Case Study of Sri Lanka 1 A country going through rapid ... 6. Chapter 3.pdfStudy/UNESCOADB -UNEVOC Website Material /Maclean, Jagannathan and Panth/Page 216 Case Study of Sri Lanka

ADB Study/UNESCO-UNEVOC Website Material/Maclean, Jagannathan and Panth/Page 216

Case Study of Sri Lanka

1 A country going through rapid transition

Post 2009, a combination of government directed policies, private investments and foreign aid, together with a $2.5 billion loan from International Monetary Fund (IMF), has resulted in rapid economic growth comparable to other Asian economies. The economic recovery in 2013 has been mainly due to gains in exports and tourism and due to faster growth in wholesale and retail trades, hotels and restaurants, transport, banking, insurance and real estate. Surprisingly, growth in the industry sector has been higher than in some of the neighbouring economies such as India and has approached 10%. Agriculture has maintained a favourable growth rate of over 4% (Figure 3.1).

Figure 3.1 Growth rate of GDP by industrial sector at constant (2002) prices of major economic activities

Source: Department of Census and Statistics, Sri Lanka, http://www.statistics.gov.lk/ (accessed 25 April 2014)

However, Sri Lanka’s economic gains have been marked by a sharp regional imbalance. The Western Province accounts for 44.4% of GDP share, almost 11 times that in the Northern region which accounts for only 3.7% of the share of GDP share. However, the population in the west (5.8mn) is only 6 times higher than Northern region (1.06mn)18. Similarly regions such as Uva, North Central, Sabaragamuwa are low contributors to the overall economy of Sri Lanka (Figure 3.2).

The population of 20.28 million has a slight gender imbalance with more females (10.4mn) than males (9.8mn). The labour force is approximately 8.4mn, with less than 4% unemployment. Female participation in the labour market is 34.7%. Female employment has grown from 30.9% in 1995 to 33.4% in 2010 but has remained largely in the agriculture sector (24.5%) and in elementary occupations (22.7%). The unemployment rate for educated women is high with 15.8% of females with A Level and above qualifications remaining unemployed.

18 Economic and Social Statistics of Sri Lanka 2013, Statistics Department, Central Bank of Sri Lanka

3.5

8.0 8.2

6.3 7.3

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Agriculture, forestry andfishingIndustry

Services

GDP


Figure 3.2 Provincial map of Sri Lanka

Nearly 28% of the population is in the Western province which also has the highest population density. The Northern and the Uva regions have the lowest population densities as well as the lowest levels of economic activity. Sri Lanka is one of the few countries in Asia with literacy rates over 90%, which has contributed to overseas migration for work rising from 247,126 in 2009 to 282,231 in 2012. The highest increases in migration over the past four years have been at the professional level (36%), middle level (31%) and clerical level (58%). Migration of semi-skilled workers has seen a drop of 74% while for skilled workers there has been a minor increase of 9%. It is likely that the intense activities in infrastructure development within the country have created in-country opportunities for skilled and semi-skilled workforce.

Nearly 61% of the population is under the age of 34 years. With a dependency ratio of 61.3%, it is important that the country not only provides high quality education but also productive employment. With the burgeoning transport, communication, construction and manufacturing sectors, and the diminishing agriculture sector, there is a challenge to education and employment during the economic transition from an agriculture based economy to a manufacturing and services based economy.

Sri Lanka maintains a high standard quality of life especially with regard to education and healthcare. Life expectancy at birth is 76 years and literacy is 92%. In terms of natural resources and biodiversity conservation, the country has maintained a satisfactory level of natural forest (23%) and tree cover (over 60% in land area). In respect to climate change, Sri Lanka has relative to other countries very low carbon emissions at 600kg per person per year.


Even with a relatively low carbon foot-print, the transition away from an agricultural economy, a rise in the size of the population and increasing consumerism, are causing the country to experience environmental issues that requires a reorientation in the mode of development across all sectors. The initiatives outlined in this study, although pilot in nature, indicate a sharp rise in awareness about the importance of the green jobs and skills.

Table 3.1 Labour force by sector

Employment By Industrial Category

2009 2010 2011 2012

Agriculture 32.6 32.7 33 31 Manufacturing 17.8 17.1 16.9 17.7 Construction 7.4 7.1 7.2 8.4 Trade and Hotels 14.7 15.5 15 14 Transport, Storage and Communication

5.9 6.3 6.2 8.1

Insurance and Real Estate

3 3.4 3.5 3.5

Personal Services 18.8 17.9 18.1 17.4

Source: Economic and Social Statistics of Sri Lanka 2013, Statistics Department, Central Bank of Sri Lanka

According to ILO estimates (Sirimal, 2012), by 2020 the share of employment in Sri Lanka in the industrial sector would rise from 24.6% in 2010 to 26.6% under a normal growth scenario and to 27.0% under the high growth scenario; in employment numbers. This is an increase in employment numbers from 1.8 million in 2010 to 2.3 million under the normal growth scenario and, to 2.6 million under the high growth scenario.

Similarly the share of employment in the service sectors would rise to 45.4% under the normal growth scenario and, to 46.0% under the high growth scenario. This is an increase in employment numbers from 3.1 million in 2010 to 4.0 million under the normal growth scenario and, to 4.5 million under the high growth scenario. The service sectors would therefore become the most dynamic areas for employment expansion as well as for output growth.

While there is a need for over half a million skilled workers in the industry sector, and more than a million in the services sector, over the next 5-6 years, the corresponding supply is limited. According to Government estimates19, annually over 180,000 school leavers have training needs, but the existing capacity is limited to approximately 30% of what is required. The capacity of the university system in Sri Lanka is also limited to less than 20% of the eligible students, amounting to approximately 125,000 a year. The capacity gap to a large extent is filled by the industry sector itself.


Table 3.2 Projected change in employment composition in Sri Lanka (ILO estimates)

Base Year

Normal output growth

High output growth

2010 2015 2020 2015 2020 Share of employment (%) Industry 24.6 25.6 26.6 25.8 27.0 Manufacturing 17.6 17.9 18.0 18.0 18.4 Construction, Mining and quarrying, Electricity, gas

7.0 7.6 8.3 7.8 8.7

Services 42.9 44.0 45.4 44.1 46.0 Wholesale and retail

13.6 13.7 13.7 13.7 13.7

Hotels and restaurants 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.0 2.1 Transport, storage and

6.4 7.6 9.1 7.8 9.8

Financial intermediation and real estate, Renting

3.5 4.3 5.3 4.6 6.3

Number in employment (1000s) Industry 1777 2031 2323 2127 2643 Services 3105 3503 3997 3636 4497 Total 7236 7968 8837 8241 9776 Note: Employment projections for 2015 and 2020 are based on the employment elasticity of output growth for the period 2002-2010.

Source: EdUHK Research Team’s calculations based on output data from CBSL and employment data from Department of Census and Statistics (DCS)

The demand for employment in a growing economy is highly dependent on the rate of expansion in the industrial and service sectors and the speed at which agricultural labour gets absorbed into those sectors. The two rates cannot be the same because the industrial and service sectors also become more capital and technology intensive and trigger a decline in the labour absorption capacity of the production activities.

Sri Lanka has to simultaneously balance economic growth with increasing livelihood opportunities, social integration between the diverse ethnic groups, protection of human rights and restoring effective and trusted governance in regions emerging from the long term civil conflict.

1.1 The policy regime

The Mahinda Chintana Vision Document 2010 of the Government of Sri Lanka outlines a strategy for the country to achieve a massive leap forward to transform into a strategically important economic centre. The vision document presents a blueprint for development not only for the economic sectors of agriculture, industry, and infrastructure, but also focuses on human development through education and skills, healthcare and the environment. For example, in skills development, the government would not only raise investment to improve access but also establish linkages with general and higher education, would improve the operational and


managerial efficiency of existing institutions and will create a manpower reserve of 350,000 skilled professionals.19

The Mahinda Chintana vision document also subsumes and converges various initiatives such as the National Strategy for Sustainable Development (NSSD) for the eradication of poverty, ensuring competitiveness of the economy, improving social development, ensuring good governance, and a clean and healthy environment with the 2008-2012 Action plan on “Caring for the Environment - Path to Sustainable Development” and the Haritha (Green) Lanka Program (HLP), which aims to mainstream environmental concerns into the national development planning process. The action plan has ten missions: clean air; saving the fauna, flora and ecosystems; meeting the challenges of climate change; wise use of the coastal belt and the surrounding sea; responsible use of land resources; phasing our landfills; water for all; greening cities for health and prosperity; greening industries and generating reliable knowledge for right choices. The programme includes short, medium and long term targets over the period 2010 to 2016.

The vision is championed by the National Council for Sustainable Development (NCSD). The council is chaired by the President of Sri Lanka and provides policy directions at the highest level to ensure an integration of economic and social development policies together with addressing environment concerns. Many important activities have been initiated by the council emphasizing the need for sustainable growth throughout the country. Initiatives such as the National Green Reporting System to monitor the Haritha (Green) Lanka Program, and a Sustainable Human Development Index has been developed to track human development

The policies and programmes of various ministries and departments, such as the Ministries of Environment, Tourism, Power, Transport, and Industries, are closely aligned to the Mahinda Chintana Vision. For example, based on the ‘polluter pays principle’, the Ministry of Environment has implemented the Environmental Conservation Levy Act to secure financial resources in environmental management. The Ministry has also developed the National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy (NCCAS), supported by the Asian Development Bank: to mainstream climate change adaptation into national planning and development; to enable climate resilient and healthy human settlements; to minimize the impact of climate change on food security; to improve the climate resilience of key economic drivers; and to safeguard natural resources and biodiversity from the impact of climate change. Similarly, the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority develops renewable energy resources and implements strategies and projects to promote energy efficiency and energy conservation. Environmental permission is required from the Central Environmental Authority to develop power generation plants.

The Ministry of Economic Development officially launched the Tourism Development Strategy for the five year period 2011-201620 with strategies on eco-tourism, agro-tourism, the conservation of flora and fauna, and improving professionalism and service standards.21 The Ministry of Industry and Commerce is driving the Cleaner Production Policy (2002) to develop strategies such as the application of cleaner production while promoting principles such as waste minimization and technological upgrading for sustainable industrial development. NCPC is promoting the concept of sustainable production and consumption, with cleaner

19 Sri Lanka - The Emerging Wonder of Asia, Mahinda Chintana – Vision for the Future, Department of National Planning, Ministry of Finance and Planning, Government of Sri Lanka

20 Sri Lanka, Wonder of Asia, Developing and Planning The Markets. http://www.sltda.lk/developing_markets 21 Sri Lanka, Wonder of Asia, About us. http://www.sltda.lk/about_us


production, as a baseline tool through the introduction of modern environment management tools such as life cycle assessment, eco design, global reporting initiatives, environment management services and cooperative social responsibilities. All the activities of NCPC are designed in accordance with the laws and regulations of Sri Lanka and international conventions and protocols such as the Millennium Development Goals.22

Box 3.1 National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC)

The impact of rapid economic and social development, assertive policies and programmes of the government, and the changing structure of the national economy, combined with rapidly changing technology, the increasing income of people and modernization of lifestyles, and global links, is opening up new employment opportunities which require specific technical knowledge and skills. The demand for an educated, skilled and professional workforce is projected to rise over the next decade. The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) work force is expected to increase to 186,000 by 2016; and the tourism sector is projected to generate 700,000 new jobs by 2020. About 50,000 to 70,000 skilled people are needed annually for large scale development activities planned in the areas of naval, aviation, commercial, energy, road and transport, urban and irrigation development. New job opportunities are

22 Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Sri Lanka, http://www.industry.gov.lk/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id= 68&Itemid=181&lang=en

NCPC is the foremost Cleaner Production solutions provider in Sri Lanka. The centre was established by UNIDO under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to assist enterprises in adopting Cleaner Production (CP). Founded in early 2002, the centre has over ten years of experience promoting Cleaner Production and resource efficiency in various industrial and non-industrial sectors in the country. NCPC, which is funded by the Royal Norwegian Government, works very closely with the chambers, associations and individual industries to prevent/ reduce negative environmental impact in the country. It has trained almost 3,000 people and helped over 350 industries (mostly large and medium) in the areas of plantation, textile and apparel, tourism, plastics, and metal work. It has also completed awareness building with over 10,000 people.

There is a need to change the culture of an organisation in terms of the knowledge, skills and outlook of the managers and the workers. The NCPC has worked with 9 universities; and 15 departments to teach subjects regarding cleaner production methods. NCPC organises courses that teach how brown issues affect the environment; issues that arise out of production and consumption; waste mapping in industry; and developing tools and methods to undertake environmental audits. Covers global consumption issues, examines time lines for environmental management, teach various concepts, waste generation – processes and products; the programme is generic. However, universities have adapted to suit their requirements

Source: Senior staff member, at Cleaner Production Centre


projected for airport and aviation engineers, professionals, technicians and craft related skilled workers in the building and construction sector; machine operators and mechanics, automobile and motor mechanic technicians, environmental managers and engineers, managers, technicians and craft related workers in the metal and light engineering sector. There is a projected annual demand of 9,000 skilled workers as hair dressers, beauticians, salon managers, stylists, therapists, nail stylists, tattoo artists, bridal and wedding designers, dress makers, flower designers etc.23

With such a large projected skilled workforce requirement, the annual training capacity in the country which is currently approximately 54,000 urgently requires a significant capacity expansion in the form of new institutions, new courses, partnerships (public-public, public-private and private-private), standards and certification systems and faculty development infrastructure and programs. Initiatives such as creating a 350,000 skilled manpower reserve, linkages between vocational education and general education, and promoting private sector investment in skills development, are steps in the right direction. However, the capacity and efficiency of existing institutions, and the alignment of NVQ with curricula, also need to be adequately dealt with through the policies of the Ministry of Youth and Skills Development.

The framework for improving TVET puts a special emphasis on women and disadvantaged groups such as people with disabilities, disadvantaged youth, migrant workers, conflict affected people and senior citizens. The framework outlines strategies in the form of additional financing, new flexible and innovative programmes, career guidance and counselling, and combining training with support for employment. Similarly, the National Policy on Disability, states that people will have opportunities for enjoying a full and satisfying life, and for contributing to the national development of their knowledge, experience, particular skills and capabilities as equal citizens in Sri Lanka. However, this policy is yet to have an impact on more than 275,000 (Census 2001) people with disabilities as they continue to live in abject poverty.

1.2 Education and training

The education and training system in Sri Lanka is attempting to keep pace with burgeoning investments and the growth of the economy. While there are approximately 1,000 institutions under government and statutory boards, a large part of the training (55%) is with the private sector and NGOs. (Table 3.3).



Table 3.3 Number of registered TVET institutions in Sri Lanka, 2012

Category No of institutes registered Government 337 Statutory Board 766 Private 1,051 NGO 267 Total 2,421

Source: TVEC (2012). Corporate Plan 2013-2017.Accessed from: http://www.tvec.gov.lk/pdf/ corporat_plan_2013_2017.pdf

While the government training landscape is divided between six primary agencies (Box 3.2), policy formulation and planning, quality assurance, coordination and the development of TVET is done by TVEC under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development. TVEC registers VTPs, accredits courses, registers and assigns qualified assessors for these processes and issues NVQ certificates. TVEC also conducts labour market analysis, identifies fields in demand for competency standards development and endorses competency standards. The TVEC has developed 17 Vocational Education and Training plans for key industry sectors and has established Sector Policy Training Initiatives24

24 Corporate Plan 2011-15, Tertiary and Vocation Education Commission, ministry of Youth Affairs and Skils Development, Govt. of Sri Lanka, http://www.tvec.gov.lk/pdf/Corparateplan_2011-2015.pdf as on 27 August 2014

http://www.tvec.gov.lk/pdf/Corparateplan_2011-2015.pdf


Box 3.2 Key government institutions engaged in providing vocational training

Under the TVEC, National Apprenticeship and Industrial Training Authority (NAITA) is in charge of the development of competency standards and assessment resources, and University of Vocational Technology (UNIVOTEC) is in charge of curriculum development and teaching and learning resources production. However, if curriculum goes beyond NVQ standards, other players such as Department of Technical Education and Training (DTET) develop the curriculum for general subjects, in consultation with industry. The ADB-EdUHK survey indicated that about 79% of respondents had procedures in place to review courses and programmes (Figure 3.3). UNIVOTEC and Private/ NGO providers appear to be more advanced compared to other institutions in terms of established reviewing procedures. Even in terms of frequency of reviewing the course, the private/NGO training providers seemed to be more proactive, since nearly 73% of them review their courses either every year or semester or

The Department of Technical Education and Training (DTET) operates a network of 29 Technical Colleges throughout the country, and 9 Colleges of Technology (upgraded from Technical Colleges) that offer diploma level courses within the National Vocational Qualification framework, plus 38 Career Guidance Centres, and 21 Learning Resource Development Centres.

The Vocational Training Authority (VTA) operates a network of 218 Rural Vocational Training Centres (RVTCs), Special Vocational Training Centres (SVTCs), 21 District Vocational Training Centres (DVTCs), 14 Career Guidance Centres and 6 National Vocational Training Centres (NVTCs), throughout the country.

NAITA is the leading agency providing apprenticeship training and developing National Competency Standards. It manages three national training institutes: the Apprenticeship Training Institute (ATI), Automobile Engineering Training Institute (AETI) and Institute of Engineering Technology (IET), plus 8 career guidance centres and 51 training centres.

