The Education Ministry and United Nations representatives will hold discussions in a bid to start a program to support skills development in the education sector in the country within the next three months, Ministry sources said.
The decision to hold discussions was reached when Education Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris met UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Hanna Singer last week.
The Minister has said that there was an urgent need to respond to the rising demand for opportunities in vocational training, a statement by the Ministry said.
“The Ministry is planning to strengthen and diversify avenues of entry at different stages into vocational training institutions, such as the Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technology, the National Apprenticeship and Industrial Training Authority and the Department of Technical and Educational Training,” the statement said.
He said that the key challenge in the educational system is linking together general, higher, tertiary, technical and vocational education systems.
The UN representatives have expressed interest in training and skills development of the youth in the country.
The contribution which UNICEF could make into primary education, nutrition and related matters was also discussed.