Vocational training institutes fail to meed demand for skilled labour

COLOMBO (News 1st) - The Central Bank says vocational and technical training institutes have continuously under-performed in generating skills demanded by respective sectors in the economy, despite the education system being able to provide free education to all. According to the 'Labour Demand Survey' conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics in 2017, unavailability of people interested in doing certain jobs, high competition from other employers, demand for higher salaries and unavailability of qualified applicants have made it difficult to fill half a million vacancies in the job market. The Central Bank's Annual Report 2017 says a large gap has been created between the requirements of job creators and the expectations of the job seekers, leading to labour shortages in the domestic market. The private sector says the intention to hire labour has been largely positive, although labour availability is lagging. The Central Bank says if the labour shortage issue is not addressed immediately, relevant sectors with persistent skill gaps and labour scarcity will be compelled to urge the government for clearance to import the shortfall.