News update
Adaptation in the Pandemic: World Youth Skills Day 2021
COLOMBO (ILO News) - Young people, nearly 23% of Sri Lanka’s population, could not be more hungry for the right kind of skills for future employment. As the world marks World Youth Skills Day on 15 July, the importance of accelerating investment in the young and building the right kind of skills for tomorrow in these turbulent times could not be more urgent.
As the world is in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s World Youth Skills Day aims to focus attention on how technical and vocational education and training (TVET) systems have adapted to the pandemic and recession, consider how those systems can contribute to the recovery.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, online learning has become the most common way of imparting skills, according to a global survey of technical vocational educational training (TVET) providers, policymakers and social partners in 126 countries, conducted by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in collaboration with the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Bank.
At the start of the pandemic, only a handful of countries and training providers had sufficient equipment, connectivity, remote learning software and platforms, and pedagogical resources to support the switch to remote learning. Most students and instructors initially lacked the digital skills to adapt and use TVET services. In Sri Lanka too, TVET providers faced unique challenges in adapting the curriculum, assessment and certification processes for online delivery of their services.
Sri Lanka has made important strides in adapting to the digital world. In 2020, after the pandemic struck, Sri Lanka’s Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC) of the State Ministry of Skills Development, Vocational Education, Research and Innovation in partnership with the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon and the International Labour Organization, introduced the ‘National Skills Passport’ a digital gateway to find suitable jobs, access reskilling and upskilling opportunities beyond geographical boundaries. It digitally captures and acts as certification of the skills individual have acquired whether at schools, at work, and through on the job or other experiential training that allows for better employment prospects and placements. This is a “smart card” that electronically records the skills and qualification of the holder with a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) or one year confirmed experience, connected to a dedicated online portal which links workers with employers, certification agencies and other labour market institutions.
To mark World Youth Skills Day 2021, the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC) recently launched a new digital platform for recognition of prior learning (e-RPL). The digitalisation of traditional RPL processes expands its accessibility, especially in pandemic conditions, while reducing unit cost and time delays. This initiative enhances the employability of workers through formal assessment and certification of informally acquired knowledge, skills and competencies responding effectively to the long-standing issue of skilled workmanship not being recognized. Now, a centralized digital repository that allows employers to easily identify the qualification and verify them through an online platform exists.
A future-ready vocational education, skills and training sector is needed more than ever to shape the competencies of young workers for a brighter Future of Work for Sri Lankans.
For more information please contact: Mr. Asitha Seneviratne , ILO Country Office for Sri Lanka and the Maldives: asitha@ilo.org
As the world is in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s World Youth Skills Day aims to focus attention on how technical and vocational education and training (TVET) systems have adapted to the pandemic and recession, consider how those systems can contribute to the recovery.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, online learning has become the most common way of imparting skills, according to a global survey of technical vocational educational training (TVET) providers, policymakers and social partners in 126 countries, conducted by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in collaboration with the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Bank.
At the start of the pandemic, only a handful of countries and training providers had sufficient equipment, connectivity, remote learning software and platforms, and pedagogical resources to support the switch to remote learning. Most students and instructors initially lacked the digital skills to adapt and use TVET services. In Sri Lanka too, TVET providers faced unique challenges in adapting the curriculum, assessment and certification processes for online delivery of their services.
Sri Lanka has made important strides in adapting to the digital world. In 2020, after the pandemic struck, Sri Lanka’s Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC) of the State Ministry of Skills Development, Vocational Education, Research and Innovation in partnership with the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon and the International Labour Organization, introduced the ‘National Skills Passport’ a digital gateway to find suitable jobs, access reskilling and upskilling opportunities beyond geographical boundaries. It digitally captures and acts as certification of the skills individual have acquired whether at schools, at work, and through on the job or other experiential training that allows for better employment prospects and placements. This is a “smart card” that electronically records the skills and qualification of the holder with a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) or one year confirmed experience, connected to a dedicated online portal which links workers with employers, certification agencies and other labour market institutions.
To mark World Youth Skills Day 2021, the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC) recently launched a new digital platform for recognition of prior learning (e-RPL). The digitalisation of traditional RPL processes expands its accessibility, especially in pandemic conditions, while reducing unit cost and time delays. This initiative enhances the employability of workers through formal assessment and certification of informally acquired knowledge, skills and competencies responding effectively to the long-standing issue of skilled workmanship not being recognized. Now, a centralized digital repository that allows employers to easily identify the qualification and verify them through an online platform exists.
A future-ready vocational education, skills and training sector is needed more than ever to shape the competencies of young workers for a brighter Future of Work for Sri Lankans.
For more information please contact: Mr. Asitha Seneviratne , ILO Country Office for Sri Lanka and the Maldives: asitha@ilo.org