COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's ratings in the Korean migrant labour market has shown a rapid increase, improving its ranking from a meagre 13, one year back to a very competitive number three, Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) Chairman Kingsley Ranawaka said.
Addressing the 100th batch of students who successfully completed the Korean job training course at the SLBFE facility in Ratmalana, Ranawaka attributed the success to a well coordinated pre-job training programme, which has effectively contributed to the enhancing capacity of the labour migrants before departure.
Under the new training programme, prospective applicants who pass a language test and a medical fitness exam are subjected to a 12 day in-house training on various aspects related to employment in Korea, including a rigorous physical training course conducted by Army trainers.
Due to upgrading of the training provided to these young aspirants, labour complaints from Korea which stood as high as 43 per cent one year back has dropped to three per cent today, Ranawaka said.
He said one year back, Sri Lanka had faced the danger of losing job quotas from Korea due to a high percentage of complaints. The agreement between the two countries would have been annulled if the complaints had exceeded 50 per cent. Thus in their endeavour to prepare quality manpower to suit tough demands in Korea, the SLBFE had sought help from Army instructors as well as other professionals including personnel from Korea to lend a hand in their latest training programme.
In the Sri Lankan foreign employment market, Korea ranks very high due to the fact that the salary provided for migrant labourers in Korea (more than Rs.100,000 a month) is high in comparison to others like the Middle East.
According to Ranawaka over 6,000 Sri Lankans have been sent to Korea for employment this year.
It is important to build-up a work-force covering all Divisional Secretarial Divisions in Sri Lanka who will be responsible for the promotion development, protection and Welfare of migrant workers.
Despite the fact that women as domestic workers have earned billions of dollars, their employment abroad has created a social degeneration in the country. Therefore, steps have been taken to reduce this category leaving the country to 25 percent in the future, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said
The Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Ministry yesterday announced a National Policy on Labour Migration. The effort is intended at developing a solid framework, with better protocol to enhance labour migrants contributions to the economy, society and their families.
Six thousand Sri Lankans would be found employment in South Korea next year, Chairman, SLBFE Kingsley Ranawaka said. He said that foreign exchange from migrant workers which was around Rs 150 million a few years ago had increased to Rs 350 million a year.
An organised gang has used forged documents with the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) emblem to swindle millions of rupees from more than 60 people with the promise of lucrative employment and training opportunities in Japan.
Sri Lanka's ratings in the Korean migrant labour market has shown a rapid increase, improving its ranking from a meagre 13, one year back to a very competitive number three, SLBFE Chairman Kingsley Ranawaka said.
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