Presidential Task Force on English and IT
Terms of Reference
1. Plan, design and direct implementation of programmes for the improvement of English and IT among youth and school children to achieve the following objectives:
* Produce more than 50,000 youth, having job oriented spoken/communicative English and basic IT skills, for potential employment in IT enabled service industries such as call centers and Business Processing Outsourcing industries, within the next three years.
* Install the infrastructure within, and enhance the capacity of, the mainstream school system to ensure that school leavers throughout the country, by the end of year 2010, at either ‘O’ level or the ‘A’ level, will possess English and basic IT skills demanded by the job market.
2. Identify two (02) Task Committees under the two Coordinators for English and IT for specific, but complimentary project development and in depth consultations with industry leaders, private organizations, and experts for investment and collaboration;
3. Consider, if and where necessary, expertise from abroad to supplement local expertise in designing and developing appropriate curricula and training;
4. Train a set of master trainers in the teaching of the two subjects, using new curricula as well as new teaching methods. Devise and implement a program to train English language and IT teachers within the mainstream education system, in the new curricula, using the master trainers;
5. Introduce norms and standards on English and IT competence in Sri Lanka and establish a system of validated examinations for skills promotion programmes with the cooperation of the Department of Examinations;
6. Formulate and implement a plan to upgrade teaching skills of the academic staff attached to private tutories in the country, and encourage them to fall in line with the new curricula and the preparation of candidates to qualify in terms of the new standards and examinations to be introduced;
7. Engage the private sector to play a meaningful role in the implementation of the above programmes especially in the rural areas;
8. Propose a Plan of Action for a Joint Programme on English and IT over the period 2008 – 2011, and for the launch of the “Year of English and IT” by His Excellency the President in 2008;
9. Prepare a budget for the implementation of the programme in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science & Technology;
10. Set up an appropriate mechanism to monitor and evaluate the progress and impact of the programmes on an on-going basis to enable mid-stream correction of shortcomings and performance improvement on a regular basis; and
11. Submit monthly progress reports to His Excellency the President.
PRESIDENTIAL TASK FORCE ON ENGLISH AND IT
TERMS OF REFERENCE.
Introduction
The past decade has witnessed a phenomenal growth in IT enabled service industries (ITES) such as; call centers, Business process outsourcing arrangements, medical transcription services etc in developing countries. The rapid expansion of the global telecommunication industry and the resulting cost reduction in voice and data transmission, has enabled businesses in developed countries, dealing with large numbers of consumers and data, to achieve very significant cost savings, by subcontracting their back office operations, to low cost, IT based, processing centers in developing countries.
Thus for instance, the earnings from IT related industries alone, in India, for the year 2007, was U.S.$ 63 Billion, of which U.S.$ 40 Billion was in the form of export earnings. The industry provides direct employment to more than 2 million persons and has also spawned many other ancillary industries that provide indirect employment to an additional eight million. Target export earnings for India, by year 2010 is estimated at U.S.$ 75 Billion. The major constraint standing in the way of India achieving that goal is the paucity of suitable recruits, to the industry.
Discussions with several large Indian companies that have become global leaders in this industry, ( Infosys, Wipro etc) have revealed a genuine desire on their part to look at Sri Lanka as a preferred location for their next expansion project, provided they were in a position to source a couple of thousand eligible recruits locally, as they start up operations.
Around 300,000 students take up the ‘A’ level examination in Sri Lanka, each year. Of this number approx. 100,000 students qualify for entry into the University system. However, the University system could absorb only around 20,000 students each year. Thus every year we add approx 80,000 students, to the already large pool of “educated” unemployed. Despite the availability of this large pool of educated youth, Sri Lanka paradoxically, cannot meet the industry demand , for the simple reason that the great majority of these students lack English Language skills and basic IT skills. These skills are considered essential at entry level.
A further factor encouraging greater interest by Indian investors is the relative appreciation of the Indian currency against the dollar, in comparison to the behavior of the Sri Lankan currency. It is estimated that the cost structure for this type of operation, in Sri Lanka, will be at least 30% lower than that in India.
Considering the insatiable demand for IT enabled services globally, and considering the genuine interest expressed by industry leaders in India to set up operations in Sri Lanka, His Excellency the President, Hon Mahinda Rajapakse, has appointed a Special Presidential Task Force to formulate and implement both a short term and a long term program, to meet the following objectives.
Short Term Objective.
To produce more than 50,000 youth, having job oriented spoken/communicative English and basic IT skills, for potential employment in the IT enabled service industries such as call centers and Business Processing outsourcing industries, within the next three years.
Long Term Objective.
To install the infrastructure within, and enhance the capacity of, the mainstream school system, to ensure that school leavers throughout the country, by the end of year 2010, at either the ‘O’ level or the ‘A; level, will possess English and basic IT skills.
Terms of Reference.
The Terms of Reference for the Presidential Task Force will be as follows.
Declaration of year 2009 as the Year of English & IT by His Excellency the President
The Presidential Task Force on English and IT was appointed by His Excellency the President in August 2008. The Task Force is chaired by Hon. Dr Sarath Amunugama and consists of members with expertise in subject areas of Job-oriented English language and basic IT.
This initiative was induced mainly by 2 factors: a) a strong interest shown by existing BPO industries operating in other countries, especially India, to locate their expansion projects in other countries such as Sri Lanka due to dearth of suitable employees; b) the presence of a large pool of O/L and A/L qualified youth in Sri Lanka who could readily fill this supply gap, providing they possess the required English language and basic IT skills.
Thus, the long term goal of the initiative is to upgrade the capacity of the mainstream school system so as to ensure that all school leavers, at either ‘O’ level or the ‘A’ level, will possess English and basic IT skills demanded by the job market.
As a short term goal, the initiative intends to produce more than 50,000 youth, having job oriented spoken/communicative English and basic IT skills, for potential employment in IT enabled service industries such as call centers and Business Processing Outsourcing industries, within a period of 03 years.
Achieving these goals will require training of teachers, changing of curriculum, preparation of course material, upgrading of facilities among others. The Indian Government is already supporting programmes for Job oriented English language skills development, and has responded positively to provision of technical assistance to IT initiative as well.
His Excellency will be launching the “Year of English and IT - 2009” at a special ceremony later this year. |
