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Jan - Mar 2011 Rs. 100/-Vol. 01 No. 02
Endorsed by the Ministry of Education
Hospitality Industry Page - 3-4-6-8Hospitalityospitalityyyppoo aass tttt iilliiHHHHHospitaHHHHH it liHospitality IndustryIndustry Hospitality Industry
Srilal Miththapala pondersat the Pinnacle ..................................3,4,6
Pinnacle3.
Forest Management In Nepal ...36-37Exciting New Opportunities ......38-39czHT+l;Lk; Gjpa tha;g;Gf;fs;....40-41wm mdßißl ys;ldó úh hq;af;a wehs @ ... 42Greening the Town with Rainwater ....................................... 44
Three Keys to Entrepreneurial Success - Passion, Innovation and Thinking Big ...34
One + One = Team .......................... 23-24tl ¬ tl } lKAvdhu ........................... 25-26xd;W + xd;W= FO ................................27
The Importance of Sports .............. 16-17tpisahl;Lfspd; Kf;fpaj;Jtk; .... 18-19Good nutrition for young athletes leads to victory ............................... 20-21kj f,dalfhA m%d.aOkh hkq —±kquhs˜ ............22
Careers8.
IT Savvy28.
The Boss and I are me34.
HR23.
The second volume of EDEX+Plus has reached you. We are pleased to showcase the hospitality industry, and the ongoing themes of Careers, IT, Think Green and a new segment on Sports.
The hospitality industry in Sri Lanka is dynamic and ever-changing. Thousands of youth are employed in this industry which is the country’s 4th largest income earner. In 2011, the breathtaking beauty and plethora of tourist attractions of our ‘pearl drop’ island will be offered as precious ‘pearl’ to visitors.
This magazine showcases personalities that have reached the pinnacle in the hospitality industry, as well as other relevant industries, and interesting youth-centric projects and features.
We hope that you would like the continuing focus on Green themes, Youth and the Corporate world will give you an insight into how you can engage in societal activities and be a productive citizen, with high aspirations education-wise and career-wise.
We wish our readers a Happy, Peaceful and Prosperous 2011!
EDITORIAL
The views and opinions expressed and contained in the articles that appear in this publication are the opinion of the writers or authors, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of EDEX, EDEX Committee or of EDEX+Plus.
3EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine
Srilal Miththapala, Project Director and Consultant of Greening Sri Lanka Hotels Project/Switch-Asia Programme, opines that given the huge growth in tourism, there will be new employment opportunities for
youth in the hospitality sector, with a demand for new skills and attitudes to fill a wide range hospitality related jobs.
Q. Can you tell us how you made progression in to the hospitality industry, while being a qualified Engineer?
I went to the Middle-East after qualifying as an Engineer. I had to curtail my job there and returned to Sri Lanka prematurely. I was job hunting and saw an advertisement asking for a ‘General Manager’, for a hotel. I really applied out of curiosity, and I must give credit to my former Chairman, at Riverina, Prof. M.T.A. Furkhan who took the bold step in recruiting me, out of 100 odd applicants. I stayed on for 14 years at the Confifi Group, and now count more than 25 years in the Hotel Industry. At Riverina, I was General Manager for 3 years, and then went onto the Head Office and served as Director Business Development, and was involved in the hotel chain as a Director. I rose to the highest post I could as Chief Operating Officer of Serendib Hotels. I was also elected the President of the Tourist Hotel Association of Sri Lanka from 2008-10.
Q. Can you briefly highlight the milestones in your career? Tell us the areas you worked in the hospitality industry to reach the pinnacle?
I started my career at Riverina and rose to the pinnacle at Serendib Leisure as CEO. One of the milestones was when Hotel Sigiriya was adjudged the winner of the inaugural Green Hotel Award. We used the environs and layout around the scenic hotel in terms of conserving water, electricity, waste, etc., and we won this award for best practices. We are proud that we transformed this hotel. I was at Serendib Leisure until last June. After reaching the top as CEO, I joined the Chamber of Commerce, which spearheads the Greening Hotels Project, which has European Union sponsorship. The EU investment is 2 million Euros, and they expect best practices in the hospitality industry to showcase Greener Hotels. It is now becoming a norm for hotels to ‘Go-Green’. The hotels are still not
Sri Lankans are inherently hospitable
by nature. The warmth and friendliness will
always be a very vital aspect of Sri Lankan
tourism. What is needed is to bring
in some measure of professionalism
very committed and the concept has not fully caught on, nor do hoteliers find it imperative to Go Green. Formerly there used to be traditional health and safety concerns in terms of inspection. There are special evaluation systems in place to rate Green Commitment in hotels, such as Green Stars or Balls, giving credit to hotels who are Green based. I was invited for the PATA CEO Round Table, a global forum, recently, and I represented our island. I also lecture, write and engage in consultancy work for many corporates, improving green initiatives in the industry, and have a penchant for wild-life, especially in terms of saving elephants.