NYSC organizes vocational training courses in urban and rural areas; and is responsible for implementation of the entrepreneurship programme and career guidance services.

The University for Vocational Technology (UNIVOTEC) provides degrees for people with NVQ qualifications, and those who work in industry, and who wish to acquire degree level education. UNIVOTEC deliver NVQ level 7 degree courses as well as training instructors for Colleges of Technology and assessors for course accreditation. It also develops curriculum and teaching and learning resources.

SLIATE, under the Ministry of Higher Education manages and supervises 11 separate Advance Technical Institutes and 5 sections housed in the Technical Colleges and offer programmes for Higher National Diplomas in civil engineering, electrical engineering, quantity surveying, building service engineering, agriculture, and National Diploma in Business and Finance.

Source: TVEC (2012). Corporate Plan 2013-2017, Accessed from: http://www.tvec.gov.lk/pdf/corporat_plan_2013_2017.pdf


after every programme delivery period. Sixty percent of DTET respondents review courses once a year (Figure 3.4).

Box 3.3 Source of data presented in the figures in this research study

Figure 3.3 Procedures in place to review courses /programmes

Figure 3.4 Periodicity of updating courses and programmes

Note: Where total does not add up to 100%, this is because of “no response” by some of those surveyed. This applies to all charts.

The TVEC has also played a unifying role for all the TVET efforts in the country and for achieving the broad goals as stated in the “Mahinda Chinthana” (2010), Vision for the Future. All VTPs interviewed have a clear vision for their future development. All have plans to open

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

VTA

DTET

NAITA

Univotec

Other Ministries

Private and NGO

Yes

No

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

VTA

DTET

NAITA

Univotec

Other Ministries

Private and NGO

After each delivery

Once every semester

Once a year

Once in two years

Once in 3-4 years

Once in 5-6 years

Not regularly

Unless otherwise specified all figures are based on EdUHK Team Analysis of data collected through the surveys and interviews undertaken for this ADB-EdUHK research study. In figures where a bar(s) is not shown, this indicates a zero response to a particular question.


new training programmes. Many VTPs have been involved with TVEC in curriculum design. In addition to the TVEC, the Ministry of Environment has played an active role in delivering its policies at the VTP level. Many survey and interview participants are aware of environmental regulations and have taken part in training organized by the Ministry of Environment. This close linkage and well-coordinated action between policy and practice paves the way for an efficient skills development eco-system.

1.3 Green TVET initiatives – small steps needing support

VTPs at an overall level believe that currently there is no formal demand from employers for green skills. VTPs receive informal feedback from industry in course and curriculum development. Greening initiatives in vehicle emission control or refrigerant recovery are largely promulgated by the Ministry of Environment or the TVEC. Beyond the government initiatives, which itself is in its nascent stages, there is very little being demanded as specific technical skills which can be termed as “green skills”.

Although the inclusion of green skills is not a widespread practice, examples were identified during the interviews.

TVET providers have developed special modules on emission control system (Figure 3.4) and technicians have been trained accordingly (e.g. Ceylon-German technical training Institute, College of Technology, Maradana). The Ministry of Environment has provided equipment for training for emission testing.

Table 3.4 Module 17, code ECS, emission control system

Topics

Total hours practical theory

17.1 Emission control 1.5 17.2 Evaporating purge canister solenoid 0.5 17.3 EGR solenoid 0.5 0.5 17.4 Lambda sensor 0.5 0.5 17.5 Exhaust gas analysers 1.2 0.5 17.6 Exhaust gas recirculation 0.6 0.5 17.7 Positive crank ventilation 0.4 0.5 17.8 Effect of exhaust emission with air

fuel ratio 0 1.5

17.9 Catalytic converter 0.3 1.5 17.10 Open loop/closed loop control

system 0.9 0.5

17.11 Secondary air pump system 0.3 0.5 Total 5.2 8.0

Source: Obtained during the interview with College of Technology, Maradana

To stimulate greening of the economy, The Ministry of Environment established a National Green Reporting System (NGRS) with a view to promoting the reporting of sustainability performance in the manufacturing and services sectors in 2011. The NGRS has been developed based on the Green Reporting Initiatives (GRI) G3 Guidelines (the third generation of guidelines of GRI) and the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) 26000 standard


on guidance for social responsibility. The NGRS comprises fifty indicators encompassing twenty four environmental, twenty social and six economic indicators.25

The Ministry of Environment has also conducted training of trainers’ courses on refrigerant recovery and recycling at Gampaha Technical College. The TVEC has provided grants to purchase recovery of refrigerant equipment to 400 private training providers. Competency standards have been developed by the NAITA and curriculum developed by UNIVOTEC.

Box 3.4 Training in vehicle air-conditioning

TVEC has started publishing a labour market information bulletin twice a year and has identified ‘high in demand’ jobs in Sri Lanka such as graphic designers, sales executives, marketing officers, computer operators, technical officers, general supervisors, office assistants, managers/assistant managers, customer service executives and electricians.26 TVEC has also designed a municipal solid waste operations assistant training package (level 2 NVQ certificate). One hundred and fifty trainees were trained across municipalities. TVEC also plans to develop Municipal Solid Waste Operators (supervisory capacity) programme at level 4.

The Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority runs training programmes in energy efficiency, pollution prevention and control and waste management to build awareness across communities for energy mangers and auditors.27

The ILO has initiated a demonstration project in the Western Province in solid waste management. A Work Adjustment for Recycling and Managing Waste (WARM) training package has been developed and a team of master trainers from the National Institute of Safety and Health are reaching out to provincial local authorities. They have conducted workshops with 300 focal points in 48 local authorities. The WARM manual is further contextualized and translated into local languages and is used as a validated training tool for NVQ level 1 and 2 certificate programmes for Municipal Solid Waste Operator Assistants under the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission of Sri Lanka.

The Government introduced Divi Neguma, a national programme for cottage industries with the objective of strengthening the home based economy through cottage industries at the household level and to ensure sustainable income for rural families. The livelihood and training

25 The reporting system provides five Tiers that the industry/company/entity could select one of those for reporting. Accessed from: http://www.environmentmin.gov.lk/web/index. php?option=com_content&view =frontpage&Itemid=1&lang=en

26 Source: TVEC: Labour Market Information System http://www.tvec.gov.lk/lmi/labour_market_ vocational_training.htm

27 http://www.energy.gov.lk/sub_pgs/energy_managment_regulatory_1_2.html#4

Before 2006-2007 air-conditioning in vehicles used a harmful R12 gas. The damaging environmental effect of R12 Freon on the ozone layer is well known, however old vehicles still use it. It should be re-used but in industry they do not have the equipment to handle and recover it.

Source: Automobile Engineering Training Institute (AETI)

http://www.environmentmin.gov.lk/web/index.php?option=com_content&view%20=frontpage&Itemid=1&lang=en

http://www.environmentmin.gov.lk/web/index.php?option=com_content&view%20=frontpage&Itemid=1&lang=en


options are generated around food and beverages, garments and tailoring, paper based products, leather based products, and rubber based products, agro-based products, services, ornamental goods and electronics (mobile and computer repairs).

The Department of Social Services offers ‘Vocational Training for Persons with Disabilities’. Individuals are enrolled in a programme to develop their talents through vocational training. The programme is offered to unmarried people between the ages of 16–35 years who have a clearly defined disability. This programme is implemented in five Vocational Training Centres, in three districts; Gampaha, Kandy and Hambantota.

Box 3.5 Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority

AETI has introduced classes on hybrid vehicles funded by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development. AETI plans to introduce solar cells technology into their training programmes. Institutions like Apprenticeship Training Institute (ATI), Ceylon German Technical Training Institute (CGTTI), and National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) have also initiated programs in solar power, pollution, environmental issues, hybrid car training and industrial safety.

DTET (in collaboration with the disaster management centre) has developed a new module for construction-related courses on construction requirements and also conducted seminar for instructors.

NVTI has established an environmental committee. It is intended to: support the general wellbeing of students; develop a particular culture among students; talk about changes in natural and build environment; advertise news; and involve students in landscaping of their campus. In 2011 NVTI introduced a training course in landscaping. CGTTI involves all students in maintaining the institute’s gardens.

The Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority (SLSEA) has energy manager programmes to train energy managers and energy auditors. In this voluntary programme, energy managers need to submit their energy usage data. Based on these data, SLSEA generates energy management baselines for different sectors. High energy users are given targets for annual reductions, and the process is facilitated by SLSEA. Necessary training and advice is provided by SLSEA. Training is given to manage air conditioning, efficient combustion in boilers, etc. 75 major industries / large companies work with us in this programme.

SLSEA is not involved in training middle level technicians, but recommends that TVEC institutions offering diplomas should incorporate the notion of ‘sustainable energy’ into the curricula.

The SLSEA has devised a plan to initiate the training of personnel in repairing lower level electric components, such as CFL bulbs.

The formation of partnerships with TVEC institutions has been important in incorporating sustainable energy aspects into the course of training. The SLSEA is willing to train staff from government institutions.

Source: Senior staff member at Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority


Box 3.6 Municipal Solid Waste Operations Assistant – NVQ Level 2

Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (SLITHM) has included an environmental course in their training programme which includes modules on global environmental issues, the application of cleaner production concepts, techniques for the reduction of resources and waste, techniques to replace hazardous chemicals and raw materials with eco-friendly products, and eco labels.

Box 3.7 Adopting a holistic approach

2 Overall findings: Key issues from the business sector and from TVET providers

2.1 Introduction

This ADB-EdUHK research study explores important questions such as the most effective ways in which government, businesses, NGOs, the private sector and members of civil society can operate in a coordinated way, to move in the same direction to achieve greening of the

Competency Units

• Promote solid waste minimization and reuse

• Segregate solid waste at source

• Collect segregated solid waste

• Transport segregated solid waste

• Treat solid waste

• Dispose of residue

• Maintain cleanliness of the environment

• Maintain relationship with general public, supervisors/colleagues

Source: Technical and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC)

The Don Bosco Centre aims to develop a coherent approach towards greening, including the development of a green campus. They use waste from the canteen in the piggery which produces biogas used for cooking at their canteen and to run energy generators, with water as a side product. Scrap metal and timber is also recycled and reused to produce racks and decorations.

The coursework includes content on environmental issues. The centre also plans to develop solar cells and LED assembly for local markets.

Source: Interview with Don Bosco and observations during visit


economy. It also seeks to identify effective ways to get small and medium enterprises to change their existing practices to become more involved in the greening of their production and distribution processes. Are there effective “carrots” (financial and other incentives) and “sticks” (regulation and economic instruments) in place to motivate businesses to change their business behaviour? What are the best and most effective ways to translate policies into practices, especially with regard to the unorganised sector and informal employment; and how can TVET providers throughout the country update their programmes to be more relevant to meeting modern economic needs, including developing green skills for green jobs?

In order to respond to these types of questions, the ADB-EdUHK study took the approach of capturing voices from all stakeholders, which included industry, TVET training providers, government, NGOs/development agencies, and then examined these in terms of the emerging problems, existing policies and practices to explore answers to the above questions from all perspectives, not just from a national policy viewpoint.

The ADB-EdUHK survey and interviews of industry representatives indicate that the term green job is not readily or widely understood. Instead the idea of green skills was volunteered by some of interviewees and appears to be more readily accepted and understood. This was due, in part, to employers seeing all employees as green workers.

This was echoed consistently in all interviews with employers who rejected the idea that there were green jobs, but who instead suggested that there were green skills needing to be acquired by all workers, to ensure that enterprises successfully and consistency implement green work practices. At the same time, industry also voiced helplessness in accessing green skilled manpower from TVET institutions due to the inadequate capacity of such institutes to deliver on what is required. TVET institutions, on the other hand, spoke about low industry demand for green skills.

Overall, company representatives did not identify any specific changes in the technical skills required of their workforce to work more sustainably. However there was evidence that some jobs now need more hybrid skills than before. When asked directly about new skills required by their workers to support the company to become sustainable or to maintain sustainability targets, interviewees mainly identified non-technical skills along with new technical knowledge.

The ADB-EdUHK industry survey and interviews also raised the importance of understanding international and national standards and the ability to implement and maintain processes to meet these standards in the work environment. Companies identified a knowledge of national and international environmental standards as being important, not only for internal business functions and the immediate value chain, but also for secondary stakeholders such as the legal profession, who need to understand national and international environmental frameworks when dealing with legal issues involving proposed infrastructure projects.

In addition, companies that have strong international linkages tend to appreciate green or sustainable practices, and possess international and national environmental accreditations of one kind or another. There is an awareness about green awards and considerable significance is given to customer demands and compliance across supply chains. The ADB-EdUHK surveys reported on here also establishes a high degree of value being placed on suppliers having skilled workers.


Across all industry sectors, employers emphasize generic green skills for all their workers irrespective of whether a job or an industry is green or not. An example cited was that of a company visiting a solar panel manufacturing company in another country, where there was no attempt to minimise the impact of pollution on the local environment from the production process. This manufacturer did not use green processes and the product could not in itself be identified as green. The ADB-EdUHK industry survey and the interviews suggest that generic green skills such as environmental awareness, energy and water efficiency, waste reduction, waste management, auditing, assessment, green procurement; understanding of standards and legislation and the ability to implement them are all crucial, in every industry and at every job level, to achieve and sustain green growth.

2.2 Key issues from the business sector

Demand for green skills and jobs

The energy sector respondents largely agreed about the rising requirements for green skills and the lack of these skills, in sufficient quantities, in the sector. Thirty eight percent of respondents agreed that there was a lack of green skills in the sector while 50% agreed to the importance of emerging green jobs in the sector (Figure 3.5). Similarly, the construction sector also referred to (33%) the lack of green skills in that sector. Massive post war infrastructure expansion, and global conditions to maintain environmentally friendly construction, may be a trigger to the need for skilled workers who know green construction. Nearly 25% of transport sector respondents agreed that there is a lack of green skills as well as the need for additional skills in environmental issues arising out of emission norms and environmental standards. Hospitality and apparel sector respondents expressed neither a growing need, nor a lack of green skills, to a significant extent.

During the ADB-EdUHK interviews, the smaller companies indicated that they face a shortage of green skills, particularly concerning the installation and maintenance of equipment in rural areas. Similarly, large hotels voiced that they were actively training their staff internally about green skills and that they have been rated highly under green global rating systems. However, it was pointed out that in small and medium hotels in the sector, the level of awareness about sustainability requirements is low. The transport sector interviews pointed towards the growing need for mechanics’ skills to maintain green transport fleets and skills for the safe transportation of hazardous waste. Some of the transport sector respondents expressed the view that though they are interested in becoming green in their work practice, they lack the skills to do so, particularly in areas of recycling, storage and disposal of waste and energy efficiency. Most transport sector respondents were interested in ensuring energy efficiency.

Most interviewees in the apparel industry were working in organisations certified as green factories (LEED), and senior representatives mentioned that once infrastructure and carbon offset measures are in place, only one person is required to monitor quality and maintain green practices within the company. Several of the large apparel factories visited during the country visits have maintained environmental ratings and have undertaken staff development and training in the areas of LEAN production processes, facilities management in specific areas, such as, rain water harvesting, waste water treatment plants, recycling and waste disposal systems.


Figure 3.5 Impact of demand for green skills

Issues that have affected businesses

The construction, transport and energy sectors seem to be most influenced by government policies. (Figure 3.6) The transport sector seems to be influenced by environmental policies and emission norms, while the construction and energy sectors are influenced mainly by global environmental regulations and sustainable infrastructure development. The unorganised industry structure of the construction sector does not deter it from having Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) mandates. Even though the apparel sector respondents did not agree as to any significant impact due to government policies, the impact on business is mainly due to export policies, international quality control and customer demands. Businesses have been affected by increasing costs, though not so much in the apparel sector. In fact the apparel sector had been the least affected by any key issue, which may either point to ineffective implementation of policies and practices, or that the apparel sector is being guided by international mandates and policy guidelines.

While the demand for green products has not affected businesses in the recent past, the rise in consumerism and Sri Lanka’s integration with the world economy will sooner or later create a pressure on businesses towards green practices.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Construction

Energy

Transport

Hospitality

Apparel

New and emerging greenjob openings in yourbusiness

Needed additional skillsduring last 12 months toaddress environmental andsustainability issuesIs there a lack of skilledworkers to perform greenjobs


Figure 3.6 Issues that have affected businesses over the last 12 months

Sustainable practices introduced to cut costs

Even though the apparel sector in Sri Lanka has not faced the problem of increasing costs, as reported by the ADB-EdUHK survey respondents the sector has been using energy efficient products and services to cut costs. Nearly 75% of respondents agreed to using energy efficient products and 50% agreed to using energy efficient services (Figure 3.7). Fifty eight percent and 56% of respondents in the construction and energy sector also agreed to be using energy efficient products. While the issue of increasing costs has been high in the hospitality sector, the same level of use of energy efficiency is not evident from the responses of those surveyed in the hospitality sector. Only 30% agreed to be using energy efficiency products and services, and only 20% to using recycled materials. The use of sustainable infrastructure has been unusually low across sectors, indicating a poor understanding about developing an infrastructure which is environmentally friendly. This is an area that is in need of further capacity building across the industry sectors.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Construction

Energy

Transport

Hospitality

Apparel

Government legislation,regulation, andrequirementsIndustry standards

Rising consumer demandfor green products andservicesIncreasing costs

Ethical /corporateresponsibility


Figure 3.7 Use of energy efficient materials, services, processes, and recycling by businesses

Interest in sustainability of the supply chain

The overall interest in sustainability of the supply chain is low (Figure 3.8). Hospitality sector respondents indicated most interest with 40% expecting suppliers to use sustainable infrastructure. The apparel sector, which has high up-stream compliance for sustainable infrastructure, does not regard the same for the down-stream supply chain. Hospitality is largely influenced by its supply chain in food and raw materials. It is likely that the information is skewed due to the large number of small and medium enterprise responses who function as stand-alone units and do not actively pursue a supply chain mandate.

