The pandemic has unquestionably challenged the world of education, leading to the acceleration of new tools, attitudes and long-needed education reforms, taking place at a faster pace than ever before.
Keeping with this trend, the University of Moratuwa (UoM), slated as one of the country’s most respected local universities for IT Education, and DP Education, Sri Lanka’s largest online school platform, that reaches over one million learners, collaboratively took a giant step forward to support current and potential graduates and students across every region in the country to gain access to value driven study programmes, which in turn would help harness the much needed talent quotient for the nation.
The University of Moratuwa offers a full stack (end-to-end) six module programme for future software developers, whilst DP Education provides access to the IELTS Academic Test Preparatory course covering listening, speaking, reading, and writing and a Kids Coding Programme that provides opportunities for kids and teens to develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
Sri Lanka Association for Software Services Companies (SLASSCOM) whose future vision entails the IT-BPM industry in achieving USD 5 billion in export revenue employing over 200,000 highly-skilled professionals and launch over 1,000 startups by 2025, commended the University of Moratuwa (UoM) and DP Education for this timely move and stated that this initiative aptly reflects their collective commitment to enable equitable access to education and in empowering every student in the country to reach their academic and career potential .
Chairperson of SLASSCOM Sandra De Zoysa stated “this initiative ties in very well with our own plans to improve digital literacy across the country. For instance, the full stack training module leverages the SLASSCOM future skills bridge programme that provides students who have completed their G.C.E. A/L examinations with a skill development journey of tech and the other essential soft skills, which also provides access to internships and possible scholarships to pave the way to careers in the IT-BPM industry.
She further elaborated “with Sri Lanka having a goal in being considered a key IT-BPM destination in the global arena, and the industry continuing to climb the value chain, clients and vendors being able to communicate effectively affects both the cost and the overall success of every engagement. Customers looking for higher-value services therefore are likely to consider good English-speaking providers. In this sense, access to the IELTS course will be an ideal pathway to ensure that students and graduates in the country learn the art of communicating professionally in English with customers on a global scale
With Digital Literacy being increasingly recognized as a central element of the skills required by children for school, work and life, Sandra further emphasized that the coding program for kids aptly aligned with this requirement. “We understand the value of this program as it is of a similar nature to the SLASSCOM TechKids that is an accelerator to educate and engage kids between the ages of 6- 16 years on technology and coding and is operationalised via coding clubs, embracing schools across the country. Implementing digital literacy programmes for kids requires undertaking a review of the local context, developing operationalization guidelines and conducting impact assessments and should be considered an important agenda by any country, as it is one of the best ways to pave the way towards helping today’s children adapt to the unique challenges of tomorrow’s marketplace and in being armed with the necessary skills to thrive in a digitised economy”.
As the leading industry chamber armed with expertise in the IT/ BPM and technology sector, SLASSCOM pledges its support towards getting Sri Lanka accelerated on the journey in building the requisite skills to become the global hub for technology talent.
