Education Minister Dr. Susil Premajayantha said that the Government has decided to give the children the opportunity to study a vocational course at school for three months until the GCE Ordinary Level examination results are released. The Minister also said that children can get an idea about their future professional life by studying a vocational course even if they do not go into Advanced Level.
The Minister made this statement while participating in the awarding of diplomas and certificates of the Ceylon - German Technical Training Institute held at the Bandaranaike International Memorial Conference Hall.
The Minister mentioned that the vocational training courses which are basically taken at the school can be utilized to reduce the time spent in taking such courses from the centers established across the country and this will also prepare students to follow future programmes targeting skilled foreign employment opportunities.
The Minister said that today’s world demands skilled professionals and the students studying the courses of Ceylon - German Technical Training Institute have such professional recognition at the international level.
The Minister said that with the support of the German government, this institute and its courses will be further expanded and the standard of those courses should be maintained continuously and other such technical training institutes in this country should also be developed in the same way.
“Not only in terms of tertiary education, but also through the school system, a group of young people with skills should be given to the country, and for that, new teaching methods that are compatible with subjects such as artificial intelligence mixed with information and communication technology should be given priority” he said.
For that, the minister said that by providing necessary infrastructure to the schools, a new communication facility called Fiber Optic Connection and electricity facilities will be provided to a thousand new schools.
The Minister also stated that by providing these facilities, steps will be taken to make a professional-oriented transformative change in the school system as well as university education.