Fifty percent of hospitality and tourism companies expect their supply chains to use green products (Figure 3.8). In the interviews, green procurement was emphasised especially in purchasing cleaning chemicals for hotels. In environmentally sensitive areas contractors are expected to use sustainable infrastructure and processes to ensure that the local environment is not disrupted. Larger energy companies expect their supply chains to be energy efficient (56%), practice recycling (44%) and use green products (44%). The construction sector also has low demands on the supply chain mainly because labour supply contractors have little infrastructure requirements and most building materials are imported.

While the interview respondents from the airports, airlines and ports sector expressed their rrequirement that the supply chains be green, particularly in the handling and transport of waste and hazardous substances, the same kind of expectations are not evident through the ADB-EdUHK survey, where just above 20% of respondents expressed expectations about their supply chains.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Construction

Energy

Transport

Hospitality

Apparel

Use of energy efficientservicesUse of energy efficientproductsUse of recycled material

Use of sustainableInfrastructure


Figure 3.8 Expectations of the supply chain

Industry viewpoint on engagement with TVET providers

Even though most industry sectors source and recruit candidates from formal TVET and education institutions, the level of involvement with TVET institutions is generally weak. Beyond involvement through industrial placement training, which is part of a TVET course, the level of engagement with TVET institutions in the form of course and content development, teacher training, assessment and certification is minimal.

Except for 56% respondents in the energy sector and 40% of respondents in the hospitality sector agreeing to provide workplace training, the overall engagement between industry and the TVET institutions is very low (Figure 3.9). There is minimal involvement in any type of course development or in the development of teachers/training of trainers. The transport sector appears to be the least involved in strengthening the performance of TVET institutions.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Construction

Energy

Transport

Hospitality

Apparel

to be energy efficient

to practice recycling

to have sustainableconsumption & productionprocessesto use sustainableinfrastructure

to have sustainableinfrastructure

to use green products


Figure 3.9 Type of engagement with TVET institutions

The low level of satisfaction with the TVET institutions has encouraged some of the larger companies to invest in setting up their own training institutes. Examples are the Brandix College of Clothing Technology and the Aitken Spence School of Hospitality. These training institutions provide skilled workers for these companies, with many graduates also going overseas as skilled migrant workers. Apparel companies tend to provide structured in-house training for new workers. In the energy sector, electricians and pump mechanics are up-skilled to support small renewable energy projects in rural areas and electrician training is widely available across the island. There is a lack of opportunity for training in the renewable energy sector and is only vendor or NGO driven.

2.3 Key issues from TVET providers

TVET providers viewpoint on engagement with industry

TVET institutions report a high level of engagement with industry. While UNIVOTEC and NAITA (Figure 3.10) strongly agree to their institutions involvement with industry, the DTET providers were uncertain about such links. Though these responses do not align well with corresponding views from industry, it is possible that the industry responses may arise more from their dealings with DTET institutions which have the largest network of VTPs. It is also possible that TVET institutions’ response is based on industry level interactions which are not necessarily the industry sectors covered in the ADB-EdUHK survey, and may include manufacturing or other sectors.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Construction

Energy

Transport

Hospitality

Apparel

Provide workplace trainingfor TVET courses

Chair accreditation panelsat TVET institutions

Engaged in contentdevelopment for TVETcoursesAllow site visits for studentsas part of their course

Opportunities to gainindustry experience forTVET teachers


Figure 3.10 Institutions' initiatives with industry that assist development of training programmes

Among the training providers, NAITA has the closest links with industry as it conducts apprenticeship training. All NAITA providers have a significant work-based training component. Institutes such as NVTI, Sri Lanka Institute of Textile and Apparel (SLITA) have agreements with 25-30 industries; and SLITA maintains close links with industry for students’ internships.

AETI has links with around 100 companies, such as Toyota, Mitsubishi, Nissan and small businesses, for a two-year work-place training component of their three-year courses. Students at the Institute of Engineering Technology (IET) spend time in industry in blocks of one week at a time, which are spread throughout the course period.

Many technical colleges under DTET send students for 2-4 months to industry (after basic training at the institution). Full time students at the Colleges of Technology spend up to 6 month on-job training (e.g., Maradana CoT). NAITA pays students during industry placement.

Even though TVET institution responses reflect their close linkages with industry, less than half of Vocational Training Authority (VTA), DTET, NAITA, private and NGO institutions are members of any industry group or relevant association (Figure 3.11). The level of collaboration at different stages of the skills development process (including: identification of needs in skills development, development of curriculum and adjustment of curriculum on the basis of feedback), varies among TVET providers. At the central level, industry is involved in curriculum development through the Industry Licence Committee for technical colleges (DTET), industry advisory committees at NAITA, and Sector Policy and Training Advisory Councils at TVEC. In terms of curriculum development at the institute level, and the adjustment to industry needs, NAITA providers stand out. They are able to involve industry significantly in ‘on-the-job’ training and curriculum development. They are also more flexible in responding to skills needs.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

VTA

DTET

NAITA

Univotec

Other Ministries

Private and NGO

Strongly agree

Agree

Uncertain

Disagree

Strongly disagree


Figure 3.11 Membership of an industry group or association

Industry links for other providers mainly involve on-the-job training or internships. The inflexibility of the curriculum for most VTPs is critical as it prevents them from introducing new elements and modifying courses to meet the demands of the labour market and industry. All providers consider the development of soft skills to be an important part of their courses, however, what is included in this area differs and depends on skills levels. These are generally addressed through health and safety modules, extra-curricular activities or through basic competencies in NVQ training packages or through life competencies in DTET curriculum on career guidance and counselling awareness.

2.4 TVET providers views on skills development

Skills development policies have a bigger impact on TVET institutions than do any other policies (Figure 3.12). Environmental legislation also has an impact on VTPs mainly because of the highly active Ministry of Environment in Sri Lanka and its close linkages with TVEC.

Figure 3.12 VTPs’ indication of the importance of government policies (on a scale of 1 to 10; 1 being lowest and 10 being highest)

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

VTA

DTET

NAITA

Univotec

Other Ministries

Private and NGO

Yes

No

0 2 4 6 8 10

VTA

DTET

NAITA

Univotec

Other Ministries

Private and NGO

Importance given toeconomic developmentpoliciesImportance given toenvironment policies

Importance given to skilldevelopment policies


2.5 TVET providers’ views on the greening of the economy

Some elements of greening are observed across all training providers, however, greening is interpreted by them differently. For some participants, it is a module on occupational health and safety. For the majority it relates to the introduction of new modules on solar cells technology, hybrid vehicles, refrigerant recovery and recycling, gas emission testing or new curriculum for new occupations such as waste management. And for others, it has a broader interpretation that includes alternative energy sources, energy conservation, waste management or help to local communities.

NAITA and UNIVOTEC have been most proactive in terms of bringing about changes in their programs due to transitions towards a green economy (Figure 3.13). Almost all respondents from these institutions agreed to the importance of bringing about changes in their programs. The response of TVET institutions towards energy related changes such as renewable energy, and efficiency in energy, have been high compared to recycling or environmental regulations. DTET has been less responsive to changes in programs, though they have the largest network of vocational schools.

Figure 3.13 Change in institute’s programmes resulting from greening of the economy

While there is an acknowledgement of the need for green skills, VTPs also report that they have difficulties in addressing the development of green skills. There are differences in

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

VTA

DTET

NAITA

UNIVOTEC

Other Ministries

Pvt. & NGOs

Transition to greater use of energy from renewable sources

Transition to greater use of prodcuts and services that increase energyefficiencyTransition to greater use of processes that reduce/remove pollution andgreenhouse gas emission and transition to recycling and reuseTransition to greater use of products and services that conserve naturalresourcesTransitions to greater use of products and services that comply withenvironmental regulations and standards


institutions’ perceptions of the need to include green skills and the challenges they experience. For example, 40% of VTA see the need to introduce green skills and 25% experience difficulties. Almost 80% of Other Ministries identify the need, and 50% experience difficulties; 100% of NAITA observe the need and about 70% experience difficulties (Figure 3.14, Figure 3.15)

Figure 3.14 The need for new or continuing training programmes to meet the demand for green skills

Figure 3.15 Challenges in addressing the development of skills required for green jobs.

Less than 40% of VTA and around 20% of DTET, Other Ministries and Private and NGO’s believe they need to develop comprehensive approaches towards the greening of their programmes (Figure 3.16). Most of the VTPs are uncertain about the need for a comprehensive approach. This may be mainly due to the low demand by industry and also an absence of any government order to develop the same. The understanding of environmental awareness, waste management, recycling and related matters amongst the training providers is limited.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

VTA

DTET

NAITA

Univotec

Other Ministries

Private and NGO

Strongly agree

Agree

Uncertain

Disagree

Strongly disagree

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

VTA

DTET

NAITA

Univotec

Other Ministries

Private and NGO

Strongly agree

Agree

Uncertain

Disagree

Strongly disagree


Figure 3.16 The need to develop a comprehensive approach towards adjusting training to adapt to a greening economy

Due to the emerging nature of the subject of green jobs and a lack of specific policy or curriculum on green skills, the institutions are integrating green skills with the existing training courses and programmes. Also, these inclusions are mainly focused middle skills levels (Figure 3.17). It is interesting to note that a limited number of DTET, VTA providers (~20%) have introduced new courses on green skills (Figure 3.18). DTET has introduced higher order ‘green’ courses/programmes.

Figure 3.17 Introduction of new green skills courses on at low, medium or high skill levels

Note: Nil return from Univotech

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

VTA

DTET

NAITA

Univotec

Other Ministries

Private and NGO

Strongly agree

Agree

Uncertain

Disagree

Strongly disagree

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

VTA

DTET

NAITA

Univotec

Other Ministries

Private and NGO

Low

Medium

High


Figure 3.18 New green courses and programme have been developed

Green content in TVET programmes

According to UNIVOTEC, green content in their institutions is mainly learnt through specialised subjects while in NAITA institutions it is mainly learnt through industry placements. Fifty percent of ‘other ministry’ respondents, and 42% of VTAs, agreed that green content is learnt through industry placements (Figure 3.19). One of the reasons for slow progress in the introduction of green content is the lack of standards. Very few VTA, DTET and NGO institutions have developed green standards.

Figure 3.19 Ways in which green content is learnt

Most training providers remained uncertain about the issue of green standards (Figure 3.20, Figure 3.21). What is important to note is that some of the DTET and VTA agree to have developed the standards and certification, which is counter intuitive since the desk research did not point towards any policy document reflecting the same. It is likely that they might have interpreted the question as ‘prospective’: that is, the “need” for comprehensive standards and certification system.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

VTA

DTET

NAITA

Univotec

Other Ministries

Private and NGO

Strongly agree

Agree

Uncertain

Disagree

Strongly disagree

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

VTA

DTET

NAITA

Univotec

Other Ministries

Private and NGO

Green content are mainly learnt in a ‘general’ subjects

Green content are mainly learnt in a ‘specialised’ subjects

Green content are mainlylearned through industryplacement during thecourses


Figure 3.20 Comprehensive green skills standards have been developed in the institution

Figure 3.21 A comprehensive certification system has been developed in the institution

Box 3.8 Nature and content of courses

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

VTA

DTET

NAITA

Univotec

Other Ministries

Private and NGO

Strongly agree

Agree

Uncertain

Disagree

Strongly disagree

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

VTA

DTET

NAITA

Univotec

Other Ministries

Private and NGO

Strongly agree

Agree

Uncertain

Disagree

Strongly disagree

“Technical college courses are very much theoretically based. They have to comply with NVQ standards – that is, level 5. Technical college programmes are 2 year programmes; and there are not many entrants to technical colleges. Knowledge for NVQ Level-4 certificate holders is very low. If you follow a traditional apprenticeship path they would be skilled, but would not have much theoretical knowledge.”

Source: Executive Director, Advanced Construction Training Academy (ACTA)


Box 3.9 Green skills standards

Institutional capacity, teacher and trainer skills towards green skills

The ADB-EdUHK survey also suggests that there is lack of internal capacity within the institutions to include green skills in their programmes and therefore the dependence on external collaboration is very high (Figure 3.22). With the exception of UNIVOTEC, which is not certain about collaboration, all the institutions agreed that they have been engaged in external collaboration for green skills development.

Figure 3.22 Institution involved in internal and/or external collaboration on green skills inclusion in the courses /programmes

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

VTA

DTET

NAITA

Univotec

Other Ministries

Private and NGO

Strongly agree

Agree

Uncertain

Disagree

Strongly disagree

“At the national level greening is recognised. Even at the sub-national levels the donor community, including the Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and others such as NGOs, are unanimous in recognising this. Asian culture values the principles underpinning green jobs and protection of the environment. These are seen as major assets in the rural sector. The urban population damages the environment due to the production of goods and other service activities. Most export oriented companies take this seriously implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Approximately fifty private sector students are undertaking research on environmental management, in which they focus on CSR. Many top companies have the capital to engage in such activities.

The problem lies with micro level enterprises because environmental protection measures are costly. This is not a major issue for medium scale enterprises.

Small and medium enterprises (SME) are scattered all over Sri Lanka. They are not so motivated because their profit margins are very thin; and is no supportive organisational culture. Many SMEs belong to the informal sector where regulation, in particular occupational safety and health, is poor.

Source: Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Colombo


The professional development of teachers in the area of green skills and knowledge is limited. According to the ADB-EdUHK survey, external trainers are the most popular ways of capacity development in green knowledge. Sixty seven percent of NAITA respondents, 50% ‘other ministry’, 40% DTET, and 40% VTA use external trainers to impart training for their faculty (Figure 3.23). For UNIVOTEC courses organised by industry at industry sites and individual mentoring are the main ways of teacher’s professional development.

Centrally organised courses at departments and agencies (e.g. DTET, UNIVOTEC) are also popular for both pedagogy and technical training. Cross institutional training through the exchange of staff in some technical courses, and study abroad seminars, are other ways for achieving capacity enhancement.

Figure 3.23 Types of teacher professional development (green knowledge and skills) used by VTPs

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

VTA

DTET

NAITA

Univotec

Other Ministries

Private and NGO

Individual mentoring bymore experienced teacher

External trainer at theinstitute

Industry organised trainingcourses for teachers at theindustry site


Box 3.10 Summary of key findings

3 Sector related findings - emerging green skills and job requirements

3.1 Construction sector

Construction sector GDP stood at Rs. 247 b (US$ 1.9b) in 2012 while the sector recorded a growth of 21.6% in 2012 compared to GDP growth of 6.4% and industry sector growth of 10.3%.18 The Sri Lankan construction industry can be categorized into the following main areas:

Out of the 5 sectors studied new and emerging green jobs are mainly in the energy sector. This sector is also facing the highest shortage of skilled workers to perform green jobs.

The transport sector seems to be most influenced by environmental policies and emission norms, while the construction and energy sectors are influenced mainly by global environmental regulations and sustainable infrastructure development.

Out of the survey respondents, the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is highest in the construction sector, even though the sector is manly informal, though during the interviews tourism and hospitality and apparel highlighted a strong role for CSR in sustainability initiatives.

According to the survey results, increasing operational costs has a stronger influence on the hospitality sector, followed by construction, energy and the transport sector.

However, the corresponding use of energy efficient materials, and processes is highest in the energy, apparel and construction sectors and relatively low in the hospitality sector.

Overall interest in the sustainability of the supply chain is low. The maximum demand occurs in the energy (56%) and hospitality (50%) sectors for suppliers to be energy efficient. This is followed by a demand for the use of recycling and use of sustainable infrastructure.

The overall engagement with TVET institutions is low. Industrial placement as part of a course is the main form of interface, mainly in the energy and hospitality sectors. The response of the apparel sector on engagement with TVET institutions has been low, although the satisfaction for meeting industry requirements has been relatively high.

TVET institutions report a high level of engagement with industry. Most are in NAITA and Univotech institutions, followed by VTA institutions and less in DTET institutions.

Almost all respondents from NAITA and Univotech institutions agreed they are bringing about changes due to greening of the economy. DTET has been less involved with changes in programs and courses. All institutions experience difficulties in varying degrees in addressing the need for green skills. While NAITA and Univotech strongly believe they need to develop comprehensive approaches towards greening of their programmes, the other institutions are less responsive.

Very few training providers (~25% of other ministries and ~20% VTAs and DTET) have been able to develop green courses and programs; and most of the courses are at medium skills levels. The green skills inclusion in the courses and programs mainly occurs through external collaboration. Most TVET providers agreed that any green training mainly happens through industry placement rather than in the institutes. The absence of any standards or certification process is a bottleneck in developing such courses.

