Construction industry employs first batch of trainees of Handwerk Centre

After initial training at the Handwerk Centre Kalutara, the first batch of 28 young people from the Western Province has been placed in construction companies for jobs in professions like Building Woodwork Craftsman, Airconditioning Craftsman, Industrial Electrician or Steel Fabrication Craftsman.

Switching between productive work on the job and institutional training at Handwerk Centre over the following three years, the trainees are preparing for vocational examinations according to the National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) Standards while at the same time earning their first income and offering a productive service at their sponsoring companies.

“We are happy that it was possible to find employment for all our initial trainees” says Saliya Kaluarachchi, chairman of the joint management committee of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL), the National Construction Association of Sri Lanka (NCASL) and Germany’s Handwerkskammer Koblenz (HwK), in a press release.

Handwerk Centre Kalutara is one of the first industry-run vocational training centres in Sri Lanka. It has been established by FCCISL and NCASL with support from the governments of the Netherlands, Germany and the German State of Rheinland Pfalz as well as the German chamber of skilled crafts, Handwerkskammer Koblenz.