A skills development policy framework

for achieving Budget 2016 objectives

Wednesday, 9 December 2015

The 2016 Budget of the Government of Sri Lanka identifies several key
issues facing skills development in the country. Foremost is the familiar
story about gaps in the supply of skills and the mismatch between supply
and demand. More significant is the identification of the structural problem
of 400+ Government training institutions operating in isolation and the
more fundamental issue of the examination-centric nature of basic
education in Sri Lanka.
The gaps and mismatch issue is addressed quite explicitly
in the Budget. National Youth Services Council is to be
revitalised as a transit point for youth pursuing further
education, training or moving onto a job. Private provision
or public-private partnerships (PPPs) for making skills
development more relevant too are proposed. However,
the proposals are negated somewhat by a long list of new
programs to be added to existing Government institutions
or new Government institutions to be established without
any mention of how they should make themselves more
relevant.
It is also proposed to strengthen industry sector councils
to align training provided to the needs of the private
sector, but, the concept is not pushed any further. In this
brief, we will explore how the revival of the NYSC, the
introduction of a national qualifications framework and the
extension of PPPs and sector council concepts across the
board to all skills development activities will address the
gaps and mismatch issue more effectively.
Regarding basic education, the Government has identified
the need to move away from an examination-centric,
content based curriculum towards a competency based
curriculum, helping children to gain life skills and to encourage independent
thinking. However, the proposed policy measures are limited to
investments in infrastructure and teacher training. Some mention of the
need to deliver a different kind of education would have set the scene for a
discussion on the kind of reforms needed. In this brief we will try to fill that
gap and present some ideas to initiate that discussion. Overall, we

propose:
Schools as places for holistic education
The Sri Lankan education system in practice is the exact opposite of the
student-centred activity-based learning which is required for the 21st
century. Teachers struggle to cover an astounding breadth of material
because they have no way of predicting what will appear in the national
examinations. The result is that those who pass the exams prove that they
know a bunch of facts and those who fail have nothing to show for their
time in school.
The school curriculum should be decoupled from the sets of question
papers from past examinations and notions of what might appear in future
examinations. Time spent in school should be devoted to deeper learning of
key concepts through projects, labs and field trips so that students become
critical thinkers and learn to learn. Coaching for examination success would
be an activity that could be offered for students after school-hours.
Currently students follow the same material twice, first in class by harried
teachers who face multiple demands on their time and then at tuition by
those who have mastered techniques for examination success. It is time to
accept the reality that teaching for examination success and teaching to
develop the whole child are two different activities that have to be
segregated and carried out in two different settings.

NYSC as a
transit point for
all youth
The National Youth
Services Council
established by Act
69 of 1979 is the
brain child of the
present Prime
minister who was
then serving as
the Minister for
Youth and
Employment.
Politicisation
weakened the
institution during
the last 10 or so

years, but it has been rejuvenated under the new government. Its role is to
guide youth towards success by career guidance, leadership training and
other support services.
Given the amount of time wasted by young people in this country doing
nothing in-between exams, NYSC can be an enriching meeting place for all
youth during those transition periods. Opportunities to volunteer or
opportunities to become bilingual or trilingual can be offered using its youth
cadres themselves as resources.
The majority of children in Sri Lanka grow up either speaking Sinhala or
Tamil at home, but, in homes of the elite, the children grow up using English
as their mother-tongue, irrespective of ethnicity. Society is segregated
along these three languages and opportunities to properly learn a second
language is rare. NYSC can be a place that helps these groups of youth to
teach each other to be bilingual or even trilingual.
SLQF as a truly national qualification framework
A national qualification framework is a mechanism for connecting
segregated systems of qualifications, but Sri Lanka is yet to develop a truly
national qualification framework. The National Vocational Qualifications
(NVQ) framework which was introduced by the Tertiary and Vocational
Education Commission (TVEC) in 2002 follows the Australian and New
Zealand frameworks closely. The NVQ reserves level 1-6 for certificates,
diplomas and higher diplomas, and Levels 7-10 for degrees and above.
In contrast, the qualification framework developed by the Ministry of Higher
Education in 2010 with World Bank assistance is more concerned with
distinctions between a general degree and an honors degree or an MA and
an MPhil and other university specific concerns. On the other hand
professional qualifications in 40+ sectors from accountancy, architecture,
and aviation to logistics, to teaching and tourism exist in their own silo so to
speak. We need a SLQF that recognises the diversity of tertiary education
qualifications and enables individuals to progress from one qualification to
another or ladder across to another without being restricted to vocational,
professional or academic silos.

Sector Councils and Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs)

The Budget speech mentioned only in passing that Industry Sector Councils
would be used to advice the Ministry and the Commission responsible for
technical and vocational education and training.
Even now industry sector councils exist under various names under
different ministries or agencies. For example, National Apprentice &
Industrial Training Authority (NAITA) appoints a National Industry Training
Advisory Committee (NITAC) for each competency standard it develops.
Ministry of Industries has its own set of sector councils. During the 2000 to
2007 period, eight industry clusters in the ceramics, coir, gems and
jewellery, ICT spices, rubber, tea, and tourism sectors were formed by The
Competitiveness Initiative (TCI), a USAID funded project implemented by
the Ministry of Industrial Development then.
Whether it is more appropriate to set up industry sector skills councils as in
Australia is a detail that needs to be examined further. Whatever the
structure, it is important that there is representation by relevant industry
sector councils in all advisory boards or boards of management of
education related bodies including the Ministry of Education (MOE), National
Education Commission (NEC), National Institute of Education (NIE), NYSC,
University Grants Commission (UGC). TVEC and National Apprentice
Industrial Training Authority (NAITA) are already well represented by
industry sectors, but a unifying sector council for each industry is needed.
The 2016 Budget provides a variety of incentives for Public-Private
Partnerships (PPPs) in building and construction, hotel and tourism, light
engineering and manufacturing, freight forwarding and auditing, for
example, but new courses at Government institutions are offered without
requiring linkages with relevant industry sectors.
These proposals include expansion of programs at the University of

Vocational Technology (UNIVOTEC), Ocean University, establishing new

University Colleges; upgrading of Colleges of Technology to the status of
University colleges and Techno-based campuses; situating vocational
training institutions alongside current universities; establishing universities
in lagging regions, etc. A Sector Councils linkage policy or PPP mechanisms
that applies across the board to all government institutions is sorely
needed.
A skills development framework
A framework that helps one to visualise the four strategies would have an
invigorated NYSC as the key transition point for about 340,000 youth who
join the ranks of 18-24 year youth category in Sri Lanka. The importance of
NYSC is underscored by the fact that fifteen percent of our youth would
leave school before they face the GCE (O/L). Another 30-35% would leave
after the exam but without the required six passes with language and math.
Holistic educational reforms in the general or basic education sector to the
left of the NYSC will help keep all children engaged and interested in school
education.
Even those who get through the critical GCE (O/L) gateway often feel they
get trapped in vocational or technical silos without opportunities to progress
to higher professional or academic qualifications. Much publicised protests
by the students in the Higher National Diploma (HND) in accountancy
program is a case in point. A cross-cutting and unifying qualifications
authority, like the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority of UK, to develop
and maintain an SLQF is needed. An industry liaison policy shown as a box
that envelops all institutions and relationships will include guidelines for
establishing industry sector councils and PPPs for skills development in Sri
Lanka.
Posted by Thavam