Context: In order of significance, services, agriculture and the manufacture of consumer goods (light industry) are the largest sectors of Sri Lanka’s economy, both in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) and percentage of workforce employed. While the country has experienced rapid development in recent year, youth unemployment has been over 15 per cent and some four times greater than the national average. This problem is exacerbated by large numbers of school graduates not possessing the skills that are demanded by Sri Lanka’s modern labour market.
Implementation: To strengthen connections between employers and educational institutions, the National Apprentice and Industrial Training Authority (NAITA) has established internship and apprenticeship programmes. Starting at the age of 16, youth can fill public or private sector internships or apprenticeships that last six months to a year. Institutional placement for apprenticeships is determined by the level of vocational training, and all participants receive Rs.600/month for related expenses. Through NAITA internships and apprenticeships, youth receive valuable on-the-job training and exposure to the social environment of a workplace. Moreover, these programmes share the burden of reducing school-to-work transitions between educational and industrial institutions, while also encouraging companies to hire youth participants following the completion of their training.
Main challenges: Oversight and planning issues impact the quality of internships and apprenticeships. Problems identifying the core competencies of apprentices have resulted in programme participants receiving apprenticeships in companies or industries that do not match with their exact interests and/or qualifications. Also, NAITA does not supervise apprentices and interns or evaluate their performance during their training, and companies are not regularly evaluated on the quality of training that participants receive. Moreover, the educational materials to prepare and guide participants through their respective programmes are cumbersome and largely ineffective.
Results: Each year, NAITA places nearly 25,000 students in public and private sector internships and apprenticeships, and many of these participants receive job offers as a direct result of their training. In 2012, a total of 68 per cent of interns in the technological fields were offered positions by their host companies.
Moving Forward: NAITA should establish a more systematic method of evaluating the suitability of students for internships and apprenticeships. Setting basic guidelines, organizing instructions by characteristics and/or incorporating student input will help match participants with the most appropriate institution. Companies could also be ranked to incentivize academic achievement. For example, students that earn the highest grade point averages are given preference in selecting top ranked companies.
While improving placement is an important first step, establishing a monitoring and evaluation system will ensure a beneficial experience for both companies and participants. Requiring participants to keep a daily journal or requesting companies to submit periodic progress reports will help NAITA identify and resolve issues quickly, strengthen relationships with companies, and improve the internship and apprenticeship experience for future participants.
Replicability: Lessons for other initiatives include high levels of cooperation between NAITA, institutional partners and students to sustain and improve the quality of internships and apprenticeships. Regular feedback from students to improve the placement system and evaluate the training offered by companies is an important consideration and quarterly assessments can be used to resolve issues quickly and apply the lessons learned to prevent similar problems arising in the future. Other useful factors are collaborating with institutional partners on designing training curriculum and performance evaluations for participants to ensure that internships and apprenticeships properly prepare students to fill paid positions in their respective fields, following graduation.
References:
Department of Census and Statistics. Quarterly Report of the Sri Lanka Labour Force
Survey. Battaramulla, Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs, 2015.
National Apprentice and Industrial Training Authority. “Apprenticeship Training.”
Accessed 12 December 2017.
University of Moratuwa. “Home.” Accessed 12 December 2017.
Acknowledgements:
This good practice was kindly edited by Ms. Elizabeth Linklater
Project Details
Date: June 11, 2018