EDEX 2007 to help Lankan
job seekers
With a vision of “Empowering Sri Lankan youth
to be globally active,” EDEX 2007 is organized by the Royal
College Union (RCU) for the fourth consecutive year in both Colombo
and Kandy.
![](../images/ft8-1.jpg) |
In the picture - Mahesh Nanayakkara (Project
Treasurer), Kamal Abeysinghe (Project Chairperson), Upali Gunasekara
Principal - Royal College and R. Udayakumar (Secretary -RCU) |
The organisers have created a web based job seekers
database, which was launched at the RCU Skills Centre at Royal College
on November 7. Job seekers can log on to www.careers.edex.lk
and file their personal details. This service is absolutely free
and hopes to bridge the gap between the employed and those who are
unemployed, while the CVs filed will be referred to a number of
private sector and multi-national companies from a diverse range
of industries such as banking, financial services, manufacturing,
airlines, business process outsourcing (BPO) etc., who have already
confirmed participation at EDEX 2007.
Speaking at the website launch, Kamal Abeysinghe,
Project Chairman spoke of the difficulties faced by the Sri Lanka
youth when trying to find employment. Sri Lanka, which boasts of
a very high literacy rate of 92.5% also has a high rate of unemployment
due to the mismatch in skills demanded. On the flip side of the
coin, thousands of jobs remain vacant also due to the mismatch.
EDEX 2007 promises a wide variety of stalls with
careers and domestic education pavilions, along with an international
education pavilion and a new entry this year, the commercial vendor
pavilion seeing the participation of booksellers, computer vendors,
e- learning service providers.
The exhibition will be of use to those seeking
higher education opportunities locally and overseas, with the participation
of educational service providers, universities, distant learning
institutes who will not only explain details of numerous opportunities
on offer and carry out on-site enrolments, but also consider concessions
and scholarship possibilities for deserving students. A large number
of universities and higher educational institutes from Singapore,
USA, United Kingdom, Australia, Russia, Japan, Bangladesh, India,
Thailand and Malaysia have confirmed participation at EDEX 2007.
The EDEX exhibition, which started in 2004, is
now endorsed by the Presidential Secretariat, Education Ministry,
Ministry of Vocational and Technical Training and the Ministry of
Labour Relations and Foreign Employment. The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce
will continue as the strategic partner. EDEX 2007 will host over
200 stalls and also a number of value additions which the organisers
say will mutually benefit participant stallholders and visitors
alike.
There will also be “EDEX Career Seminars”
sponsored by Jobsnet, covering generic topics of relevance to job
seekers such as ‘How to write a CV’, ‘How to face
an interview’ as well as industry focused presentations. There
will also be CEO’s forum themed ‘How to empower our
youth to be globally competitive.’
EDEX 2007 will take place from January 19 to 21,
2007 at the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial International Convention
Hall in Colombo and at the Queens Hotel in Kandy, from January 23-24.
(LP)
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