Carrot & Stick

At long last a dedicated institute for higher education in technical subjects has made its way to Cabinet.



At long last a dedicated institute for higher education in technical subjects has made its way to Cabinet. "The proposal for the Institute of Technology in Moratuwa is now before Cabinet," said Secretary to the Ministry of Vocational and Technical Education, Dayantha Wijesekera on Friday, at the AGM of the Institute of Incorporated Engineers, Sri Lanka.

The proposed new technical institute is expected to ease the pressure off the demand for degree level education in technical subjects.

As it is, the country suffers from an acute dearth of trained middle and craft level personnel, despite high enrolments in the islands public and private vocational training centres.

"The public vocational training institutes have over 50,000 students enrolled even now, but the drop out rate is as much as 40 percent," explained the Project Manager, Skills Development Project at the Ministry, Gamini Bambaradeniya.

Many drop out because technical training in Sri Lanka can only go so far.

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