India is to offer more training programmes to the private sector in Sri Lanka under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) which was earlier largely confined to public sector.
Ashok K Kantha, Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, while speaking at the ITEC Day celebrations in Colombo last week, said training under ITEC is now open to the public sector as well as the private sector, indicating that in India private sector plays a major role in education and development.
Commenting on this assurance to the private sector, Tissa Jayaweera, President, Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka, said that it is a welcome sign since when these applications go to the government for selection of candidates, these applications are often kept on the table of the Ministry Secretaries for a long time.
Organizers of the event selected three persons among those who have successfully completed their training programmes under ITEC to speak, and one of the three – Dr (Ms) S. Vivehanthan, Senior Lecturer, Wayamba University -- said that she was trained in Biotechnology in India by highly qualified teachers.
She said that the application of Biotechnology in Sri Lanka is at an initial level whereas in India it is extensively used. She said that the technical application of Biotechnology could be applied by the end users like farmers to upgrade their farming. She said that what she has learnt could be used for the benefit of the country.
Mr Kantha said that the ITEC programme was started 46 years ago and under this programme a large number of persons from various countries are trained. He said that the largest number is from Sri Lanka and earlier the number was 100 but this time this number has been increased to 145.
He said that India has progressed in higher education whereas Sri Lanka has gained in the primary education where the literacy rate is 90%. He said that they would like to share their strength in higher education with Sri Lanka. |
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