Sept 13, Colombo: A special discussion was recently held in the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Energy and Transport regarding the recruitment of students through the Ceylon-German Technical Training Institute to address the shortage of technicians in the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB).

Officials representing the Ministry of Transport, Sri Lanka Transport Board, Ministry of Education and the Ceylon-German Technical Training Institute were present before this Committee which met recently, Chaired by Nalaka Bandara Kottegoda, Member of Parliament.

Thus, in consultation with the Ministry, attention was directed towards providing special training to a group of 50 technical students.

It was discussed at length that although the Ceylon-German Technical Training Institute was established with the main objective of providing the necessary training to the employees of the Sri Lanka Transport Board, the requirement is not being met properly.

Given this context, the Sri Lanka Transport Board has requested that 50 of the students who are recruited annually to the German Technical Training Institute to be given training in the Transport Board to fill the shortage of technicians in the Sri Lanka Transport Board.

It was discussed that although 600 students were recruited for the full-time course because there is a good reception in the field regarding the Ceylon-German Technical Training Institute, there is a concern of them turning to other job opportunities. Furthermore, attention was paid to the shortage of trainers and the deficiencies in the facilities in providing training to the students.

However, the Committee Chair instructed to take a quick decision in consultation with the relevant ministries and institutions to provide the necessary training to meet the needs of the technicians of the Sri Lanka Transport Board.

Furthermore, the Committee Chair instructed that the proposal to start a training course center in Kandy in conjunction with the Sri Lanka Transport Board and the Ceylon-German Technical Training Institute to be considered immediately.