Essay Example on The importance of technical and vocational education for Sri Lanka's economy

The importance of technical and vocational education for Sri Lanka's economy In this competitive world to survive we need to be hunters of opportunities We need to prove our talents Then only we can get the correct opportunity Graduate unemployment is a hot topic in the Sri Lankan media When we are thinking about the causes for the unemployment we can find that the main cause for this is our education system Though we have free education system we have the same education system what we had in the colonial era There are only some amendments in the system There is a funny statement today everyone tells after some year there will be less carpentries who will have a huge demand at the same time there will be excess engineers in the country It is a sad truth Why it happens is everyone likes to be white collars not to be blue collars Most students in secondary education want to join with universities Even though there are enough vocational training centers around the country there is less awareness about joining with those courses So we need to make aware about the importance of technical and vocational education system for Sri Lanka's economy 

In our education system we have three levels of education they are namely primary secondary and tertiary Primary education and secondary are compulsory it's up to Advanced Level Examination But in tertiary Sri Lankan think that Universities are the only institutions to study Universities are seen to be the top level of education But technical and vocational education did not get the recognition which it In Sri Lanka getting admission to universities is highly competitive Students Approximately 61 of students who sat for the GCE Advanced Level examinations become eligible for university admission but however only 17 2 of them gained admission to a national university E L K Dissanayake 2011 Further students spend a minimum of three years completing their undergraduate studies and graduate with high expectations But the actual fact is they are not suitable for the labor market There is excess amount of graduates in the same field where there is a high demand for technical field In my personal view the expansion of university education in Sri Lanka has directly contributed to graduate unemployment Government can increase the intake of students for technical courses rather than taking them in to traditional streams Labor market looking for skilled personnel to accelerate the process of development Graduates are waiting for the government jobs and doing protests and getting jobs which is not suitable for their subject area Development officers appointment is a good example 

Vocational education prepares trainees for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities traditionally non academic and totally related to a specific trade occupation or vocation In the past there was caste system Although it's not a good system there were enough technical workers because the caste system is based on the works done by those group of people Certain group is assigned to specific work After the abolishment of the caste system younger generation do not like to engage with the same works When we are considering about vocational training centers in SL Sri Lanka Technical College was established in 1893 later the Technical Education Commission was established in 1963 Even though certain steps were taken by authorities to increase enrollment to vocational centers there was not much consideration given Students and parents always prefer for universities so it is more difficult to motivate students to enroll to vocational studies Mostly drop out students from secondary education prefer to join vocational centers So in here parents have a mindset of technical and vocational trainings are only for dropouts But vocational training are existing to produce higher level technicians highly skilled worker There are 18 trades 79 courses and 2178 programs available in every district 245 centers Vocational training authority which is coming under the ministry of Skills Development And Vocational Training provides courses such as agriculture plantation and livestock Automobile repair and maintenance wood related works it means there are lots of courses in each and every sector top to bottom Nearly 475000 are enrolled with the authority This technical training not only contribute to domestic production also there is a huge demand for technical and vocational field abroad especially in Middle East countries 

These are more important for Sri Lanka's economy They will become an asset for the country and play a major role in shaping the future of country's economy To compete in global market we need more labor force with technical skill In my view vocational education is the better way to enrich the practical skills of individuals to face the career challenges easily Those are different form the traditional bounded learning as it is not allowing the plain teaching format The existing education system needs to be restructured so as to attract more students to this sector These institutions need to maintain a close relationship with business world it needs to focus on the growth of the country Education wants to be a way to business world and the educational systems in the developing countries needs to make students easier access to job market the system needs to be made more responsive to the changing labor market needs vocational training should be treated as an important in the tertiary education and when formulating educational policy the Universities Technical Colleges and Vocational Institutions need to be treated as equal and it is only on this basis that proper human and social capacity could be built within the Sri Lankan State