The capacity of existing faculty and trainers is mainly enhanced through external experts and trainers.

Source: EdUHK Team Analysis


• building construction;

• highway construction;

• bridge construction;

• water supply and drainage;

• irrigation and land drainage;

• dredging and reclamation; and

• other construction

According to the Ministry of Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities, the number of skilled construction workers in Sri Lanka is 300,000. Less than 5% of workers have been formally trained and have certification for their skills (Figure 3.24). The high demand for professionals in many countries, and the relatively low level of salaries in Sri Lanka, has resulted in skills migration. If the construction sector aspires to grow at the rate of 9% in the coming years, it will require a million new skilled workers.

Figure 3.24 Workers by skill level

Source: ICRA Lanka, Construction industry analysis 2011

Relatively insignificant women’s participation was observed in micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) and large construction companies. The ADB-EdUHK survey data show that women are mainly employed in soft skills jobs rather than a wide range of other skilled labour jobs. Their employment prospects are better in the SME sector than in the large enterprise sector. Youth participation is observed in the SME sector in the form of mainly part-time employment, whereas the large enterprise sector seems to rely more on mature male employees. Micro companies tend to employ youth as unskilled workers. The construction sector does not demonstrate a strong concern about worker’s protection, welfare and a system of skills development. (Figure 3.25). Only 25% of companies agreed that they have policies aimed at disadvantaged employees. Even though the compliance for health and safety standards are followed by all companies, only half of the companies have sustainability policies.

Craft71%

Operator6%

Professional11%

Technical12%


Figure 3.25 Policies related to disadvantaged, health & safety and sustainability in the construction sector

A Green Environmental Rating System within the construction sector has been developed for Sri Lanka, with a rating system for new buildings as well as for existing structures. The US Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system is also being used by manufacturing companies that have a strong international customer base. Green procurement is gaining importance in the development and retrofitting of buildings to counter the rising costs of construction materials.

Due to such measures, most respondents in the construction sector agreed to having introduced resource saving measures: for example, 67% agreed to be conserving water, and to conserving energy during transportation. However, only 25% are making their buildings more environmentally efficient and 17% are processing and disposing of wastewater (Figure 3.26). While the efforts of industry in this high growth sector are notable, the companies, (especially small and medium enterprises including contractors) need a lot of further support and assistance towards adopting such practices.

Figure 3.26 Resource saving measures introduced in the construction sector

This sector is also witnessing changes in job roles, especially with regard to knowledge, skills and attitudes, and also changes in processes and work systems. Fifty percent of respondents

25%

100%

50%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Policy on disadvantaged employees

Compliance with industry health andsafety standards

Sustainability policy in your organisation

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Conserving water

Processing and disposingwastewater

Conserving resources duringdelivery and transport

Making buildings energyefficient

Conserving other forms ofenergy

Yes

No/ Don't Know


agreed to changes in job roles and 42% agreed to change in processes and work systems. Only 25% of respondents agreed to there being a change in value chain requirements (Figure 3.27).

For example, according to Holcim representatives, a lack of knowledge, skills and attitudes leads to a 50% wastage of cement by masons. They believe there could be a 30% saving on CO₂ emissions in this area if masons were better-trained. Holcim has been training ex-combatants in the National Vocational Qualification for Masonry, in partnership with NAITA, as part of their CSR programme. The goal is to train 5,000 masons by 2015.

Figure 3.27 Key changes related to the greening of businesses in the construction sector

The growing requirement of skilled workers, due to changes in job roles, as well as the growth of the industry, is faster than that which is being provided through the TVET institutions.

According to survey responses, larger construction companies recruit graduates from universities, higher diploma awarding institutes, technical colleges, National Youth Services Council training programs, the National Institute of Business Management (NIBM), and NAITA. Small and medium construction companies largely recruit from the University of Moratuwa; the Vocational Training Authority; NAITA, University of Kelaniya, German Technical School and the Institute for Construction Training and Development (ICTAD). The micro sector identifies National Youth Services Council and Technical Colleges as a potential source for new workers.

However, the quality of skilled labour provided through these institutions remains questionable since only 25% of the construction sector respondents in the ADB-EdUHK survey agreed to TVET institutions being able to meet industry requirements. The high number of “do not know” responses also indicates the wide gap between industry requirements and TVET supply (Figure 3.28).

50%

42%

42%

25%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Job role changes in knowledge, attitudesand skills

Changes in processes and procedures

Changes in work systems

Changes in value chain requirements andprocesses


Figure 3.28 TVET institutions providing for construction industry requirements

Large construction companies recognize the contribution made by the TVET sector and suggest that TVET providers should arrange industrial placements for training in safety and environmental skills and develop quality assurance awareness. Many respondents offered to participate in arranging on-the-job training with TVET providers through TVEC or NAITA. These firms also indicated that traditional jobs require top up skills for using energy efficient products, an understanding of environmental standards related to construction materials, waste water purification and materials recycling. At the higher skills level, site managers require add on skills for controlling environmental processes related to waste disposal and water treatment.

Small and medium construction company respondents suggested an improvement in practical skills and recommended more teaching equipment in institutions to help teachers perform more effectively. It was also suggested that career paths for new workers should be enhanced. Large construction companies expect trainees to be more up-to-date with technology and they suggest training institutes keep curricula up to date and provide hands on training.

During the ADB-EdUHK interviews, shortages of construction professionals, such as service engineers, quantity surveyors, project managers, construction managers and other technically skilled jobs, such as electricians, plumbers, masons and fabricators, was consistently reported. Respondents also suggested the need for upgrading skills concerning new technologies such as, installing fibre optic cables, smart and green technology for buildings. Other areas for skills enhancement reported were training in the correct application of cement, plaster and other surfaces to reduce waste and poor finishes, top up training in new building technologies, and recycling on sites.

25%

33%

42%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Yes

No

No response/ don't know


Box 3.11 Construction sector

“There is a mismatch between NVQ Levels 1-4 and absorbing them into Levels 5-6. For example, the qualifications for Masons at Level 4 has no link to Level 5, which prevents them from progressing to supervisory grades in their professions.

The Quantity Surveyor (QS) programme is offered at NVQ Levels 5-6. There are not enough checks performed for eligibility criteria; and theNVQ also does not specify recruitment criteria for the QS programme. Further, students from the Arts stream find it difficult to adapt to the course content.

Therefore, two separate qualifications are offered; a lower level QS programme at Level 4 for recruits with O/L qualifications and a higher NVQ Standards at Level 4, 5 and 6 for those with A/L Maths stream qualifications. Soft skills development only occurs at Level 4. Entrants' knowledge of Maths is very low in Sri Lanka.

Curriculum transition from craftsmanship to Diploma levels is also not smooth.”

Source: Executive Director, Advanced Construction Training Academy (ACTA)


Table 3.5 Green skills gaps in the construction sector

Green Jobs (Existing/ Emerging)

Occupational Profile and Skills Needs in the industry sector

Existing Standards and Qualifications

Skills Gaps and Mismatches

Emerging Standards/ Qualifications and Recommendations

Site Environmental Officers (waste management and pollution control)

Interpreting industry standards and state regulations; safe handling of waste; safe transportation of hazardous and other waste; water management and waste water treatment; controlling emissions and pollution on site;

TVET - Nil No existing TVET supply for the job profile; a total skills gap exists at present.

Introduce Assistant Engineer qualifications (e.g.: National Diploma in Technology (NDT), Institute of Advanced Technological Education (HNDE), National Diploma in Engineering Science (NDES) ) at NVQ Level 5-6 with suitable green components in the curricula to address green skills;

ISO auditors

Compliance with ISO standards; adhering to principles of management Auditing;

TVET – nil

No existing TVET supply for the job profile; a total skills gap exists at present.

Introduce a degree course at NVQ Level-7 incorporating competencies for ISO auditing

Energy efficient product developers

Production of energy efficient green products and concepts;

TVET – nil


Degree related to green/efficient product/technology development with marketing competencies


3.2 Energy sector

Energy supply in Sri Lanka is mainly based on three primary resources: thermal (coal and petroleum), hydro-electricity and renewables. The use of non-conventional energy resources is on a smaller scale and its contribution has low significance in the macro energy picture. Total primary energy demand is expected to increase to about 15,000 KTOE by the year 2020 at an average annual growth rate of about 3% (Figure 3.29). The electricity and petroleum sub-sectors are likely to record higher annual growth rates of about 7-8%. Hydroelectricity


production and biomass-based energy supplies, which are the only large-scale local primary energy resources available in Sri Lanka, are expected to increase only marginally in the near future. This is mainly due to limitations in further hydropower development owing to lower economic viability, the limited use of biomass and gradually increasing standards of living of the population. This means that the country’s incremental primary energy requirements need to be supplied mainly by imported fossil fuels in the medium term. In the longer term, possible development of petroleum resources and accelerated development of non-conventional renewable energy are likely to make a significant change in Sri Lanka’s mix of primary energy resources.

Figure 3.29 Composition of energy supply

Source: Sri Lanka - The Emerging Wonder of Asia, Mahinda Chintana – Vision for the Future, Department of National Planning, Ministry of Finance and Planning, Government of Sri Lanka

In 2012, total electricity generated was 11528 GWh, of which 59% was from oil and coal thermal power plants with 35% from hydropower and the balance (6%) from non-conventional renewable energy sources.28

A National Energy Management Plan (EnMAP) for 2012-2016, under the guidance of the Ministry of Power and Energy, is being set for achieving an energy saving of up to 20% of the total energy consumption, based on 2010, by 2020. The overall objective is to enhance economic activity without forcing an additional burden on the energy sector.

Power generation is seeing a shift from traditional to renewable sources. The Government has set a target of generating 20% of electricity through renewable sources by 202029. There is an emphasis on wind generated energy since Sri Lanka has strong monsoon corridors. The country is already generating 73,000MW of power through wind and 1.378MW through solar.30 The

28 Remarks by Ambassador Dr. Palitha Kohona, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations at the event to mark the “World Energy Day”, 22nd October 2013, New York, http://www.wef21.org/pdfs/wed_address_sri_lanka.pdf


30 http://powermin.gov.lk/english/?page_id=1507

0102030405060708090

100

2010 2020

LNG

Coal

Renewable

Thermal (coal+oil)

Hydro


sector is expected to generate high levels of employment with different ‘shades of green’ regarding green skills for employability.

The demand for training is therefore increasing with regard to the manufacturing of small turbines, assembling and installation of large turbines and high voltage connections to the grid. According to ADB-EdUHK interviewees, while wind power is commercially viable, solar power is yet to make a mark, though institutions have started using solar energy systems. Solar energy skills needed include the installation, maintenance and repair of solar panels, such as for water heaters. Interviewees also suggested that though several manufacturers have some training for workers in this area, they do not provide the service in rural areas, and so there is a high dependence on local mechanics and electricians to fill these skills gaps.

Owing to the nature of this industry, the participation of women in the energy sector is very low. While large energy companies have female participation, mainly in support and back-office functions, small and medium enterprises have a negligible participation of women. The energy sector is also yet to evolve to have policies on the disadvantaged, sustainability or maintaining health and safety standards. In the ADB-EdUHK survey very few respondents in this sector reported having a policy for disadvantaged employees or any sustainability policy. Even compliance to health and safety standards is low at just 67% compared to nearly 100% compliance in other sectors like construction, hospitality or the less organised transport sector (Figure 3.30).

Figure 3.30 Policies related to the disadvantaged, health & safety and sustainability in the energy sector

It is interesting to note that most survey respondents say they have started using resource saving measures in their respective companies. Nearly 90% of respondents agreed to be conserving water and conserving resources in logistics, but just 33% are treating waste water and 44% are maintaining energy efficient buildings (Figure 3.31). Although some of the energy sector companies may be in the business of renewable energy, which is a green sector that does not necessarily mean that the companies may be involved in green practices in running their businesses.

11%

67%

33%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%



Sustainability poilicy in your organisation


Figure 3.31 Resource saving measures introduced in the energy sector

Fifty six percent of respondents agreed to change in processes in their companies due to the ‘greening’ of the business (Figure 3.32). Forty four percent agreed to changes in job roles and an equal number agreed to changes in work systems which maybe in areas such as pollution control mechanisms and technology, or waste management systems, which may include technology changes for reuse. Only one-third of respondents agreed to changes in ‘value chain’ requirements. These changes are very similar to those changes being experienced in the construction and hospitality sector but higher than in the transport and the apparel sectors. These changes include the introduction of new equipment to reduce pollution, or the introduction of waste management systems, both of which require new skills.

Figure 3.32 Key changes related to the greening of businesses in the energy sector

Changes in job roles and work processes is also triggering a demand for newer skills which TVET institutions are not currently able to cater for. Only 33% of respondents in the energy sector agreed that there is an ability of TVET institutions to be able to provide for industry requirements (Figure 3.33). Survey respondents from large energy companies consider TVET graduates to be too theoretical and less practical and comment that they ‘lack passion for their jobs.’ They also identified a lack of courses that are, for example, relevant to the oil and gas industry. SME energy and micro energy company respondents generally felt that the TVET sector does meet their requirements and consider informal on-the-job training as more effective.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Conserving water





Yes

No/ Don't Know

44%

56%

44%

33%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%






While large companies can have more workers with discrete job roles and skills sets, small, medium and micro companies prefer to train workers with a greater range of skills.

Figure 3.33 TVET institutions providing for industry requirements in the energy sector

Some of the industry respondents spoken to during the interviews said that the quality of TVET graduates was acceptable, however they emphasized the need for there to be a change in their attitude towards work. Due to disorientation of learners in their approach to the world of work, the relationship between local employers and TVET providers gets weakened. Though many respondents from industry seemed sensitive towards sustainable production, and with regard to the importance of practical green skills in production processes,; they were less confident about TVET institutions providing such people, because of the poor quality of courses, and the fact that many TVET institutions have faculty and instructors who are out of date and who are less aware about workplace practices and do not have regular industry contact.

33%

22%

44%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Yes

No



Box 3.12 Perspective from the business sector

During the interviews, and from the qualitative information obtained from the surveys, skills identified by energy companies include installation and maintenance skills for wind generators and the installation of solar panels for domestic use. At a higher skills level, energy companies require sustainable product development specialists, environmental managers to oversee project site development, ISO auditors and site environmental officers to maintain standards and compliance. The management and control of environmental processes related to waste disposal and water treatment, site environmental supervision, energy efficient product development, waste water purification and recycling, were also identified as necessary skills.

“The Hayleys group, which has businesses in energy, transportation, and the construction sector, places a high emphasis on waste water treatment, air purification, recycling of waste, noise control, sewage disposal, conservation of energy and the recovery of waste gas heat systems. The company is actively involved in the replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy, mainly through mini hydro and wind power plants. This group of companies has over 30,000 employees and the HR Unit organizes training for the majority of workers. Each division also has some sustainable skills training such as in promoting energy efficiency, waste reduction and meeting Global Reporting Initiative requirements. Hayleys also provides training to develop ‘sustainability champions’ for each business sector. This training is undertaken in-house in a structured manner with some outside trainers brought in for some specific skills training.

The group has identified ‘sustainability champions’ from the 12 sectors of the Hayleys group. In the sectors they do not have dedicated people who focus on green jobs, but they have added responsibilities to existing staff to facilitate the change; and continuous engagement programmes and training sessions which help management to transfer knowledge and understanding to their sectors. The training required for the maintenance of hydro-power projects is conducted during installations.

In their plantation sector, 80% of job roles have expanded towards sustainability, green initiatives and effective reporting, and comply with the UN global compact.”

Source: Sector Head, Group Human Resources, Corporate Communications/ Sustainability, Group Security, Hayleys Group


Table 3.6 Green skills gaps in the energy sector



Existing Standards and Quals



Managers for Energy Efficient Services

Assessing current energy usage and efficiency, and planning energy efficiency and alternate energy usage strategies; knowledge pertaining to electro-mechanical aspects of devices/appliances/ etc.; technical aspects related to energy auditing;

TVET – nil

Current industry demand is for a manager level with a higher occupational profile. TVET supplies technicians at low occupational profile levels (e.g.: electrician, household appliance repair, motor winder, pneumatic technician etc.)

Introduce a Basic degree in engineering and physical sciences at NVQ level-7 incorporating competencies for managing energy efficient services

Managers controlling environmental processes related to material waste disposal

Controlling environmental processes related to production of waste material and hazardous/toxic waste disposal, water purification, water treatment and recycling; managing general municipal waste (besides production related waste);

TVET – nil

Current industry demand is for a manger level with a higher occupational profile - whereas TVET supplies operators at a low profile level (e.g.: waste operation assistant)

Introduce a degree at NVQ level-7 incorporating competencies for managing environmental processors related to material waste disposal


ISO Auditors Competencies required by ISO environmental standards

TVET – nil


Introduce a degree at NVQ level-7 incorporating competencies for ISO auditing

Site environmental officers

Technical competencies in executing cleaner production; safe handling of waste; safe transportation of hazardous waste; periodic reporting to improve site/plant environmental footprint;

TVET – nil


Introduce assistant engineer level qualifications (e.g.: NDT, HNDE, NDES) at NVQ levels 5-6 with suitable green components in the curricula to address green skills.

Energy efficient product developers

production of energy efficient green products and concepts;

TVET – nil


Degree related to green/efficient product/ technology development with marketing.



