Economic growth requires stable environments, efficient institutions, functioning markets and access to sustainable financial services but most of all it is well-trained people who are at the centre of all economic progress.

This reflects the activities of the Vocational Training in the North of Sri Lanka (VTN) Project, which has been in the news lately as a key stakeholder in shaping the Vocational Training sector in the country. Historically, Germany is famous for its contribution to the development of this sector and last year celebrated 50 years of collaboration in supporting vocational training programs in the island. The CGTTI popularly known as the “German Tech” stands as a yardstick for quality vocational training in the country today. Through the GIZ Vocational Training in the North of Sri Lanka project the next contribution made by Germany to this sector will take the form of a state of the art training centre in Kilinochchi which will serve to equip the youth from the North as well as from elsewhere with the skills they need to compete in the labour market. The project has now been further strengthened with co-financing by the Federal Office for Migration (after 01.01.2015 State Secretary for Migration SEM)) of the Government of Switzerland to expand its activities to the Eastern region.
GIZ VTN is a bilateral cooperation between the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the Federal Republic of Germany. It is a project implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (German Development Bank, KfW) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The Sri Lankan partner of this project is the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development (MYASD).

The VTN Project, which began in January 2012, has implemented numerous innovative activities opening up new avenues of employment as well as reconciliation for the youth from the North. This includes the Young and Diverse event held two years in a row where youth from all parts of the country travelled to the North to enjoy a day of sports and festivities designed to create understanding and camaraderie among youth from all parts of the country. The project also implements the North meets South exchange programs where youth from the Northern region are supported to undertake a study tour to Colombo and share experiences with their counterparts from the South.
The primary objective of the VTN Project is to establish a new vocational training institute in Kilinochchi – the Sri Lankan-German Training Institute (SLGTI). This training institute will be open to all Sri Lankan youth and will provide training in technical trades offering National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) Levels 4, 5 & 6. The German Development Bank (KfW) will finance the physical structure and equipment of the centre. GIZ will partner with the National Apprentice and Industrial Training Authority (NAITA) for providing technical support including training the trainers, developing the curriculum and establishing English language courses. What sets apart the training offered by the SLGTI will be that they will be tailored to the demands of the labour market. A special feature will be the collaboration with the private sector in the design, implementation and follow up, which will ensure that trainees who complete these courses are assured of employment.

Since studies showed that there were not enough trainees with NVQ level 3 qualification in the Northern Province which will be a prerequisite to enter the SLGTI the VTN Project together with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development (MYASD) have taken special steps to ensure that once the new training centre is opened in 2016 there are enough trainees qualified to enter the courses conducted there. The strategy used is to support eight satellite training centres from the five districts of the North to offer vocational training from NVQ Levels 1-3. These satellite centres are being upgraded and equipped to deliver training that will match the entry requirement to the SLGTI. With the support from the Swiss Government now the GIZ VTN project will support more satellite centres, this time in the Eastern Province to offer demand-oriented vocational training programmes.

The training courses offered by these satellite centres are in keeping with current labour market demands. They include one month of intensive English language plus regular language lessons throughout the training period and career guidance and counselling programs for potential trainees, their parents and their communities. VTN will implement a campaign to promote the image of vocational training among the public in the regions. Training will be taken to the community through mobile training units so that marginalised groups like war widows and persons with disabilities that cannot otherwise access training will get an opportunity to do so. They will be trained in traditional handicrafts, sewing, maintenance of mobile phones etc. Through entrepreneurship and small business training and counselling these groups will be supported to commence income-generating activities and develop their livelihoods. Social integration and the development of social skills will be an integral part of the training process.

The VTN project will continue until March 2018. The activities of the project so far limited to the North can now expand to the Eastern region with co-financing by the Federal Office for Migration (after 01.01.2015 State Secretary for Migration SEM) of the Government of Switzerland. This additional financing will add value to current Project initiatives serving to strengthen its on-going programmes as well as to expand the outreach of vocational training in the North/East through the establishment of an additional satellite training centre in the Eastern Province. Co-financing by the Swiss Government will provide an impetus to VTN to initiate a tri partite collaboration between the Governments of Sri Lanka, Germany and Switzerland as they work together through the GIZ VTN Project to achieve the common objective of improving demand-oriented vocational training in the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka.

Photo caption: (In the foreground from left): HE Dr. Juergen Morhard - Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the Republic of the Maldives, Hon Dullas Alahapperuma - Minister of Youth Affairs and Skills Development, HE Heinz Walker-Nederkoorn - Ambassador of Switzerland to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the Republic of the Maldives.
In the background (From left): Ms. Kumudhini Rosa – Senior Advisor – GIZ Vocational Training in the North of Sri Lanka (VTN) Project, Mr. A R Desapriya – Additional Secretary – Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development, Ms. Randa Kourieh-Ranarivelo - Country Director - GIZ Sri Lanka / Maldives, Mr. Chandana Arunadeva – Chairman – National Apprentice and Industrial Authority (NAITA), Mr. B. Wijayaratne – Secretary – Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development, Colonel Dharshana Rathnayake – Chairman – Vocational Training Authority (VTA), Ms. Kay-Nina Forrer - First Secretary (Migration) - Embassy of Switzerland to Sri Lanka and the Maldives.