Welcome to the forty fifth edition of this regular column.
Here in this column, we discuss a wide range of topics around Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) as well as about Business in general, Education, Entrepreneurship and Society at large.
Careers Awareness
Last week I attended the Future Minds Careers Exhibition organised by the Nalanda College Old Boys Association in Colombo. It was pleasing to see many career options available for young people being explained there by many educational providers. Diplomas, higher diplomas, certifications, degrees and masters degrees are now available by foreign and private sector institutes. In terms of subject fields they encompass a wide variety such as business, IT, BPO, languages, engineering, physical sciences, designing, aeronautics etc.
One thing that got me thinking was how liberalised our education system has become over time. Just a decade ago, opportunities for school leavers were very limited. There were only a handful of government universities and a few vocational training institutes, and the vast majority were owned by the government. That system restricted many talented people from obtaining further education and doing what they really enjoyed doing. Especially with government universities offering a limited choice (even to date) with A/L marks determining what the student would end up doing, it wasn’t a fair system and it wasn’t getting the best out of people either. Usually people perform better at what they like doing.
In that sense the current development in the education market is really great. Those who do not wish to attend government universities, and even those who want to do additional studies while attending a government university, now have a wide choice with private providers.
This relates to the private university discussion that we were hearing in the last year or so. There was a move to encourage more foreign universities to setup here in Sri Lanka. I personally believe it is a good thing, because in developed countries, the education system is broad and liberal, and that helps with producing what the country wants as it’s governed by market realities. In contrast the old government university system was hardly governed by any external factor, rather the universities kept doing what they had been doing for decades.
However, one thing to note is that private education comes at a cost and not everyone can afford it. How can we make the system fair? At least if and when the larger foreign private universities setup here, a certain allocation from students with good AL results should be allowed in so that the economically weaker are looked after. Even with the current private providers such mechanisms can be promoted.
Slowly but surely a mindset change is in the occurring. Sri Lankans weren’t that receptive to private education two decades back. But today, parents as well as students willingly go for such institutes and there is even a huge growth in the international schools market. One thing the government universities and institutions need to realise is that unless they also become more market oriented and start producing what the economy and country wants, soon there will be a time that their existence will be challenged by the far liberal private education system.
Future Minds exhibition moves to Kandy this weekend. Additionally Edex and Adyapana education exhibitions are held in cities such as Colombo, Kandy and Jaffna every year. This is a good trend. However, I would like to make the point that career awareness should be more wide-spread. The reality is that the confinement of these events to the main cities doesn’t cover the majority of Sri Lankan youth. I believe the schools network can be better utilised to take such messages to the school students. The average school leaver still isn’t that aware of the huge number of opportunities available for them. They or their parents do not know what can be done at what cost and what is good and what is not so good. Also, the traditional mindsets about certain career paths may still be shielding them from the present day realities. When I was in Australia, and held the position of Director Young ICT for Australian Computer Society, we used to pay regular visits to schools to educate them about career options, and career fairs at school premises was a normal thing.
There was a time where being a doctor or engineer were the socially acceptable jobs. Those were during the days of low medical facilities where doctors were considered saviours and the times of the industrial revolution where much engineering work had to be carried out. However the world has moved on, yet the attitudes towards these professions still lingers on our minds. In fact, it shouldn’t be what the society likes, but what the individual wants, prefers, capable of and most importantly what the country wants. Luckily, such narrow minded perceptions are changing now but the message should be reemphasised at each level. Especially when it comes to vocational education, our society still seems to be regarding them as inferior. But, can a society exist without important vocations such as bakers, masons, printers, machine operators etc? Of course it cannot. So, why don’t we give due respect to such careers and encourage young generation to take such courses? I noticed in Australia, their vocational training system known as TAFE (technical and further education) is equally popular as higher education (academic education). The society treats every profession equally, so there is no pressure to be picking certain paths and each path supports them fairly in financial terms. In developed countries, the fund distribution among citizens is much fairer so everyone enjoys similar benefits and that’s where we need to get to. That is not to judge people by their job but rather by the value addition they do and for who they are personally.
Teacher education is also extremely important for this. A lot of school children look up to their teachers at school and tuition classes for guidance to pick their further study streams or careers. If we have kept them updated, it would be a fairly practical system of trickling down knowledge about careers, further education and vocational training.
Also public media can be used for such awareness programs. Guiding our youth to their future path is an important activity and I believe spending some air time on it is highly justifiable. It has an impact on the future of our country for sure.
Other News
The Court of Appeal is getting ready to go online and introduce many technological advancements including electronic case filing and management system for the first time in Sri Lanka. The website with judgements and other information will be accessible through http://www.courtofappeal.lk. The website will contain the daily court list with information about the cases to be taken up in all benches of the Court of Appeal. Initially the judgements of the Court of Appeal delivered during 2011 as well as 2010 will be posted on the website. The site will also contain the Court of Appeal rules.
The International Project Management training body StarPMP is offering Project Management Professional (PMP) training in Sri Lanka. StarPMP is reputed all around the world for project management training. All their consulting trainers are from Financial Times-Top 20 Business schools. To access further information log on to http://starpmp.com/pmp-in-srilanka.php
R. R. Donnelley (NASDAQ:RRD) announced the opening of its newest Global Outsourcing facility (BPO) at the World Trade Centre in Colombo. This will be the company’s second facility housed in the World Trade Centre. RR Donnelly provides transaction processing and financial services to clients in Europe and the US and is the largest third party BPO services provider in Sri Lanka. RR Donnelley has around 58,000 employees worldwide. RR Donnelley’s BPO business in Asia provides judgment-based professional support and industry-focused solutions, including legal support, financial management, transaction processing, and real estate services. Clients include Fortune 1000 companies, professional service organizations and financial services firms across Europe and the United States.
Career Advice
I have been a mentor to many young people while serving as the Director for Young IT at the Australian Computer Society and also am an online mentor at http://www.itpro.lk/mentors. I am happy to extend that to the readers of The Island column as well. So, please feel free to drop an email to yva@lankabpoacademy.lk with your career related queries.
Events
If you have an event or a group that you would like me to talk to, I can see if I can make some time for such activities. I am happy to speak to groups about the ICT/BPO sector, its benefits, youth leadership, careers, communication skills and entrepreneurship. I always take pleasure from such social services.
Feedback
We are nearing fifty columns in this series. I get feedback from our readers but I would love to hear more. Suggestions, opinions and criticisms are all welcome. That will help us to improve the column and take it forward strongly.
Please drop a note if you have any feedback to yva@lankabpoacademy.lk
See you next week!
The Columnist
Yasas Vishuddhi Abeywickrama is a professional with significant experiences. He was recognised in 2003 by CIMA (UK) as an up and coming business leader for the future. In 2009 he was named the Young Professional of the Year by Professions Australia. Yasas has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from University of Colombo and a Masters degree in Entrepreneurship & Innovation from Swinburne University in Australia. He has worked in the USA, UK, Sri Lanka & Australia and being trained in the USA & Malaysia. He has worked for global companies such as Accenture and Virtusa. He leads the training organisation, Lanka BPO Academy (www.lankabpoacademy.lk). Yasas is happy to answer your relevant questions – email him at yva@lankabpoacademy.lk
