Letters & Speeches
Remarks made by the Ambassador Butenis at the career guidance seminar in Kandy through the Unlimited Potential Partnership (UPP) Program- A Public Private Partnership
October 23, 2009, Kandy
Distinguished invitees, ladies and gentlemen: On behalf of the United States Government I thank you for inviting me to take part in the Career Guidance Day of Unlimited Potential Partnership, or UPP. Today, I am honored and proud to be present here to talk to young Sri Lankans looking forward to careers in information and communications technology.
UPP is a partnership between InfoShare, Microsoft, USAID, IDM computers PVT limited, Vocational Training Authority and other regional training institutes. The goal of the program is to develop the Information and Communications Technology, or ICT, skills of students and workers so that they can find good technical jobs in the Agriculture, Apparel, Media, and Tourism industries.
These four sectors account for roughly 39% of all jobs in Sri Lanka and ICT is extremely important to the companies in each of these sectors. For the companies, utilizing ICT is essential in competing in this age of high technology and globalization.
In order to contribute to their company’s success, employees in almost all sectors now need to have at least basic competency in using ICT tools. Companies need job applicants who can use ICT to find information, communicate, calculate, make decisions, and enhance productivity. By gaining ICT skills, students and current workers will have more employment opportunities with higher wages available to them.
A past USAID-funded study has shown that the demand for ICT graduates in Sri Lanka is greater than the supply. That means, companies need workers with ICT skills. UPP is an important step in addressing this need by delivering industry-specific ICT curriculum in the East and North.
The goal of UPP is to establish the specially-designed ICT curriculum in more than 40 training centers in Sri Lanka. Through these centers the UPP program will train at least 11,250 people by February, 2010. Through UPP, 2000 total scholarships will be awarded for ICT training in Sri Lanka. USAID has committed 750 scholarships to North and East students. Recently USAID awarded 273 scholarships to youth from the Ampara, Batticaloa, Jaffna, Trincomalee, and Vavuniya Districts.
I want to also say a few special words of thanks to our partners…first, to the IDM management who is co-hosting this event – you are one of the most active UPP training partners and we thank you for making UPP a high priority at IDM. To the IDM branch managers– thank you for your hard work in laying the foundation to successfully start the UPP program at your centers.
Secondly, to our partners at Microsoft and Infoshare – thank you for your commitment to this public and private partnership. Through these partnerships, we are able to bring our own strengths and leverage our resources to assist more people in Sri Lanka.
There is a famous proverb that says, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” This UPP program is a wonderful opportunity for all of you, to learn new ICT skills and these skills that you will gain will be useful throughout your lifetime.
Thank you.