Page 75 - Labour Market Information Bulletin - 2020 Volume 01

SECTION 5 | LABOUR MARKET TRENDS
Labour Market Information Bulletin - Volume 1/2020

SECTION - 5 | LABOUR MARKET SIGNALS

FOR STAKEHOLDERS

Vocational Education and Training Plan For Electrical and Electronics
Industry Sector

The Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC) being the apex level policy making body for Technical
and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector of Sri Lanka is entrusted with the task of planning, coordination
and development of TVET at all levels in keeping with the human resource needs of the economy. In order to
achieve this task, TVEC expects to map and identify human resources and skills requirements of growing industry
sectors and prepare Vocational Education and Training (VET) plans. Based on the VET plan, TVET providers are
expected to organize their training delivery.

The Electrical and Electronics industry in Sri Lanka grew significantly over the past 45 years and saw it being
gradually elevated to the position a key manufacturing industry contributing towards export-oriented economic
growth. Electronic technology is an important indicator of modernization. In this sense, without the electronics
industry, there would be no modernizations. The Sri Lankan Electrical and Electronics industry mainly caters
for Automobiles, Telecommunication, Consumer Electronics, Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution,
Industrial Automation and Medical Sector. At present the country has become a center of excellence for electronics
design and development and moving towards the emerging technologies such as IoT, Robotics, Bio- medical,
Analytics and to world known Research and Developments.

TVEC has developed a VET Plan for Electrical and Electronics Sector in 2012. It has been updated to address the
skilled and semi-skilled employment gaps in the Electrical and Electronics manufacturing and export industry and
to overcome it as stipulated in the National Export Strategy (NES). Electrical and Electronics Industry is striving to
provide quality products and services to the customers in both local and foreign markets. The quality, productivity
and expansion/ growth of electricity supply, electrical and electronics manufacturing and services in the Electrical
and Electronics industry will all depend on the availability of trained, skilled and adaptive workforce in this industry.
Therefore, training of craftsmen, technicians, supervisors, and other personnel in occupations and occupational
areas in Electrical and Electronics industry has been a priority area and it is needed an updated VET Plan all the
time.
The industry contributed USD 381.17 Million to the Sri Lanka exports in 2019 and absorbs over 35,000 skilled
workers in its multi-faceted activities. The workforce is drawn from a pool of skilled young men and women with
basic academic and technical knowledge.

For long term sustainability of the Electrical and Electronics industry sector, the most important factors to address
are the stability of economic growth, political environment, government policies and fiscal and tax incentives for
investors and local businesses. In addition, support in getting the capital and market access is also essential.
The most important factor for the growth and sustainability of this industry sector is the availability of skilled and
competent workforce.
Based on the analyses of Industry survey findings, following recommendations could be made for the Training plan.

• It is necessary to promote NVQ among industries especially outside the Western Province.

• Strengthen linkage between TVET Institutions and Industry.
• It is required to supply the training according to the industry demand

• Production Line Operator and Electrical Draft Person would be new occupations to be considered in the
Training Plan.

According to the interview survey done with industry leaders and experts, following needs were identified
• It was highlighted gaps in technical skills and soft skills of trainees

• It is required to provide specialized training for the training staff
• Skill Upgrading

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