Sri Lanka Human Development Report 2012.pdf

offered by private institutions. 189 Given the consensus that
the higher education sector needs to be revamped, the
implementation of reforms in a transparent and systematic
manner can minimize resistance to change.
The reforms extend to technical education and vocational
training, which is available throughout the country, but
with skewed distribution (Figure 4.11), as is apparent by
public sector enrolment across provinces. Availability is
highest in the Western Province, where around 34,000
examinations. In 2010, 146,500 school candidates did
not pass the O-Level exam, while another 76,000 did not
succeed at the A-Level. 190 The majority of these young
people are not equipped with marketable skills, which
is one reason why youth unemployment is so high: 19.4
percent for 15 to 24 year olds in 2010, compared to a
national average of only 4.9 percent. 191 Training is critical
to facilitating the transition from school to work and to
reducing unemployment. 192 70 percent of those who are
unemployed did not have any vocational training. 193
Figure 4.11: Technical and Vocational Training: Enrolment in Selected Public
sector Institutions, 2010
Source: Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission 2010a.
young people were enrolled in 2010. It is lowest in Uva,
where enrolment was below 4,000 people. Enrolment was
below 5,000 students in the North Central, North Western
and Sabaragamuwa provinces. In the Western, Central,
Eastern and Sabaragamuwa provinces, the enrolment
of men outnumbered that of women; distribution is,
however, more even in the other provinces.
Each year, about 200,000-250,000 young people leave
the school system without succeeding in the national
While young people are the prime target for technical
and vocational training and skills development, these
programmes are poorly recognized. Reasons include weak
links between them and secondary education, 194 a lack of
interaction with industry, the poor quality of training and
the lack of a career development path for participants. 195
In 2005, a major reform was the establishment of the
National Vocational Qualification system to set standards
for diploma and certificate courses. 196 Funded by the Asian
Development Bank, it has mainly focused on diploma-level
78
sri lanka Human Development report 2012