Box 3.13 Sri Lanka Energy Forum

3.3 Transport sector

Road transport

The transport sector in Sri Lanka is heavily dependent on an extensive network of good quality roads. The current demand for passenger travel is around 80 billion passenger-kilometres (km) per year, of which road transport accounts for 93%. Of this, buses carry 61% of passengers, while para-transit, in the form of three-wheelers and taxis, makes up for another 6%, private vehicles carry around 24%, and trucks about 3%. For freight traffic, in terms of ton-km, about 97% is conveyed by road.31 The remaining passenger and freight traffic is carried by railways and waterways. Although road density and the proportion of roads that are paved are higher in Sri Lanka than in many developing countries, road conditions are inadequate and cannot handle effectively rapidly growing freight and passenger traffic. More than 50% of the national roads have poor or very poor surface conditions, and many are seriously congested. The total vehicle

31 The Asian Development Bank’s Support for the Transport Sector in Sri Lanka – Sector Assistance Program Evaluation April 2012, Reference Number: SAP: SRI 2012-06, Independent Evaluation: SE-26

“Unless we have a sizable market for alternate energy in Sri Lanka, we do not anticipate much TVET involvement.

The mini and micro hydro power sector is mainly managed by private sector with little room for expansion since the market is saturated. Micro-hydro schemes are manufactured locally and maintenance is mainly done by communities. Major repairs are done by local manufacturers. Members of local communities have also been trained to manufacture units, and suppliers have been trained to install the plants.

An increase in biomass capacity to over 50kW will increase the demand for TVET. in, for example , gassifiers. However, bio-mass tariff issues need to be sorted out before that occurs. While farmers may be ready to supply biomass in a stable market, the power industry still has not invested on a large scale in biomass plants.

The Energy Forum is proposing to set-up small 20MW plants providing a win/win situation for both industries and farmers. If many small biomass plants are established there would be a training requirement by the TVET sector; however training needs to understand the mindset of communities. The Sri Lankan farmers’ mind-set is to produce on their own lands; even if the investors obtain land which means it could be difficult to recruit trained labour”.

Source: Senior staff member Sri Lanka Energy Forum


population reached 5.2 million in 2013 from 2.5 million in 2005. Over 300,000 new vehicles are registered every year.32

Urban transport

Sri Lanka has high urban population densities. Bus transport continues to be the backbone of the urban transport system, with over 5,000 routes. Around 18,000 permits are issued for private bus operations, supplemented by a fleet of over 5,000 state-owned buses of the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB). Most private buses are operated by single bus owners and most long-distance routes and main commuter routes supply around-the-clock services, with urban feeder routes providing 14 to 16 hours of service. There are subsidized services provided for school children, as well as to remote rural areas and at night in suburban areas. However, the overall bus market share is decreasing due to the continuing increase in two- and three-wheelers and slow progress in modernizing public transport. There are an estimated 686,334 three-wheelers in Sri Lanka, accounting for around 15% of the active motor vehicle fleet, and 6% of the passenger-km. They have become a popular mode of transport due to their ready availability, provision of door-to-door service, ease in contacting, and perception of being affordable.

An estimated 220,000 vehicles enter the city of Colombo daily, carrying over 1 million passengers, with 68% arriving by bus, 5% by rail, and another 26% using various modes of private transport. The ever increasing problem of urban transport in Colombo and its suburbs is a serious threat to the sustainability of urban development.

Railways

The railway network consists of 1,447 km of rail track, 172 major stations and 161 minor stations. The limited railway network and low quality of the services provided make it an unattractive mode of transportation for both passengers and freight movement. Annually, 7 to 8% of train services are cancelled and only 30% arrive on time. The railway has lost its market share to road transport over the last several decades and needs to compete effectively to regain a place in both passenger and freight markets. With road traffic congestion imposing restrictions on urban travel, the railway subsector requires more market-oriented approaches, including a strategy to (i) develop urban passenger traffic by improving access to the airport and multimodal passenger terminals, inclusive of park-and-ride facilities; (ii) improve carriage of containers to and from the port to multimodal logistics centres; and (iii) compete with the improving road transport system, including challenges that will be posed by the new expressway system. The National Land Transport Policy envisages making rail transport an attractive and efficient mode of public transport by improving the utilization of existing resources and the infusion of new and modern equipment and fixed infrastructure. It also seeks to enhance its commercial orientation as well as to develop the use of information and communication technology and rolling stock technology and also to expand the railway network. Restoration of track in the north and east is currently being given priority, while a proposal for electrification of the suburban railway network in Colombo is under discussion.

32 Ministry of Transport, Sri Lanka http://www.transport.gov.lk/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=255&Itemid =167&lang=en


Shipping

Shipping plays a vital role in Sri Lanka which has three deep seaports at Colombo, Trincomalee, and Galle. Only the Port of Colombo has attained commercial significance. After economic liberalization and a port expansion program, as well as the onset of containerization and the trans-shipment of cargo, port traffic grew at an average rate of 6.5% per year, reaching a level equivalent to 4 million containers of twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) in 2010. About two-thirds of the port’s trans-shipment cargo is to and from India. Colombo Port has almost reached peak annual traffic capacity of approximately 4.1 million TEU. The traffic is expected to grow by at least 9.5% per year; this will pose difficulties until a planned new South Port is completed.

According to the ADB-EdUHK interviews, eco-efficient infrastructure, energy efficiency and waste management/disposal are important aspects of sustainable freight management at the ports. Fuel consumption, solid and liquid waste management and disposal pose particular problems such as containing spills, incineration of waste, the containment of antifouling paints and biological invasion through ballast water. Supply chains are particularly important, as a well-operating supply chain can reduce costs. In the future, fuel costs will have an even greater impact on the transportation of goods, meaning that freight companies will need to review their business models. Becoming green will become of increasing importance to provide a competitive advantage.

Box 3.14 Colombo Dockyards

Air transport

The Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) and Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (Inaugurated in March 2013 with a capacity to handle one million passengers and 40,000 tonnes of cargo per annum), are the only two international airports in Sri Lanka. BIA

Colombo Dockyards has a nationally registered training organisation to undertake in-house training of new and existing workers. They focus on training crane operators, forklift drivers, scaffolders, riggers, welders and ship yard painters. Along with these technical competencies there is training in other priority skills areas such as waste reduction and management, occupational health and safety, promoting team work, and quality assurance. Colombo Dockyards has introduced an extensive Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) programme which allows senior staff to participate alongside newer workers. This helps to reduce resistance from senior workers who perceive new workers to be getting special treatment. Trainees learn skills in waste collection, waste reduction, energy conservation and water conservation along with their technical skills. As an example of industry and public partnership, the government agency NAITA sends apprenticeships and welding students to the dockyards training workshop to learn industrial structural welding because it is one of the few places in Sri Lanka where this can be done. This is a good example of private and public organisations working together to develop skills. Partnership skills are one skill set the company believes to be particularly important for the company.



handles around 35,000 flights a year. In 2012, BIA handled 48,416 aircraft (46,484 scheduled aircraft, 1932 non-scheduled aircraft) recording an increase of 11% compared to the previous year. The Airport was used by 7,079,920 passengers during 2012 (3,565,272 departing, 3,514,648 arriving, 1,296,495 transit), an increase of 15% compared to 2011. Total cargo handled during the period was 186,618 Metric Tonnes (116,207 MT of export cargo and 70,411 MT of import cargo) indicating an increase of 11% compared to the previous year. A development plan for domestic airports is currently under preparation by the Government. Five regional domestic airports will be restructured at a total cost of approx. Rs.2 billion (US$ 15M): Rathmalana, Ampara, Koggala, Trincomalee and Jaffna. Rathmalana will be developed as a “city airport”.

Box 3.15 Sri Lankan Airlines

Worldwide the airline industry has taken a very proactive approach in reducing emissions through a combination of increased efficiency and design innovations. Emissions have been globally cut by more than 13% since 2000. Fuel cost is the main concern for airlines around the world. The development of high level skills and the technology to support the reduction in fuel usage is a highly specialized area currently falling outside the TVET sector. However, in the ADB-EdUHK interviews, waste disposal and energy efficiency management were reported to be important aspects of the work performed by ground staff and cabin crew.

Even during the ADB-EdUHK survey, half of the transport sector companies surveyed reported that they are seeking to conserve water, or saving resources during delivery and transport, though none of the companies reported to be making energy efficient buildings (Figure 3.34). It would be important to study the disaggregated data for road, railways, airline and shipping to understand which sectors need most attention, as it is unlikely that airlines or shipping would not be adopting green practices.

Sri Lankan Airlines provides green skills training to workers at a high skills level in fuel efficiency and at a lower level in waste management and disposal for ground staff and cabin crew. They have a Go Green Team headed by the HR Manager, the Environment Manager, Energy Manager and Fuel Manager. This team looks at the most effective ways for people to work to identify improvements from a sustainability perspective.

Raising environmental awareness is a large part of the company’s strategy for encouraging people to think about how to reduce adverse environmental impact. A new message goes out every day via email and on their internal home page. Reducing fuel usage is a mandatory requirement and so there is a large effort in this regard. The company is identifying 60 ‘environmental champions’ to look after each of their units. The company is also investing in auditing and assessment skills for environmental impact assessments. Green procurement is another important area, particularly in relation to being aware of the recycling potential of purchased goods and the weight of items purchased for fuel efficiency purposes.



Figure 3.34 Resource saving measures introduced in the transport sector

Owing to the nature of the transport sector, the participation of women, and disadvantaged youth in the sector has been minimal. The informal nature of the industry also complicates the policy environment with regard to encouraging participation from disadvantaged groups. Less than 20% of respondents from the transport sector in the ADB-EdUHK survey agreed to have specific policies related to disadvantaged employees. Just over 20% of respondents to the survey agreed to have sustainability policies, while Health and safety standards are complied with by nearly 80% of the transport sector companies surveyed (Figure 3.35).

Figure 3.35 Policies related to the disadvantaged, health & safety and sustainability in the transport sector

Further, only one-third of transport sector companies agreed that they had brought about changes related to work systems to promote the greening of their business and fewer numbers had made changes in job roles, processes or value chain requirements (Figure 3.36). Changes in work systems primarily centre around the challenges of fuel efficiency; including the deployment of new technology to improve fuel efficiency, pollution control and the provision of alternative fuel options. This suggests an immediate unrealized demand for higher level research skills in alternative fuel technology, with a follow on requirement for technical installation and maintenance skills. These job changes are related to changes such as the

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Conserving water





Yes

No/ Don't Know

17%

75%

25%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%





introduction of liquid waste recycling, the removal of solid waste, and the separation and recycling of parts and components.

Figure 3.36 Key changes related to the greening of businesses in the transport sector

Even though large, small and medium companies source workers from a range of TVET institutes including the Ceylon German Technical Training Institute, higher diploma awarding institutions, the Automobile Engineering Training School, universities, NIBM and Technical Colleges, none of the companies agreed that TVET institutions are providing for industry requirements. One-fourth of respondents do not believe that TVET institutions are providing for industry requirements, while 75% did not respond or didn’t know about the importance of the TVET institutions (Figure 3.37).

Respondents believe that the TVET sector has not been able to adequately produce many of the required technologists and that the technical knowledge of higher diploma holders from TVET and Higher Education institutes was not satisfactory.

Box 3.16 Ceylon German Technical Training Institute

25%

17%

33%

8%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%





Many students are from the local regions. Students are paid Rs.1000 (US$7.7) per month by the Ministry of Transport which includes health and occupational safety benefits, subsidized meals, free transport within a 30-40 km radius, and other learning facilities.

Source: Chief Training Engineer, Ceylon-German Technical Training Institute, Ratmalana


Figure 3.37 TVET institutions providing for the energy industry requirements

Those surveyed in the transport sector consistently identified as important the need for solid and liquid waste management and disposal, particularly relating to spillages. They indicated that employees need top up skills in energy efficiency, waste management and concerning the disposal of liquid waste. Mechanics require top up skills in order to maintain green transport fleets and drivers require additional skills and knowledge for the safe transportation of hazardous waste. Waste disposal and the management of energy efficiency in the airline industry were reported to be important aspects of the work performed by ground staff and cabin crew. Large scale companies require medium level skills for health safety and environment officers and managers. Those interviewed within the airline industry reported that the development of high level skills, and technology to support a reduction in fuel usage, is a highly specialized area currently falling outside the TVET sector which needs to be accommodated.

The transport sector as a whole identified a shortage of environment managers, energy managers, managers for aviation fuel and supervisors of aviation fuel management and flight operations, as being of importance. Understanding the safe usage of chemicals to comply with REACH standards (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) was another area identified as important by the transport sector.

Table 3.7 Green skills gaps in the transport sector






Auto engineer greener transportation

Planning and scheduling energy efficient and clean emission fleet of vehicles including trip scheduling; routine maintenance of the fleet; recycling and safe disposal of hazardous and

Automobile Mechanic (NVQ level 2, 3 and 4) Technician - Automobile Technology (NVQ level 5)

Current industry demand is for an engineer level with a higher occupational profile - whereas TVET

Introduce auto engineering degree level (NVQ level-7) to be developed to address required green competencies; provide pathways for those who have NVQ level 5 and 6 to obtain NVQ level-7

0%

25%

75%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Yes

No



all industry related waste; to minimize costs.

supplies mechanics at low occupational profile levels

Auto service technician

Air filter cleaning; Micro - Vacuum cleaning; Change oil and service vehicle waste material disposal as per environmental regulations and industry standards

Vehicle Serviceman and Interior Cleaner (NVQ level 3 and 4)

Current industry demand is for a technician level with a higher occupational profile - whereas TVET supplies craftsmen and operators at low occupational profile levels

Introduce Assistant Engineer qualifications (e.g.: NDT, HNDE, NDES) with suitable green components in the curricula to address green skills; provide pathways for those who have NVQ level 3-4 to obtain NVQ level 5-6

Engine tuner Testing and tuning engines to meet emission standards; Measuring exhaust air quality with use of equipment to monitor emissions


Current industry demand is for a technician level with a higher occupational profile - whereas TVET supplies craftsmen and operators at low occupational profile levels

Introduce Assistant Engineer qualifications (e.g.: NDT, HNDE, NDES) with suitable green components in the curricula to address green skills; provide pathways for those who have NVQ level 3-4 to obtain NVQ level 5-6

Auto technician - silencer upgrading

Upgrading of Silencers; Measuring exhaust air quality with use of equipment to monitor emissions; skills for upgrading of Silencers (e.g.


Current industry demand is for a technician level with a higher occupational profile - whereas TVET

Introduce Assistant Engineer qualifications (e.g.: NDT, HNDE, NDES) with suitable green components in the curricula to address green skills; provide pathways for those who have NVQ level 3-4 to obtain NVQ level-5 and 6


welding, tinkering, etc.)

supplies craftsmen at low occupational profile levels

Health and safety executives (HSE)

Ensuring health and safety requirements in the organisation; Ensure workplace safety; comply with EHS statutory requirements and industry standards; conduct regular safety training, briefing, etc.; implement risk assessment and controls on site activities;


Introduce a degree at NVQ lLvel-7 incorporating competencies with health and safety components

Engineer - energy management

Managing renewable and non-renewable and energy options efficiently; Utilization of clean and green energy options; performing energy audits; ensure energy efficiency; energy pricing and selection of greening options; meeting industry standards and state regulations;


Introduce a Basic degree course in engineering at NVQ level-7 incorporating competencies for managing energy efficient services. Post-graduate level learning should also be encouraged.


3.4 Hospitality and tourism sector

The hospitality and tourism sector in Sri Lanka comprises three sub-sectors: restaurants, hotels and travel. The first includes more than 1,000 restaurants with island wide coverage. The hotel sub-sector comprises about 256 registered tourist hotels, 679 guest houses, 181 home stay/Bed and Breakfast units 50 Boutique hotels and villas, and 67 heritage homes. The third area of travel comprises several types of service providers including travel agents, ticketing agents and


transport providers. Approximately 70% of the tourism and hospitality sector are SMEs33 and about half of these small and medium enterprises are not graded.

Sri Lanka saw tourist arrivals reach one million in 2012, which was beyond the set target of 950,000 arrivals. This was a 17% growth over 2011 and earnings for 2012 were over one billion (US$), an increase of 16% compared to 2011. The Sri Lankan Government has identified the tourism sector as a key post-conflict growth area with an ambitious target of attracting 2.5 million visitors by 2016 (Board of Investment, 2013). It is estimated that 2.5 million tourist arrivals will require 45,000 hotel rooms. However, according to 2010 statistics, the country has only 22,735 SLTDA approved hotel rooms, which is a massive shortfall compared to requirements. According to the Sri Lanka Tourism Sector Summary by Capital Alliance about 9,000 direct employees may be needed per annum for the hotel sector vs. the current 1,500 yearly output of industry graduates which is a great mismatch between supply and demand.34

In order to support the expansion needs of the tourism and hospitality sector, the Government has put in place several important policy measures these being: the restoration of a simple tax regime; simplification of licensing procedures; a reduction of high electricity tariffs; unification of the regulatory environment and creating a single authority for tourism promotion; creating opportunities to promote shopping for internationally reputed branded products and entertainment; simplification of the investment approval process by setting up a “one stop shop” for tourism related investments; streamlining the process of allocating government land for tourism development projects; attracting internationally reputed tourist hotels; and, nurturing an environmentally friendly clean-city concept for urban development.

