Selected schools could be brought into the vocational training system and their facilities used as training centres, under education reforms aimed at both the domestic and overseas job markets, Deputy Minister of Housing, Construction and Water Supply T.B. Sarath said.
Sarath was speaking at a programme launched by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism to promote overseas employment opportunities and raise public awareness of jobs available abroad.
He said steps would be taken to work with schools to expand vocational training, and that the resulting centres would be developed to meet the requirements of both local and international employers.
Skills and earnings
A considerable number of jobs are open to Sri Lankans overseas, Sarath said, and workers who hold proper professional skills and training stand a better chance of securing higher-paying positions.
Sri Lankan workers have built a strong reputation and are widely trusted in many countries, he said. That trust had been undermined in the past when people were sent abroad without meeting the necessary qualifications, in cases driven by political influence and personal interests.
The current government is committed to avoiding those practices, Sarath said. Candidates are now being selected against the required criteria, and efforts are under way to give them proper and comprehensive training before they leave the country.
Wider reform programme
The remarks sit alongside a broader overhaul of technical education. The Ministry of Vocational Education said this month that technical orientation will be introduced for Grade 10 and 11 students and that vocational education is to become a fully recognised Advanced Level subject stream by 2031.
Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, who holds the education portfolio, has said the government plans to allocate close to Rs. 42 billion to improving the quality of vocational education over the 2027–2031 period, with Rs. 4 billion of that going to the Vocational Training Authority.
NewsFirst did not report a timetable for identifying which schools would be converted to training use, or how the facilities would be funded and staffed.
