Accordingly, The Government has launched the Skills Sector Development Program (SSDP)of Sri Lanka 2014 -2020: Towards employable skills for everyone” as a part of its Public Investment Strategy 2014–2016. It will provide the overarching strategic framework for building an efficient skills development system by 2020 that can meet local and foreign labor market demand.The expected total investment for the above programme would be US$ 980 million (approx. Rs. 127,000 million).
In order to support the implementation of the program, the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have agreed to provide US$ 101.5 million and US$ 100 million respectively for the program, and these funds will be mingled with the Government Annual Budget during from 2014 – 2018 and will be utilized for the implementation of the above program. It is targeted that the World Bank financing of US$ 101.5 million (approx. Rs 13,195 million) would help at least 825,000 youths to get the chance to enroll in public and private vocational training institutions to gain a value added - job oriented training, which will suit for local and international Job market.
The Financing Agreement on the program was signed by Dr. P.B. Jayasundera, Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Planning on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka, and Ms. Francoise Clottes, the World Bank Country Director for Sri Lanka and Maldives on behalf of the World Bank at the Ministry of Finance and Planning.