The rapid expansion of the hospitality sector, related policies and changing customer demands has had an impact on the greening of business in this sector. Almost 60% of firms have experienced a change in work systems and 50% agree that they have brought in changes in job roles (Figure 3.38). Forty percent believe there have been changes in business processes and procedures, but that the change in value chain requirements has been low. Some of the triggers for these changes are the practices regarding conserving water, wastewater disposal and conserving resources during delivery and transport.

33 Small and Medium Enterprises 34 Sri Lanka Tourism Sector Summary Overview -2011-2020

http://www.capitalalliance.lk/weekly/other/SLtourismsectoroverview2011-2020.pdf


Figure 3.38 Key changes related to the greening of businesses in the hospitality & tourism sector

Fifty percent of respondents agreed that they are using water conserving methods and conserving resources during delivery and transport. About 30% of respondents have been using improved methods to conserve different forms of energy while 20% indicated that they are making their buildings energy efficient and engage in waste water disposal (Figure 3.39).

Figure 3.39 Resource saving measures introduced in the hospitality & tourism sector

The changing practices and expanding nature of the sector is having an impact on the skills requirements needed for the sector and the dependence on the formal training system is high. Large firms in the sector source their workers from a range of institutions including universities, the Nurses Training School, technical colleges, overseas colleges, higher diploma awarding institutes, vocational training institutes and the Ceylon German Technical Training Institute. SMEs recruit mostly from apprenticeship training institutes and NAITA. They also recruit from CGTTI.

Most employers in the hospitality sector (based on information from both the interviews and the survey) were concerned about the poor attitude of TVET graduates. Only 20% of respondents agreed that TVET institutions are meeting industry requirements in terms of standards (Figure 3.40). Nearly 50% of respondents were not sure or did not respond to

50%

40%

60%

20%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%





0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Conserving water





Yes

No/ Don't Know


commenting on this matter. During the interviews, respondents pointed out that graduates from TVET institutions lack customer service skills and positive attitudes towards work and the environment. Respondents surveyed from large business firms identified the poor quality of work performed by TVET graduates as being important and recommended a greater emphasis on soft-skills and personality development. They also believed that TVET graduates are best suited more for operational level employment and do not have the required skills and competencies for management level roles. Micro hospitality companies suggested that foreign language competencies are an important skills areas along with communication and marketing skills. The industry also believes that the present training capacity is insufficient to meet the demands of industry.

Figure 3.40 TVET institutions providing for industry requirements in the hospitality & tourism sector

Box 3.17 Hospitality industry

In order to build capacities in the sector, during the interviews companies discussed training local villagers who are located next to their hotels to grow produce organically and to grow non-traditional vegetables, such as lettuce. They also discussed, for example, training fishermen to clean fish in ways that keep them presentable for European dishes since these fish will fetch a higher income for the local fishermen concerned. The companies interviewed have

20%

30%

50%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Yes

No


Aitken Spence trains new workers at their hotel school and provides them with extensive on-the-job training. High performing employees are also offered cross-exposure opportunities overseas. Training and development is a priority for Aitken Spence and during 2011 - 2012, management staff received an average of 9 hours training per person while operational staff underwent an average of 65 hours of training. They also provide training on National Park ethics for local communities. The company gives priority to educating employees on environmental awareness raising, the efficient use of fuel and lubricants for maintenance operations, and the proper disposal of toxic waste and appropriate waste management procedures.



been training local villagers as guides and naturalists to take guests on tours of the local area and to inform them of local flora and fauna.

The participation of women in the hospitality sector workforce is relatively high compared to the construction, energy and transport sectors. According to the ADB-EdUHK survey, the participation of women in small, medium and large enterprises ranges from 19% to 33%35 of the total workforce. Twenty percent of firms said they have a policy on sustainability. However, looking at the corresponding policies which have an impact on women, the responses are not so encouraging. For example, although all survey respondents agreed to comply with health and safety standards, only 20% indicated they have policies on assisting disadvantaged employees (Figure 3.41). Owing to the large number of women involved (33% in large enterprises), a concerted effort is required to encourage policies and practices to engage women in green jobs and subsequently equip them with green skills.

Figure 3.41 Policies related to the disadvantaged, health and safety, and sustainability in the hospitality and tourism sector

Large hotels require specific policies and practices to address sustainability and compliance, and this requires a knowledge of energy saving methods to reduce the firm’s carbon footprint, and skills to implement and/or maintain ISO certifications. In rural areas, these hotels need skills to work closely and effectively with local communities to develop the means for promoting and sustaining local livelihoods. They also require green procurement skills, and cultural and environmental protection knowledge. Middle level skills in hotels include green facilities management for overseeing various systems such as grey water, water quality and reuse systems, waste segregation and management, ventilation and cooling systems and renewable energy systems. Amongst the lower level skills, in the case of, instance, hotel gardeners, they require top up skills for waste recycling and reuse, skills to maintain rainwater harvesting systems along with maintaining recycling and waste-water treatment facilities. In addition, maintenance staff need top-up skills in their existing job roles such as skills for engineering staff in the maintenance of new air conditioning systems, waste management and

35 Social Inclusion Measures in Vocational Education and Training in Green Jobs – paper 1 of National Consultant 3 in the ADB TA 7879: Education and Skills for Inclusive Growth and Green Jobs project

20%

100%

20%

0% 50% 100%





waste separation. Housekeeping and food and beverage workers require knowledge of energy and resource efficiency to minimize waste.

In the case of the micro sector, findings from the surveys show that senior management (usually the business owner) is generally not aware of sustainability issues and so awareness training is required as a key first step in this sector. During the interviews new types of occupations mentioned were eco-tourism guides and naturalists from local communities, who have an understanding of, and interest in, protecting the local environment.

Box 3.18 Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (SLITHM)

“The Sri Lanka Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (SLITHM) offers a 3-year qualification which is regarded as being higher than the TVEC benchmark of NVQ Level 4. Their certificate is internationally recognised. Nearly 85% of the formal hospitality workforce in Sri Lanka are graduates from SLITHM. Other training schools provide qualifications only up to NVQ Level 1 and Level 2.

Even though this is a high growth industry, since SLITHM is a government organisation under the Ministry of Economic Development, the salary levels paid are too low to attract good personnel and so a, main issue is how to retain resource personnel. Public Private Partnerships (PPP) in providing training is an option being explored and partnerships have been initiated with Sri Lankan Airlines and Sri Lanka Tourism (SLT).”

Source: Senior staff member Sri Lanka Hotel School SLITHM


Table 3.8 Green skills gaps in the hospitality & tourism sector


Occupational Profile and Skills Needs in the Industry Sector




Engineers in charge of resorts / Specialist in Sustainability

Technical knowledge on greening processes and Environmental Services; rainwater harvesting; waste-water treatment; recycling and safe handling of waste; safe transportation of hazardous waste;


Introduce degree course in engineering at NVQ level-7 incorporating competencies on greening processes and Environmental Services

Wastewater plant operator

Waste water treatment; rainwater harvesting and water treatment; knowledge on state environment regulations and industry standards; general environmental management competencies;


Introduce a higher diploma at NVQ levels 5-6 to be developed to address required competencies for waste water treatment and management.

Gardener Technical knowledge on greening processes; composting; watering; drainage; green garden landscaping and maintenance; application of biodiversity concepts; knowledge on fauna and flora;

Landscape Technician (NVQ level 3 and 4)

Current industry demand is for a supervisor level with a higher occupational profile - whereas TVET supplies technicians at low occupational profile levels

Introduce a higher diploma at NVQ levels 5-6 to be developed to address required competencies for green garden maintenance.

Solid waste management officer

Solid waste management and recycling; Sorting and safe disposal

TVET - Nil No existing TVET supply for the job

Introduce a higher diploma at NVQ levels 5-6 to be developed to address



3.5 Textiles and apparel sector

The textile and apparel sector plays an important role in Sri Lanka’s economy, both in terms of employment creation and export earnings. This sector comprises small, medium and large scale establishments and accounts for nearly 52% of total exports. The textile sector provides about 33% of employment in manufacturing; while the garments sub-sector accounts for a bigger share of employment at 88% and a value addition share of 80% with nearly 40% of exports going to the USA and 23% of exports to the UK18. The main challenges for the apparel industry are: to achieve quality, timely delivery and the matching of international standards; to meet high international competition in the global market; and, to remain as a viable industry with growth and profitability. About 65% of employees in the textiles and garments industry are skilled workers who will continue to be a key factor in industry competitiveness, as the industry maintains a competitive advantage by providing value added manufacturing. It has become a major source of employment, particularly for women in rural areas who do not need to migrate away from their local community in search of paid employment.

As the single largest employer in the manufacturing sector that provides decent employment, the apparel industry has been positioned as a socially responsible and preferred destination for apparel sourcing. Sri Lanka is also the only outsourced apparel manufacturing country in Asia having which has ratified 31 of the ILO conventions, including 8 core conventions. It stands out as a reliable sector that pays fair wages to its workers while discouraging sweat shops and child labour in its businesses. Environmental issues are also given precedence. Data show that women are employed in managerial, professional, technicians and associate professionals, clerical, crafts related and as plant and machinery operators and assemblers. Their employment prospects are best in the large and SME sectors.

of hazards and other waste; coordinating safe transportation of hazardous waste; composting food and other organic waste;

profile; a total skills gap exists at present.

required competencies for solid waste management and recycling.

Solid waste management officer

Solid waste management and recycling; Sorting and safe disposal of hazards and other waste; coordinating safe transportation of hazardous waste; composting food and other organic waste matter;


Introduce a higher diploma at NVQ levels 5-6 to be developed to address required green competencies for solid waste management and recycling.


Even with the demands of high international standards, it is surprising that less than 40% of respondents in the ADB-EdUHK survey agreed that they were complying with health and safety standards or that they have a sustainability policy. Only 13% of respondents agreed to have a policy on disadvantaged employees which is surprising considering that many large companies in the apparel industry have signed up to CSR mandates (Figure 3.42). A deeper investigation may be needed to assess the reasons for such responses from apparel industry respondents.

Figure 3.42 Policies related to the disadvantaged, health and safety, and sustainability, in the apparel sector

A number of Sri Lanka’s apparel companies provide good practice examples of sustainability and provide a range of CSR activities linked to their business goals. In this regard, energy and resource efficiency, along with recycling, are major considerations. Traditional job roles involving assembly work are also seeing a transition to LEAN production processes. The implementation of green measures in the apparel enterprises reflect the LEED indicators for certification of green buildings, particularly water and energy conservation.

These are reflected in industry responses to resource saving measures, where 88% of industry respondents agreed to be conserving water and 88% agreed to be making their building energy efficient. However only 38% of industry respondents agreed to be using waste water disposal methods, and a lesser number (13%) were engaged in measures during the delivery and transportation of apparel goods (Figure 3.43). While the use of efficient buildings seems to be arising out of upstream supply chain requirements, capacity building needs are needed in managing resource efficient logistics.

13%

38%

38%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%





Figure 3.43 Resource saving measures introduced in the apparel sector

Nearly 50% of apparel industry respondents agreed that they are experiencing changes in work systems due to a greening of their businesses (Figure 3.44). While 38% of respondents agreed to be experiencing changes in processes, only 25% are experiencing changes in job-roles in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes. Some of these changes may be triggered due to the ‘Garments without Guilt’ initiative launched by the Sri Lanka’s apparel sector as an initiative that focuses on ethical manufacture and sustainable development. This initiative assures customers of the industry's commitment to ethical working conditions, free of child labour, forced labour, discrimination and sweatshop practices and involves the following-up of international standards of recycling, effluent treatment and waste management. The initiative creates a foundation for decent, as well as green, employment, particularly for young rural women.

Figure 3.44 Key changes related to the greening of businesses in the apparel sector

As the industry expands and job roles change, the dependence of the apparel industry on TVET institutions grows greatly. While large companies recruit graduates from the Sri Lanka German Technical Training Institute, the Sri Lanka Standards Institute, the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute and the University of Sabaragamuwa, the SMEs generally recruit from technical colleges, and micro enterprises prefer to train informally through on-the-job training. The industry is also highly dependent on trained women from local villages.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Conserving water





Yes

No/ Don't Know

25%

38%

50%

25%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%






Nearly 50% of respondents from the apparel sector agreed to TVET institutions being able to meet industry requirements (Figure 3.45). This is the highest amongst all the sectors discussed in the current study and indicates the strong linkages between the apparel industry and TVET institutions. Compliance with international standards, the long history of the apparel industry in Sri Lanka and the evolution of specialised TVET courses and institutions for the sector, may have been the reason for this strong linkage. However, the dissatisfaction (or non-response) of the other 50% of respondents should not be ignored with a need to identify the areas where TVET is not able to live-up to industry standards. In the light of this situation a significant number of firms provide their own vocational training for employees.

For example, the Hirdaramani Group depends on in-house training and mentoring in the areas of energy consumption, water consumption and waste generation. They also focus on external programs such as those offered at the NIKE Apparel Innovation and Training Centre (AITC). Because of such efforts, the group has been able to build its first eco-friendly factory and has been able to reduce its carbon foot-print by nearly 48%.

Similarly, the Brandix Eco Centre provides on the job training to all employees in clean technology, waste management and environmental preservation, ongoing environmental awareness raising, waste water management, solid waste disposal through re-use or recycling.

Figure 3.45 TVET institutions providing for apparel industry requirements

Green skills demand in apparel is tied closely to whether buyers and consumers are aware of sustainable garment choices. Changes in skills profiles at the higher levels include skills to monitor, maintain and evaluate workplace processes for sustainability. Additional knowledge is needed to monitor environmental performance against clear benchmark indicators and about how to work most effectively to achieve sustainability targets. Large businesses have identified new roles for managers in environmental management and compliance, and in relation to reducing the carbon footprint through use of technology and by undertaking environmental assessments.

50%

25%

25%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Yes

No



Table 3.9 Green skills gaps in the apparel sector






Sustainability Officers (Ref: EA-4b)

Coordinating compliance with state regulations; interpreting and managing industry standards; design and management of environmental systems and processes; coordinating CSR programmes;


Introduce a Basic degree course at NVQ level-7 incorporating competencies for managing sustainability processes and systems

Factory Environmental Engineers (Ref: EA-4b)

Controlling environmental processes related to production of waste material and hazardous/toxic waste disposal; managing general municipal waste; water purification, water treatment and recycling; coordinating environmental compliance; energy efficiency management;


Introduce a Basic degree course in engineering at NVQ level-7 incorporating competencies for managing environmental processes and systems

Managers for Energy Efficient Services (Ref: EA-4b)

Assessing current energy usage and efficiency, and planning energy efficiency and alternate usage strategies; knowledge pertaining to electro-mechanical aspects of devices/appliances/ etc.; technical aspects related to energy auditing;

TVET – nil


Introduce a Basic degree course in engineering and physical sciences at NVQ level-7 incorporating competencies for managing energy efficient services



Box 3.19 The apparel industry

Box 3.20 Links with industry

3.6 In summary

The interview and survey data suggest the wide applicability of generic green skills. The development of a set of generic green competency standards would assist in mainstreaming sustainable work practices in Sri Lanka. Examples of such generic green skills could concern the ability to:

• apply environmental awareness in workplace and community settings;

• collaborate and engage with multiple stakeholders on green initiatives;

• implement energy efficient solutions in workplace and community settings;

“We mainly try to recruit from the community and most do not have any training prior to employment. We provide in-plant training.

Even parents of potential recruits are invited to see the working environment and facilities provided. Once recruited, employees are trained before transferring to the production floor. They need to be accustomed to the work culture. During the training period, the quality of workmanship is checked, while strengths and weaknesses are assessed.

TVET trained individuals are also hired to take care of factory tasks. Existing staff who want to change jobs are encouraged to do so, based on their abilities gained through work-based learning.”

Source: Senior staff member CKT Apparels Mihila Factory, Yatiyana

As an institution, Sri Lanka Institute of Textile and Apparel (SLITA) has a close working partnership with industry. Around 270 exporters representing the overwhelming majority of Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters are involved. SLITA has the unique advantage of having a large individual interface for arranging internships for Sri Lankan and foreign students. Special relationships that exist between the Institute and the Human Resource Development Committee of the Joint Apparel Association Forum, have created invaluable opportunities for capacity building and knowledge sharing, for the institutional staff to upgrade their competency levels in the respective disciplines of Textile and Apparel Technology and Management. Many courses have been designed in collaboration and consultation with employers and professional bodies to meet their needs in standards, skills and training. They are involved in ensuring that the courses are relevant, up to date and that they reflect the changing needs over time of the Textile and Apparel Industry.



• apply energy efficient solutions in workplace processes;

• implement water efficient solutions in workplace and community settings;

• apply water efficient solutions in workplace processes;

• implement waste reduction approaches in workplace and community settings;

• apply waste reduction approaches in workplace processes;

• implement and maintain recycling solutions in workplace and community settings;

• apply recycling solutions in workplace activities;

• implement and use green waste disposal approaches in workplace and community settings;

• apply green waste disposal approaches in workplace processes;

• undertake green assessment of individual work and community practices;

• apply green auditing to work practices;

• apply understanding of environmental standards and legislation;

• use green procurement in workplace and community settings; and

• apply green procurement to organisational requirements.

