‘The Korean Government has provided assistance for ongoing projects with more than US$ 30 million to uplift the education sector of Sri Lanka,’ the Korean Envoy Santhush Woonjin Jeong said in a meeting recently held with Minister of Education Dr. Susil Premajayantha at the Ministry of Education.
Korean Ambassador Santhush highlighted that the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) is funding several ongoing projects that are carried out in the education sector.
Among these development projects, establishment of a teacher training system for technology stream, enhancing early academic performance and modernisation of construction technology training programs aimed to strengthen the educational facilities not only for students but also teachers, parents and other stakeholders as well.
The Korean Ambassador assured Minister Premajayantha that the Korean Government will continue to foster the educational talents of Sri Lankan youth by assisting development projects to improve educational participation and vocational training in Sri Lanka.
Minister Premajayantha expressed his gratitude to the Korean Ambassador for the immeasurable support and aid provided by Korea to the education sector of Sri Lanka and assured that the ongoing projects will yield beneficial outcomes for the youth in Sri Lanka.
So far, Korea has channelled more than US$ 30 million to Sri Lanka to ensure inclusive development through quality education and improve the education system of Sri Lanka.
Korea considers education as key areas of focus through which it can support Sri Lanka achieve development goals.
Among other avenues of Official Development Assistance (ODA), the Korean Government is paying attention to improving the quality of education, expanding inclusiveness, and intensifying vocational training in Sri Lanka.
The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has consistently funded and supported the Ministry of Education to promote rural education.
Last year, KOICA together with UNICEF provided a grant of US$600,000 to assist the critical response to Covid-19 in the education sector of Sri Lanka.
In addition, the Korean Government continues to extend assistance to the Korean Institute of Technical Training (K Tec) in Orugodawatta, Colombo which was established with support of the Korean Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) by Korea Eximbank.