Q. Can you give us an insight about Green initiatives that you have implemented in the hotel industry? What are the trends locally and globally?
During my tenure as CEO of Serendib Leisure I lead the initiative to completely transfer Hotel Sigiriya into an environmental and energy conscious hotel. Over a period of five years we managed to reposition the hotel as a leading environment friendly hotel, winning several international awards. The process was well documented and has been accepted by PATA as a benchmark case study. There is a growing trend that travelers are becoming more concerned about how Green the destination and hotel that they visit is. Even in Sri Lanka we are beginning to see tourists who would prefer to stay in a more eco friendly environment given the choice.
Q. How has the hospitality industry responded after the 30-year war ended in May 2009?
There is an immediate and very healthy resurgence of the hotel industry after the war. Occupancies have reached record numbers and 2010 recorded Sri Lanka’s highest ever number of tourist arrivals. In the short term this growth momentum is expected to continue with
Sharlene De Chickera interviews Srilal Miththapala to get an insight into the hospitality industry.
Pinnacle
EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine4
yields also improving strongly. Globally as well the hotel sector is immerging out of recession faster than other sectors with Asia leading the revival.
Q. What are the current concerns of the industry? What do you perceive as future challenges?
I have gone through ups and downs of the hospitality industry. During the war we faced a tumultuous period, and as we were a front-end industry faced a whole gamut of issues. The industry has now bounced back with the ensuing peace.
Sri Lanka is a beautiful country and peace is required for the hospitality industry to survive. The new demands of the industry are gigantic. This year we experienced the 600,000th tourist arrival which is the highest ever benchmark. Currently the hotel industry is in a state of Euphoria, and everyone across the industry seem to be doing well, not only the 5 star and 4 star hotels, but even the smaller ones. A price correction is on the cards in the industry. I feel that hoteliers are not ready operationally to cater to the influx of tourists and the staff is not adequately trained. For example the room service staff cannot keep pace with the number of arrivals and departures. They have not been used to so many tourists staying at their respective hotels. There has to be a consistent manner in which hotels maintain their infrastructure and facilities. Some hotels have not been maintained for about 15 years, and with the boom in the industry locally, a lot of hotels are scrambling with refurbishment. Another Herculean issue is related to the Human Resources (HR) in respective hotels. The HR issue has not been addressed in a strategic way. Peoples’ careers have to be mapped out. Currently we have about 65,000 people in the hospitality industry.
The hospitality industry will need thrice that amount in the near future. You must remember that the hospitality industry is a “high-touch” industry and people are of paramount importance. Out of the
total work force, nearly 75% constitute of youth, and there is an enormous potential for more employment”.
Q. How different was the hospitality industry then, compared to now? What are the changes you have observed?
In the current context there are huge opportunities for youth from entry level to executive level. For example young waiters are earning good tips. The impetus for the industry has also come from the President of the country himself, who has set a targeted of 1.4 million tourists by 2016. Having said this, it is necessary that infrastructure be geared to absorb these changes and expectations. For instance we do not have facilities for conventions in Sri Lanka for more than 5,000 people. We have only the BMICH as a main conference facility. Sri Lanka has to be equipped to cater to large numbers in terms of conventions. We have a proposal to create a new hotel school with foreign university collaboration. Currently we have 06 satellite schools. The leisure sector remains the ‘bread and butter’ of the hospitality industry. The adventure and nature segments are also very popular.
We need to have a new skilled people to cater to the demands of the industry.
Q. Do you see new opportunities for youth? What is the potential viz-a-viz employment? And in what specific areas?
Given the huge growth in tourism, there will be new employment opportunities for youth in the hospitality sector. We expect direct and indirect employment opportunities to multiply in a few years time. The demand will be for new skills and attitudes to fill a wide range hospitality related jobs.
Q. What indirect employment opportunities will emerge within the industry? How can the rural youth benefit from them? What are the methods utilized to tap their potential?
The indirect employment of the tourism industry is possibly the highest of any sector. There is opportunity for rural youths with the opening of several satellite hotel schools and other private institutions in the country. Language will be an important factor and with internet facilities being more prevalent, distance learning can also be utilized.
Q. What skills do you see as necessary to be gained, in view of future trends in the industry?
The skills needed for the hospitality industry would be outgoing personality, willingness to work hard and long hours and meet challenges, ability to pick up different languages, good poise, open to new ideas, be aware of global prospective, and many more.