The recently published report by the Employers Federation of Ceylon (2012) concludes that to implement ideas of green jobs effectively “employees of enterprises and industries must be trained at every level of their hierarchy” on the triple bottom line approach (p.99). Many companies “showed a reluctance to adopt new green technology as they were not fully informed of its positive impact on the enterprise and therefore training at the technical level is of great importance” (p.99). The report states that not a single training course has been developed at any level, although there is a need for such courses for top management, the middle level and lower levels of employees. This report is based on 50 responses, mainly from private sector companies (46 participants).

The report acknowledged the important role of TVEC as the “ideal body to develop training modules for all levels on the subject of green jobs and particularly pitching at lower levels with more decent work oriented course” (p.100).


Box 3.21 Notes from the front


4 Recommendations and the way forward

There is a strong policy commitment towards green growth in Sri Lanka. Most visibly this is apparent through the Mahinda Chintana Vision Document 2010 of the Government of Sri Lanka. The vision document also subsumes and converges various initiatives such as NSSD for the eradication of poverty, ensuring competitiveness of the economy, improving social development, ensuring good governance, and a clean and healthy environment, or the 2008-2012 Action plan on “Caring for the Environment - Path to Sustainable Development”, and

Laws and regulations are important for greening, those concerning vehicle emission testing being an example. Laws regarding waste should be introduced and supported by the availability of waste management technologies

National Competency standards as well as DTET objectives and syllabuses should include green skills

The National Curriculum should include important green issues, for example, brake disposal (NVTI).When it is introduced, training should be “cascaded” (When the NC was introduced around 6 years ago 30 people from NVTI were centrally trained for 5 days, but this training was not “cascaded”).

Introduction of training in specific green processes could start from the introduction of new equipment and staff training to ‘develop a culture’ of greening. Industry should be more advanced, so industry sites could be used for training (NVTI). As of now “Industry is focusing on work, not on green jobs”

Need to identify courses and requirements at all NVQ levels 1-7

Environmental protection could be included in Practice Occupational Health, Safety unit in the basic competencies of the NVQ packages (soft skills)


HLP which aims to mainstream the environment into the national development planning process.

In order to achieve appropriate policy directions and the corresponding economic and industrial growth in the country there is an urgent need to develop a competent workforce with adequate skills in terms of generic skills, technical skills and green skills. While at one level there may be policy challenges, such as the integration of economic, industrial, environment and skills development policies, at another level there may be institutional bottlenecks to balance multiple efforts, ranging from compliance related matters, to ensuring productivity, to saving costs, to managing innovations, to being competitive and developing human capital. Apart from these matters there are also the important issues of quality, equity, governance, and capacity and capability, both human and financial, which need strategic directions to be able to achieve the objective of green growth.

One of the strongest messages emerging from this study is that there is a need to revisit the archetypal approaches to address issues within education, training and to align these with sustainable growth. For example, strict regulation does not necessarily result in compliance, and the scope of green jobs may be limited but the scope of green skills in all jobs is unlimited. Ensuring a transition towards green growth with adequately trained human capital is easier said than done.

4.1 Achieving a policy paradigm shift towards green skills

While the Mahinda Chintana Vision and its associated policies provide a solid platform to build and then fine tune policies related to green jobs and green skills, the journey from advocacy for policy coordination to action, in policy coordination towards green skills, entails a number of important steps:

• a consensus being built between political, social and industrial leadership on the alignment between economic, industrial, environment, education and skills development policies. TVET ecosystem can be significantly improved towards greening through a targeted effort across different ministries (MYASD, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Environment) and different levels of education and skills training, to ensure that green skills are included in the curriculum and in the other practices of TVET providers;

• bringing in international expertise and good practices in order to learn the best ways and methods of policy rationalization; and

• the capacity development of institutions and individuals concerning processes and tools to sustain the policy paradigm. The areas of capacity enhancement required would involve preparing feasible action plans based on renewed policies and an understanding of available resources to execute the plan. Capacity in cost-benefit assessment, managing information systems, planning and budgeting, monitoring and evaluation may be of most immediate need and importance.


Table 3.10 Framework for policy planning for green growth, green jobs and green skills

Policy consensus

Industry alignment

TVET planning

Green Growth Converging economic, climate, industrial and TVET policies

Promoting ‘green’ sectors, ‘green’ products

Transitioning from traditional courses to futuristic programs for ‘green’ growth

Green Jobs Investment and incentives for promoting sustainable and decent jobs

Adopting ‘green’ practices; discouraging climate damaging activities and processes in the supply/ value chain

Contributing through research and innovation to change in industry practices or job roles to become ‘green’

Green Skills Recognition, monetary incentives and facilitating national and international employment for specialised ‘green’ skills

Recognition through higher pay and career progression for specialised ‘green’ skills

Dovetail ‘green’ skills in all TVET courses and programs; develop generic ‘green’ skills in all TVET programs


4.2 Achieving the institutional mind-space for green skills

Green skills for sustainability is a relatively low priority item for most business operations, unless the customer base demands sustainable practices or national/international regulations enforce such practices. This is partly because the burden of existing issues often overshadows the importance of emerging issues. The urgency to deliver targets or exhaust budgets often makes institutions neglect issues that may have a long term impact, and in this regard they may go past a point of no return. In this situation it is unrealistic to expect industry to prioritise green skills or create green jobs.

Even though individuals working in institutions may be aware of or be sensitive to emerging issues, these may not be absorbed into the institutional agenda and culture. A key reason is that most Institutions (both government and private) are largely inelastic.

Most government institutions, or small and medium enterprises (SME), are more responsive to complying with policy directions and regulatory provisions than in developing priorities for themselves. While government institutions cannot move out of the framework of their constitution, the elaborate small and medium enterprise network is mostly confined by the need to return a profit and may superficially agree with the green growth agenda, but find it difficult to accommodate this in a highly competitive market where profit margins are thin and where the greening of their product, operations and workforce may add to their costs, thus squeezing their profitability.


Therefore, as is the case with health and safety or access and equity, ‘green skills’ need to be understood as a social issue with a great potential for community impact. It is therefore important for countries such as Sri Lanka to develop strategies along the same lines as they have for health and safety.

Large private corporations have the capacity to influence both policy as well as small and medium enterprises, many of which are part of their supply chains. In addition, the large number of international multilateral agencies can also play a coordinated role to achieve maximum impact.

Some of the key strategic initiatives in this direction are:

• Leveraging large private corporations such as the Holcim Group, Aitken Spence, Haleys, and Sri Lanka Telecom, or public sector corporations such as Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, and Sri Lanka Ports Authority, to initiate the green skills objective. While initiatives like LEED certification in the hospitality sector is a good starting point, similar standards and initiatives can also be influenced by large corporations. In addition to the standards, the large corporations can demonstrate workplace training methods to operate modern equipment and also build capacities in soft skills such as with regard to effective communication, negotiation skills, and teamwork.

• Supporting and funding models of innovation in products and practice towards green and sustainable development: for example, the MAS Thurulie Apparel Manufacturing Complex, Thulhiriya, which is powered solely by carbon neutral sources, is situated on intensively plantation site, where the consumption of water is that half of traditional factories with a mechanical cooling system,

• Developing case studies of national and international replicable models. For example, case studies of Kandalama Hotel, which is considered to be one of the best examples of bio-diversity.

• Multilateral agencies can take a coordinated stand towards developing a national program directed towards green growth with different partners targeting different agencies but with one common agenda. For example, the ILO has initiated training programs for VTPs, German Federal Enterprise for International Cooperation (GiZ) is leading vocational training programs in Northern Sri Lanka, and the ADB has a Skills Sector Development Program. All such initiatives can learn from other and have a coordinated approach.

• Both industry and the training sector respond to regulations, and they also respond to incentives. Incentives can be offered by Government, multilaterals, and large corporations. Incentives can be in the form of employee training, brand development, and goodwill expansion. Tax and investment incentives for renewable energy projects, international exposure incentives for TVET faculty and trainers are critically needed to jump-start the reform process.

A supply chain training model

The interplay between sectoral influencers and green growth goals are important considerations when thinking about the implementation of green skills strategies within industry. What was


found in the sectors studies for construction, energy, tourism and hospitality, apparel and transport is different influencers having different effects.

In apparel, markets and consumer habits have an prevailing effect, while in transport, policy and regulation have a strong influence in the docks and green technology and innovation are leading changes in aviation particularly fuel usage particularly due to raising costs. Energy is also influenced by green technology and innovation and more widely by consumer incentives. Energy is a major expense for many sectors and reducing costs is an important consideration across all sectors. The hospitality and tourism are guided by consumer habits and policy and regulations related to the building of hotels in sensitive areas. Construction on the other hand is predicted to be effected by environmental changes as infrastructure needs to become more storm and natural disaster resistant.

Businesses talk about the cost of becoming green, through the investments that they make. For globally connected companies the demand from clients is there and so they invest in training and equipment. It is more difficult for domestically focused companies to rationalize the investment as the link to returns is not as apparent. Depending on whether Government decides to facilitate the transition to a green economy by supporting industry through incentives will dictate the speed at which sustainable practices are mainstreamed in the Sri Lankan economy. A particularly pressing issue as the declining trend of labour force growth rates in Sri Lanka is at odds with its Asian counterparts, which has the potential to further constraint economic development. Any green jobs strategy will need to address the existing workforce, as much as the new worker graduating from the TVET sector, if one of the aims of a green jobs strategy is to facilitate industry take up of green work practices. For sustainable workplace practices to be mainstreamed new initiatives will have to support training of existing workers as well as new workers.

Seventy two per cent of survey respondents cited that customers were a key reason to get involve in greener work practices. Additionally, 72% per cent of interviewees mentioned awards the company received for environmental practices as being important in maintaining momentum. Exploring training initiatives that span a supply chain may provide value encouragement to small enterprises who are often track into the informal sector. Identifying anchor companies to support their supply chains become green will instigate changes and ideally make the smaller companies more competitive.

The growing importance of the supply change to clients and marketing purposes is evident in the introduction of new initiatives such as the HIGGS Index. The HIGGS Index is a new standard that measures materials, manufacturing, packaging, transportation, use, and end-of-life tool to measure environmental and social practices within the value chain – this approach will become more common in other industry sectors and so assisting MSME in becoming green now will help to improve their competitive advantage. A training initiative that targets existing workers to facilitate industry take up of green work practices could be implemented across a number of different supply chains.

Resourcing the sharing of good practice in workplace training is a useful incentive for employers to become involved in training. This approach can be witnessed in a number of countries, in Australia, Singapore and the UK for example. Canada, France and South Africa require companies to develop workforce training plans with South Africa offering a tax rebate if a skills development facilitator is appointed to provide advice on training and skills development issues. Singapore’s Blueprint model of replicating good practice workplace


training is another particularly good example that could be adapted for a Sri Lankan supply chain approach to workforce development.

A broader strategic approach

Whilst the overriding acceptance of TVET being demand led is rightfully an important component of any functioning TVET sector, the Sri Lankan component of this study highlights the important role government must sometimes take in areas were industry is not substantially engaged, such as sustainability. Green skills for sustainability is an area which is beyond most company’s immediate business operations, unless their customer base demands sustainable practices or regulations enforce sustainable practice. In this situation it is unrealistic to expect industry to prioritise green skills and government must step in and take the lead in a similar manner to what has occurred in other areas with wider social importance such as, health and safety and access and equity.

Like health and safety and access and equity, green skills are a social issue with a wide community impact. Therefore it is important for countries such as Sri Lanka to develop strategies along the same lines as health and safety to ensure sustainability becomes widely practiced in the economy. Sri Lanka is in the fortunate position of having a large and successful apparel sector with many examples of sustainable and profitable businesses to use as models and to learn from. This creates opportunities for the central TVET coordinating bodies to work with high profile companies to train teachers in sustainable work practices.

4.3 Direction for human capital development for green skills

While formal education and the TVET system are important components in human capital development, these are not the only route to acquiring skills. Skills are also developed informally, through up-skill training in the workplace. Sensitivity towards the environment is often developed through social interactions and public communications. It becomes important that green skills development should not only be understood as a matter of curriculum, and in terms of content limited to TVET institutions, but as something that should be built into a larger ecosystem of education, workplaces, social interactions and political debates.

Public debates, research, and media support become important in creating a larger eco-system towards developing green skills. Some of the specific institution related strategies could be:

• TVEC, under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development, should not only develop and establish green standards but also dovetail these with existing NVQ levels. The National Competency Standards being developed by NAITA can also resonate with the skills development standards and green standards. International expertise could be sought to manage this process and also build capacities of the committee and the ministry;

• integrating the training of the private sector with the formal TVET system. Together with efforts to strengthen the formal TVET system, policy makers should not ignore the existing private sector training system and should take appropriate steps to achieve parity of reforms in the two systems;

• enterprises offering vocational training should be entitled to general incentives concerning vocational training under governmental regulations or be allowed to recover training expenses through users or sponsoring institutions;


• enterprises should be encouraged to establish vocational training centres through incentives in the form of land provision, tax breaks, and the provision of training equipment;

• the state should create a framework to accredit and recognize the different forms of vocational training undertaken by different firms;

• enterprises should become active participants in assessing job standards and evaluating the results of the training of formal TVET;

• teachers working in private sector vocational training establishments should enjoy the same incentives as teachers in government vocational training institutes;

• trainers or faculty of TVET institutions or vocational education programs are one of the most important cadres of people who can be the leaders of green skills development. While engagement with teacher training institutions or teacher unions is important for in-service faculty development, interventions are also required at higher education institutions;

• co-location of training providers with industry may improve the relevance of training, improve teacher industry experience, offer research and development opportunities, create more responsive delivery arrangements and foster industry skills development clusters. This, combined with dedicated training institutions that reflect the skills development value chain of technical colleges, vocational training centres, advanced training institutes and universities, could provide the full range of skills demanded by the industry;

• research on green growth, green industry, and green skills has to be promoted in higher education. Well funded, special research packages can be designed and tie-ups can be encouraged with leading universities of the world which have expertise in the field of green skills;

• rather than waiting for a comprehensive green curriculum to evolve, a more proactive approach can be adopted where knowledge about green skills can be introduced into the existing curriculum, as can key green initiatives. In terms of first steps, themes such as responsible and efficient handling of materials (including hazardous materials), energy saving, waste management, and recycling can be introduced into existing education and skills development programs. The target should not only be TVET institutions but also school education and higher education institutions. Graduates of TVET programmes may mainly need two sets of skills: occupation-specific and generic, soft skills: that is, at the entry level, a set of very practical occupational skills to make students immediately employable and a set of generic, soft skills to help them move most effectively between occupations and organisations;

• the benefits of up-skilling the existing workforce need to be communicated widely in the small and medium enterprise sector. More specifically, up-skilling is needed in the form of practices which are sensitive towards the environment and resource optimization. These can be encouraged through leadership programs, competitions, and through recognition of prior learning programs;


• NGOs, and Self-Help-Groups (SHGs), can be targeted with special green skills modules to reach out to the community and to involve women, and marginalized groups, to encourage them to develop green skills. These may or may not be employment related skills. The Kandalama Hotel in Sri Lanka is an encouraging example of how to effectively reach out to remote communities and to develop skills in youth to be employed in the hotel, ensuring day-to-day supply from locals, training in local schools, environmental awareness including protecting the local environment, waste disposal; and

• all forms of media – whether it be print, radio, TV and social - can be encouraged to develop communication strategies around the importance of green growth and therefore the requirement of green skills. The messages can be intelligently positioned so that not only the media but the community at large sees value in the importance of industry moving toward greener practices with green skills development becoming a necessity rather than an option. TVEC and the National Environmental Protection Council may jointly design communication programs along with media companies.

4.4 Areas for further research

This research has been an exploratory study of education and skills for inclusive growth and green jobs, and the greening of the economy, in Sri Lanka. This research has highlighted the need to undertake further research in the following areas in order to fill the gaps that exist in the current data, with regard to:

• examining various geographical parts of Sri Lanka. The respondents to the survey questionnaires were mainly from Colombo and nearby areas. With regard to the socio-economic status of different parts of the country, it would therefore be useful to undertake the same survey and conduct interviews with population groups in other parts of Sri Lanka;

• importance of the informal and non-formal economy, sometimes called the disorganised sector: This study focuses on the formal, organised economy but much of the economic activity in Sri Lanka occurs in the disorganised sector. It would be helpful to therefore also survey the non-formal economy to ascertain whether the findings from this study also hold true for that economy;

• the rural sector: The emphasis in this study has been on various secondary industries such as construction, transport, hospitality and the like. But most employment in Sri Lanka currently occurs in the rural sector, and so it would be relevant to undertake a study which examines the same issues, concerns and challenges, with those working in the rural sector;

• small and medium enterprises: The survey sample had 29 (57%) micro/SME respondents and 22 large companies (43%) respondents;

• gender issues with regard to inclusive growth and green jobs: This research study sought to gather information about, and survey the matter of, gender issues., but overall there is a paucity of information available and a lack of reliable research evidence in this area, most the data being anecdotal in nature; and


• unemployed and underemployed youth: Likewise, in the case of youth, with particular reference to unemployment and underemployment, there is a lack of useful evidence in this area. Given the major problem of youth unemployment, further research in this area would be helpful for policy makers and practitioners.

4.5 Concluding comments

Skills development and training need an overhaul as both the regional and global economic and environmental scenario changes. Vocational training or skills development for employability can no longer afford to take a linear approach to learning generic content, followed by specific components and later advanced content. What is required is a non-linear approach because jobs today are becoming more modular in nature.

