Digital skilling firm Cultus has launched a free cloud and Industry 4.0 training drive in Sri Lanka in partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), aimed at closing the gap between local university qualifications and the technical competencies employers actually demand.
The rollout, announced in Colombo, bundles the AWS re/Start programme with a locally adapted Cultus Job Readiness (CJR) track. It targets university students and unemployed youth with course content in artificial intelligence, robotics, cybersecurity and cloud computing, EconomyNext reported on Friday.
“What if I told you, even today, there are more jobs than jobseekers in the world? It is just that jobs are not related to what you are studying, or where you are studying. Jobs are where industry has demand,” Cultus founder and managing director Nalin Singh said at the launch. He cited a survey of 1,200 HR heads in which 87 percent of employers said young people lacked the soft skills and practical technical competencies for immediate employment.
Cultus operates on a model under which students do not pay; costs are absorbed by corporates, CSR funds or government partnerships. The programme will let local universities adapt AWS Academy and AWS Educate curricula and deliver “personalised learning paths” with lab-based project work.
The initiative is positioned against Sri Lanka’s National Digital Economy Strategy 2030, which envisages turning the local workforce from “degree-holders” into globally competitive professionals. The drive comes as the government winds down ICTA and stands up a Digital Economy Authority under wider GovTech reforms.
Source: EconomyNext.
