The Vocational Training Authority of Sri Lanka (VTA), under the Ministry of Education, recently entered into a MoU with Swiss Hospitality & Management Academy (SHMA) of A. Baur & Co. Pvt Ltd., also known as Baurs, to implement its Skills for Sustainable Growth (SSG) project among selected learning centres across the country.

A press release said that this partnership marks a significant milestone, following its ongoing discussions with VTA, since 2019. The planning phase is already underway and SHMA is currently in the process of evaluating and selecting existing learning centres of VTA, building on their infrastructure and reach, with the aim of uplifting learning capacities and aligning the current learning content, curriculums and teaching methodologies to that of international standards.

With its first phase running from last year up until 2025, a total of 2,240 students will be trained, and the lecturers, at the VTA learning centres, will go through a Train the Trainer programme, which will enhance their teaching skills to embrace newer and practical approaches that deliver a hands-on learning experience to the students. The focus will go beyond just grasping technical skills to also include personal development and language training.

The aim of the entire SSG initiative, which is based on a public-private funding partnership, is to strengthen and match the learning standards in the country to that of the global industry, to enable fast-track routes to employability in just nine months, with the learning taking a hands-on practical approach, and to minimize or bridge the widening skills gap. The internationally aligned qualification, delivered through this initiative, will help various unskilled and semi-skilled young men and women, in Sri Lanka, including providing migrants with a skill set needed for better employment opportunities. The programme is developed on a ‘Plug & Play’ basis, giving more practical and feasible learning modules and methodologies for the learner and learning centre.

Site visits have already begun, with a pool of total 22 centres in 16 districts, across the country, to select the most feasible centres to kick start the SSG project. By July 2023, six centres will be selected and 240 students will see themselves equipped with the skills required today in the world of hospitality management over a period of nine months.