The Asian Development Bank (ABD) and Government of Sri Lanka signed a US$ 100 million loan agreement to provide additional finance towards the government’s efforts to develop skills to meet labour demands, support economic diversification and enhance productivity.

ADB principal social sector specialist Gi Soon Song stated that there is a mismatch between skills among youth and labour market demand despite high secondary enrolment rates, a high adult literacy rate and gender parity in access to all levels of education.

The funding is expected to enable the government to continue implementing the Skill Sector Development Program (SSDP), which aims to increase the number of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) graduates.