SLASSCOM supports Graduate Conversion Programme to close the skill gap in the IT Sector
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Nishan Mendis
Intending to overcome the capacity deficit in the local IT industry, Sri Lanka Association for Software Services Companies (SLASSCOM) works towards upskilling graduates to attain IT careers.
“There is a large gap in the IT industry of Sri Lanka in terms of finding sufficient skilled and qualified professionals to join and thrive in the sector,” says, NishanMendis – Executive Director, Technology Consulting Leader, and CIO at PwC and SLASSCOM Board Director. “and the efforts of the Capacity Forum to bridge this gap will not only improve career prospects for unemployed graduates but also nurture the industry to be self-sufficient and growth-driven.”
In line with its Vision 2025 of achieving US$ 5 billion in revenue, 200,000 jobs, and 1,000 start-ups, the Graduate Conversion Programme conducted by SLASSCOM is focussed on converting non-IT graduates who are unemployed into skillful and prospective IT job candidates through upskilling.
The program seeks to respond to two problems – the capacity deficit in the IT sector and the limitations of opportunities for graduates. The government is carrying out a project to onboard 50,000 unemployed graduates as government employees by upskilling them to suit various industries.
This initiative, conducted in partnership with the Vocational Training Authority (VTA), will run for 12 months. Students will be provided with generic learning and development for the first two months, followed by ten months of specialized upskilling. VTA will get 2,000 graduates selected for its initial Graduate Conversion Programme to upskill them to be employable in the IT sector, highlights HasithYaggahavita, CTO of 99X and former SLASSCOM Board Member.
Hasith Yaggahavita
“Students will be offered training and development in English, soft skills, and six specialized streams, namely Software Development, Visual Design and Multimedia, Business Analysis and Quality Assurance, Computer Networks, Development and Security, Customer Support and Systems Monitoring and Frontend Development. With a curriculum built more on practical based sessions, students will be able to gain working knowledge of relevant and timely technologies and embrace key areas and subjects required by the industry, thereby making these graduates more employable,” averred Hasith.
Employing a paired teaching system combining university lecturers and industry experts who volunteer their time and effort, the program will also include mentorships for students under experienced SLASSCOM members who will guide them with practical know-how and career progression insights.
Identifying the importance of soft skills that are repositioned as core skills for future employees, the program will have mandatory modules to equip graduates with skills in communications, decision making, holistic thinking, and people skills, to name a few.
Further, SLASSCOM will also work on a train-the-trainer component to focus on learning management over the traditional approach of content teaching. Facilitators and lecturers will be trained on several areas focusing on leveraging self-learning, contributing to open source and other community projects, getting connected with the industry through forums and meetups, increasing competitiveness, and building power (soft) skills and confidence, and capitalizing on industry expertise.
With VTA selected as an administration and education institute to execute the course through close collaboration with SLASSCOM, the IT Industry is keen to continuously implement this program, setting a benchmark regarding employability skills in the IT sector. This initiative directly contributing to the sector’s export potential will be a game-changer in the local education, vocational, and graduate development sphere.