Multidimensional skills are needed that include an understanding of raw-materials and resources, and the processes that transform them into final products, with sensitivity towards the environment embedded into the whole process. Therefore generic green skills are viewed by industry as measures to reduce costs and increase profitability, suggesting that the holders of these skills are valued by employers.

The labour market across industry sectors is demanding jobs that are more environmentally sustainable and decent as there is growing evidence that skills shortages may be impeding the transition to green growth in some sectors. Taking a wider view of green skills, similar to the ILO decent work agenda, means that initiatives are required to be integrated into local communities and industry that can produce results leading to new business opportunities and further generate supplementary green employment.

Policy makers and practitioners have a major task to balance emerging needs and priorities with existing implementation frameworks. The balance has to accommodate norms and standards from global agreements whether they are the Millennium Development Goals or Climate Change agreements. They also have to tread a fine line between industry demands, economic priorities and environment mandates or inclusive development.

Fortunately, there is no lack of knowledge around this subject. Knowledge from within and from other countries, and partnerships with international agencies, are available to bring in new perspectives, new models, innovative practices, flexible funding and high quality research, to develop individual and institutional capacities to deliver large scale programmes around green economy, green jobs and green skills.


Box 3.22 High skills, opportunities

Analysis of the content of the syllabus for civil engineering revealed that there is nothing in the syllabus itself related to green construction: materials, appliances, insulation, energy efficiency, planning for using solar energy, or natural ventilation. Subjects such as construction materials and building construction do not include new green technologies. Important subjects such as water and wastewater engineering do not contain any elements of advanced methods of Design of Biological and Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plants. These designs focus on leading-edge treatment systems for both municipal and industrial settings, water re-use, non-potable recycling in irrigation and industrial re-use applications, and grey-water and storm-water recycling in point of use applications.

It was also stated that industrial visits are planned to demonstrate relevant principles. Although new technologies are not included, this is a rather inclusive syllabus which provides a broad understanding of the field. It includes both theoretical and practical components, although the practical components are designed to simply support theoretical learning not the practical skills required to work-related situations. Students are, however, required to visits construction sites and to observe and write reports.

Source: Sri Lankan Institute of Advanced Technological Education (SLIATE) (2015)


5 Summary of initiatives – Sri Lanka

Sl. No. Organisation/ Country Schemes/ Programmes

Government / Semi Government Initiatives

1 Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development (MYASD)

Development and implementation of national policies related to skills development and TVET

2 TVEC Formulate, review, update and implement robust TVET policies and strategies; and Develop and maintain information systems in order to facilitate TVET activities.

3 DTET 29 Technical Colleges 9 Colleges of Technology 38 Career Guidance Centres 21 Learning Resource Development Centres

4 VTA 218 Rural Vocational Training Centres (RVTCs) Special Vocational Training Centres (SVTCs) 21 District Vocational Training Centres (DVTCs) 14 Career Guidance Centres 6 National Vocational Training Centres (NVTCs)

5 NAITA providing apprenticeship training and developing National Competency Standards 3 national training institutes ATI, AETI, IET 8 career Guidance Centres 51 Training Centres

6 National Youth Services Council (NYSC)

Organizes vocational training courses in urban as well as rural areas. Implementation of the entrepreneurship program and career guidance services

7 UNIVOTEC Provide degrees for people with NVQ qualifications and those who work in industry and wish to acquire degree level education Delivers NVQ level 7 degree courses Train instructors for Colleges of Technology and assessors for course accreditation. Develops curriculum and teaching and learning resources


8 SLIATE, Ministry of Higher Education

Manages 11 separate Advance Technical Institutes Manages 5 Sections housed in the Technical Colleges of DTET 11 programs in Higher National Diplomas including civil engineering, electrical engineering, quantity surveying, building service engineering, agriculture, and National Diploma in Business and Finance.

9 SLITHM, Ministry of Economic Development

5 provincial colleges Trains around 2000 students per year Certificate and Diploma Courses in Travel and Tourism, Hospitality and Management, Hotel and Catering Operations

10 SLITA, Ministry of Industry and Commerce

Diploma courses in Textile Technology (full-time), Advance diploma in Testing and Quality Assurance and Diploma in Textile and Garment (part-time) Certificate courses and around 100 short courses in Sewing Machine Maintenance; Batik Dyeing for Export; Technological Aspect of Fabrics for Textile and Garment Industry; Sock Knitting; Green Textiles; Chemistry for Textile and Apparel Industry; 2000 enrolled students across 19 programs

11 Accredited Training Providers' Association (ATPA)

To conduct training programmes which could be aligned to the National Vocational Qualification framework (NVQF)

12 Haritha Lanka Programme To evolve long term strategies for sustainable economic and social development Dissemination of information on sustainable development

International Support and Initiatives

13 CGTTI Supported by GiZ

Exchange and translation of syllabuses, examination papers, technical literature etc. with the German Vocational School; Consultation in technical and didactic fields; Promotion of project and production oriented concepts of training; Transfer of technology through: implementation of special courses in automobile technology;

http://www.textile-clothing.lk/sub_pgs/courses_short.html




maintenance and repair of external machines and automobiles; teacher training in modern didactics; PLC and CNC Technology;

14 Development Project - Technical Education Development Project (TEDP) (2006 – 2011) – Asian Development Bank

To improve the provision, access, relevance and efficiency of the technical education system in support of Government's economic and social objectives. Main components - strengthening the Colleges of Technology (CoTs) in technician education; strengthening the Ministry of Vocational and Technical Training (MVTT) and relevant institutions; and establishing UNIVOTEC.

15 Skills Development Project - SDP (2000 -2006) – Asian Development Bank

To improve the quality and relevance of skills training programs to build a high quality workforce and address the mismatch of skills in labour market of Sri Lanka. Main components - improving the quality and relevance of skills training programmes; institution building and human resource development; resource mobilization and sustainability; and innovative interventions to strengthen NGO and private sector participation.

16 National Career Guidance and Counselling System (Korean International Corporation Agency (KOICA) and MYASD)

Strengthen all the Career Guidance and Counselling Centres under the Ministry The project includes infrastructure development, human resource development, coordination and assistance, and monitoring and evaluation activities

17 Indian support to upgrade the facilities of District Vocational Training Centre at Nuwara - Eliya

Upgrade training facilities at the Vocational Training Centre

18 master trainers pedagogy programme (MTPP)

Organised by with ITE Education Services (ITEES) of Singapore a funded by the Temasek Foundation in Singapore. Pedagogical training for 120 master trainers conducted at UNIVOTEC in Sri Lanka and ITE Singapore

19 Vocational Training in the North of Sri Lanka” (VTN) implemented by German

New vocational training institute in Kilinochchi together with various partner institutions working in the region


Organisation for International Cooperation (GIZ) and KfW

Non-Governmental Organisations/ Private Sector

20 Private Training Providers and NGOs

1051 registered private training providers 267 NGO training providers 348 accredited courses Notable ones – Don-Bosco , Sarvodaya Suwasetha, World University Service of Canada (WUSC), Kawanthissa VT Centre, Social Welfare Technical Institute of Ampara District (SWOAD), Miani Technical Institute in Batticaloa, Saviya Women’s Organisation in Matara, Rajarata Women’s Federation in Anuradhapura, The Uva Social Cultural Organisation for Development (USCOD), Future in our Hands Development Foundation, Organisation for Rehabilitation of the Handicapped ( ORHAN )

21 Don-Bosco 6 registered vocational training centres 20 accredited courses

22 Sarvodaya Suwasetha Suwasetha Vocational Training Centre for young females Girls Home - Wariyapola Training in scientific dress making; Juki Machines; Stenography, typing and computer literacy

23 Capability development initiative at Coca-Cola Sri Lanka

To fill the gaps in different skills standards of experienced employees with no formal qualifications

24 Green Sri Lanka Hotels –European Union (EU) SWITCH Asia programme:

Focuses on small and medium scale hospitality enterprises, with a Supporting role of enhancing the know how in improving energy and water utilization efficiency

25 SWITCH-Asia EEPEx Project

To promote environmentally sustainable production practices and technology in Sri Lanka’s key export sectors Key activities include environmental surveys (baseline and detailed), sector environment guidelines, national sustainable production forum, sustainable production action plans for enterprises and model solutions, environmental reward scheme, eco-labelling, environmental information systems and sector databases, waste materials


exchange network, capacity building and information dissemination.

26 LAUGFS Eco Sri (Pvt.) Ltd. Vehicle emission testing subsidiary dedicated to assisting to reduce emissions generated from motor vehicles 100 test centres with over 6,000 tests carried out each day.

27 Brandix Green factory Manufacturing plant for Marks and Spencer Surpassed all green factory standards stipulated for energy consumption, water conservation, solid waste management and carbon emissions by LEED Green Building Rating System of the US Green Building Council (USGBC).

28 MAS Intimates Thurulie - Clothing factory

Claims to be the world's first clothing factory powered solely by renewable and carbon-neutral sources An example of green building

29 Green Building Council of Sri Lanka (GBCSL)

Promote green building practices

30 Clean Air Sri Lanka (CleanAirSL)

Work on combating air pollution, assists all government agencies in implementing air quality monitoring programmes and climate change mitigation programmes. Programme works closely with the institutes under the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Transport.

31 The Energy Forum Network of individuals and organisations from Government institutions, Provincial Councils, the private sector, NGOs, utilities, universities and research institutions To create an environment that enables the promotion and adoption of renewable and distributed energy, energy efficiency and integrated sustainable resource management mechanisms

32 Practical Answers by Practical Action’s South Asia programme

Work with the communities on various sectors such as water security, renewable energy, strengthening transport and fisheries, diverse agro- processing options, community governance, rural business incubation centres and promoting community based disaster management. The provision of green skills by Practical Action through web based solutions and green skills training at community level


has been effective in using low cost technologies to reduce greenhouse gases which has direct application and impact within the rural communities.



6 Policy and action matrix – Sri Lanka

Recommendation Suggested policy

Suggested activities Implementation agency

Rationale (Potential benefits/ Incentives)

STRATEGIC LEVEL Policy integration Policy

framework to strengthen skill development criteria on ten climate change missions under the Action plan on “Caring for the Environment - Path to Sustainable Development” and the Haritha (Green) Lanka Program (HLP) as part of the National Strategy for Sustainable Development (NSSD)

Assessment to examine elements such as research skills in solar energy production and technical skills in recycling materials and urban waste management under ‘Mission 3: Meeting the Challenges of Climate Change’ of HLP

National Council for Sustainable Development (NCSD); Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC) under the Ministry of Youth and Skills Development; Department of Technical Education and Training (DTET); Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources; Ministry of Education; Ministry of Industry and Commerce; Ministry of Labour Relations and Manpower; Ministry of Power and Energy

Identification of areas for immediate action on green skill development

Climate change policies have a clear pathway to develop human resources for the sectors

Policy framework to invite international expertise and adopting good practices on green skills

Capacity development of institutions on processes and tools for green skills at departments such as National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC); Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC) under the Ministry of Youth and Skills Development;

Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC) under the Ministry of Youth and Skills Development with multilateral agency support such as UNIDO, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Asian

Enhanced capacity to design integrated policies

Availability of knowledge and expertise on good practices





Department of Technical Education and Training (DTET)

Development Bank, The World Bank, United Nations, ILO, Gesellschaftfür Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), USAID, Department for International Development (DFID)-UK

Multinational companies such as Marriott, Hilton (Hospitality), Gammon (Construction), and Alstom and Siemens (Energy, Transport) can provide international expertise to boost good practices and green skills.

Green practices to become a ‘business’ issue

Policy on green standards in each sector

Large corporations such as HOLCIM Group, Aitken Spence, Haleys, Sri Lanka Telecom, or public sector corporations such as Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, Sri Lanka Ports Authority along with Industrial Association of Sri Lanka to financially support, reward and recognise models of innovation in green practices. Initiatives can be supported by the Sri Lankan government, bilateral and multilateral

Large corporations along with industry associations such as Industrial Association of Sri Lanka, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Chamber of Small Industry etc.

Ministry of Industrial Development; Ministry of

Availability of clear direction to include green skill strategies in industrial practices.

Creation of a vibrant ecosystem to adopt and promote green practices and related green skills

Additional revenue streams in the form of patent fees and consulting services for the industry





development agencies and domestic and foreign private entities/initiatives.

Green models to be patented or creating subscription-based green process management modules to generate additional revenue stream to companies

Benefits of up-skilling on green skills need to be communicated widely during industry summits and trade fairs organised by associations such as Industrial Association of Sri Lanka, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Chamber of Small Industry etc. TVET system can house similar discussions during teacher training programmes and occupational training.

Well funded research products with leading universities on green technologies and green practices in industry through

Industry and Commerce;

Ministry of Education; Ministry of Labour Relations and Manpower





Ministry of Education

Include green practice standards in the industrial policies especially for new economic corridors such as Kilinochchi, Batticaloa and Ampara etc.

Promote co-location of training providers with industry clusters. These could be targeted at special economic zones (SEZs) by opening up industrial parks and training centre/s together

Ministry of Education; Ministry of Industry and Commerce; Ministry of Enterprises Development and Investment Promotion

Support for green growth, green jobs and green skills from foreign aid and investment agencies

Common agenda and policy between foreign aid and investment agencies with respect to green growth, green jobs and green skills

Documenting and sharing green investment advisory notes promoting green growth at regular intervals, advocating the agenda of green skills to support a greening economy at global scale using platforms like G-20, ASEAN summits and capacity building on national and international good practices on green skills

Aid agencies – Asian Development Bank, The World Bank, United Nations, GIZ, ILO, DFID, USAID

Large corporations along with industry associations such as Industrial Association of Sri Lanka, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Chamber of Small Industry etc.; Ministry of Education; Ministry of Industry and Commerce

Consolidation of initiatives of aid agencies

Greater emphasis on green skill development through a unified approach of aid agencies

Bridge the gap between TVET outcomes and jobs requirements

Policy on partial autonomy of TVET institutions

Ensure that curriculum structure allows up to 30% of flexibility that all TVET institutions


Enhanced capacity to adjust curriculum development to industry needs





can use to address industry needs; allow principals to use funds gained through short courses delivery for green skills initiatives

This flexibility will allow to respond quickly to greening of industries

OPERATIONAL LEVEL Initiate easily implementable activities around green skill development

Include elements of green skills/ education by initiating reforms and aligning the NVQ Standards and National Competency Standards (by NAITA) and curriculum (by UNIVOTEC) with emerging needs of Haritha (Green) Lanka Program (HLP)

Develop and include green skill knowledge nuggets in existing education curriculum – school, technical, higher education

TVEC and DTET; Ministry of Education; Ministry of Labour Relations and Manpower

Fast-tracking inclusion of green skills in skill development ecosystem

Include green job training in the list of training priorities among TVET institutions

Ministry of Education; Ministry of Labour Relations and Manpower

Broad basing of green skill development across sectors

Establish institutional linkage between higher education institutions and TVET institutions in the area of green skills development

Ministry of Education through TVEC, NAITA, UNIVOTEC and DTET

Greater integration between higher education and TVET institution (a good practice)

Include elements of green skill/ education in Teacher

Include generic and specific green skills in pre-service and in-service teacher training guidelines,


Capacity enhancement of pre-service and in-service trainers





Education programs

programs and courses Consider these modules as prerequisites for teacher registration

on introduction of green skills

Outcome based incentives for enterprises and TVET institutions

Direct and indirect incentives to promote green skills

Giving direct financial incentives in the form of tax breaks, subsidy, and viability gap funding, innovation funds for the private sector to move towards sustainable processes

TVET enterprises offering green skill development training can be entitled to general incentives concerning vocational training under governmental regulations or be allowed to recover training expenses through users or sponsoring institutions Government may provide indirect incentives in the form of land provision, provision of training equipment’s, international exposure visits and industrial exposure for TVET staff

Ministry of Finance and Planning along with Ministry of Industry and Commerce and Ministry of Education

Creation of green jobs and increased demand for green skills

Promoting green skills training

Policy on support of TVET practicums/ workplace learning

Use incentives to support enterprises in their engagements with TVET institutions

Ministry of Industry and Commerce; Ministry of Labour Relations and Manpower, Ministry of

Provide an enhanced opportunity for all TVET providers to organise work-place learning as a part of their curriculum, so





Youth and skills development

students can be exposed for greening practices

Sensitivity towards sustainability to become a ‘social’ issue

Positioning messages on green practices through all forms of media

TVEC and the National Environmental Protection Council along with Ministry of Mass Media and Information, media companies and NGOs

Higher sensitivity towards environmental issues

Special green skill modules targeted to women and marginalised groups

Special green skills development programs targeted for rural areas

Ministry of Education; Ministry of Labour Relations and Manpower; Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Affairs; Ministry of Social Services along with NGOs, Self-Help-Groups (SHGs)

Greater participation of women and marginalised groups in environment friendly activities leading to equitable engagement of all stakeholders

Inclusion of rural population will impact on social wellbeing due to increased quality of the environment


7 TVET System in Sri Lanka

Documents

Case Study of Sri Lanka 1 A country going through rapid ... 6. Chapter 3.pdfStudy/UNESCOADB -UNEVOC Website Material /Maclean, Jagannathan and Panth/Page 216 Case Study of Sri Lanka