The Government will expand its vocational training programs for school-leavers by next year. Over 500,000 youth will attend foreign job oriented vocational training courses. Foreign language training programs will also be expanded countrywide to teach the Korean, English, Japanese and French languages, Kurunegala Senior Divisional Secretary, Administration, R.M. Jayaratne said.
He was speaking at a meeting of Grama Niladharis of the Kurunegala district recently.
Around 8,900 such language training programs will be launched at the beginning of next year and 4,000 language instructors who retired recently will be recruited on a contract basis and Rs. 2,300 million will be invested on these programs.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena will launch these programs to encourage unemployed youth to take up lucrative jobs abroad.
He said about 850,000 job seekers will be trained and they would be sent abroad for jobs within the next two years to earn foreign exchange to overcome the economic crisis.
He said Government Technical Colleges and Colleges of Technology and other Government-owned Vocational Training Centres will be used for the purpose. Students of Government schools will be encouraged to undergo vocational training programs from next year. The Education Ministry has set aside Rs. 270 million for this purpose, he added.