The long neglected North and East will once again be refurbished to its former glory with a high level of competency and education, said Minister of Trade, Marketing Development, Cooperatives and Consumer Affairs Bandula Gunawardena yesterday.
Attending a signing of an MOU between The Institute of Charted Accountants of Sri Lanka (ICASL), Sri Lanka Association of Software and Services Companies (SLASSCOM) and Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT); the minister stated that professionalism in education would reach those who have been less fortunate up to now and help them develop their skills and businesses.
The MOU was signed according to a tripartite agreement by the above mentioned institutes to develop the Accountancy, IT and English language subjects in the Northern part of the country. The purpose of this MOU is to promote accounting, BPO and IT as a career choice among students and the business community with a view to enhance the capacity and quality of qualified accountants suitable to serve BPO industry.
Under this programme adult students, between the ages of 25-35 who have not had a reasonable opportunity to receive proper education would undergo an intensive one year training
MOU to restore professional education in the North
programme under which they would receive professional knowledge on Accountancy, English and IT. The partnership also aims at developing a customized course to cater to the needs of the IT/BPO industry and provide accreditations most relevant to the industry.
“Under President Rajapaksha, two main development plans have been initiated, and this programme directly contributes to the “Uthuru Vasanthaya” plan which aims at developing the higher education sector in the war-affected areas,” said Minister Gunawardena.
Chairman of SLASSCOM, Ranjith Fernando stated that to advance the course of IT industry in Sri Lanka is important as IT and English are the essential ingredients of the commercial world. He also stated that this industry has the potential to become the single largest export earner in the country providing employment to a large number of youth. “IT is the fastest growing industry in the world, and by providing such opportunities we (IT industry) hopes to be the largest export earner by the year 2012,” he said.
