 to 2026, KOICA said.