Technical Vocational Training: A New Chamber ... - ICC Deutschland

They set up two vocational training centers in the West (Kalutara District) and East(Ampara District) of the country, each with a modern architecture that stressed theinnovative character of the centers. They were named ‚Handwerk Centers’, using theDutch and German term for the skilled crafts.Vocational training was introduced as achamber service that would be offered market-driven, against payment. Given thattechnical training in Sri Lanka is normally offered free of charge by the Government,this was a completely new concept. To make such a system work, the partners onthe one hand followed established standards and preserved and used what waswell-established, but also broke with many traditions and created a project with a lotof new and innovative features.2 History and a short description of the Centers2.1 Handwerk Center KalutaraHandwerk Centre Kalutara started its operations in late 2006 and was officiallyopened on 23rd March 2007. It was built on a land belonging to the Buddhist templeof Malegoda. Therefore, support from the Ministry of Buddhist Affairs was needed tostartconstruction.Given the steep and sloping shape of the land, architecture and construction werechallenging. One German architect who visited the site initially called setting up abuilding on this land ‚impossible’. The building turned out to have the same slope asthe hillside along which it has been built.Handwerk Center Kalutara, Kalutara District, Sri LankaTechnical Vocational Training as a Chamber Service 3/8