Q. What avenues are available at present for aspiring youth to gain such skills?
Availability of internet and television even in the rural areas will help them to understand and gain some of these skills and widen their perspective. However, specific vocational training will be required to gain some of these skills, both by way of class room learning as well as on the job training.
Q. Has there been a significant increase in tourist arrivals? From what countries are these tourists visiting Sri Lanka?
Although Sri Lanka has depended primarily on the European market the trend is shifting towards Asia with India producing the largest number of tourists in Sri Lanka. Other immerging markets are Far East and the Middle East.
Q. How can we best harness the many attractions in Sri Lanka? What are the preferences? Hill-country? Beaches? Eco-tourism? Other?
Sri Lanka’s unique selling proposition will be its vast diversity within such a small space. Hence, the beach (sun, sea and sand)
Young energetic people with an open fertile mind,
having good communication skills and an outgoing
personality will fit in better to the hospitality industry
Hotel Sigiriya: globally recognised for Green practises
Pinnacle
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will still continue to play a dominant role in the marketing of Sri Lanka. However, the concept will move beyond beaches to show case other wide range of offerings that the country can provide such as nature, wild life, adventure, culture, etc.
Q. How is the staff of the hospitality industry geared to cater to the demands of the industry? Is retention an issue?
Because Sri Lankans are inherently hospitable by nature the warmth and friendliness will always be a very vital aspect of Sri Lankan tourism. What is needed is to bring in some measure of professionalism. Although retention was a major issue sometime ago, with the boom in tourism and increased salaries and service charges, this trend is slowly beginning to change.
Q. If you are to act as a mentor to a school leaver with aspirations in the hospitality industry, what is the advice you would give him or her?
Embark on a career in tourism only if you genuinely like to interact with people. Tourism is a people business and if you cannot relate, understand and interact with people it will be quite difficult to pursue a career in the hotel industry.
It is therefore obvious that young energetic people with an open fertile mind, having good communication skills and an outgoing personality will fit in better to the hospitality industry.
Project Director, SWITCH ASIA,
a European Union funded
Euro 2 million project. Brings together several institutions such as Responsible Tourism Partnership (RTP), Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority of Sri Lanka (SLSEA), Institute of Environment Professionals of Sri Lanka (IEPSL) and Travel Foundation, UK. The project will assist 350 small and medium scale tourist
Srilal Miththapala
Pinnacle
The doors of opportunity knock for youth in the Hospitality Industry
hotels in water, energy and waste management efficiencies. Main suppliers to the hotel industry, tour operators and customers of will also be informed of the need to increase efficiency in water, energy and waste management systems. Out of the256 hotels in the country, three star, two star and one star hotels catering to tourists will be developed as greening hotels, under this project.
Past President, Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka
Former CEO, Serendib Group
BSc in Electrical Engineering from University of Moratuwa
Authored “Tranquil Footsteps”, a story of elephants of Udawalawe National Park and the life of a female elephant and her family, living in the Uda Walawe National Park during the period of 1998-2002.
Sri Lanka has been dubbed many beautiful names from ancient times, such as Serendib, Taprobane, the ‘Pearl of the Indian Ocean’, and one Golden chord links all visitors alike to our Emerald island – that is the hospitality given to each visitor, irrespective of any other ‘label’ they wear.
Currently, Sri Lanka is witnessing a boom of visitors from all parts of the world. Plans are underway to cater to these arrivals from all stake-holders of the hospitality industry. 2010 recorded its 600,000th visitor, a near 50% increase in foreign visitors since the civil war ended officially in May 2009. The President himself has set a benchmark of 2.4 million visitors by 2016. While the tourist boom
is heartening, and 700,000 tourists are scheduled to visit the island, this year, a Sri Lankan government initiative is set to implement an on-line Internet visa procedure in the near future, replacing the on-arrival visa system, which has been in existence since the 1970s, in order to promote tourism.
Existing accommodation and the requisite personnel to cater to these demands does not seem adequate to embrace the influx of tourists expected in the near future. It has been estimated that the country needs at least 300,000 skilled and trained workforce. Expansion is underway with the construction of around 200 new hotels on naturally beautiful beaches in Sri Lanka alone.
The hospitality industry has immense potential and needs to be developed with the goal of making Sri Lanka the most attractive tourism destination in the world. To cater to the high demand that has arisen for skilled personnel in the industry, government and private institutions will launch new hospitality training courses. New employment opportunities in the different sectors of the hospitality industry will immerge.
To give an idea of the Hospitality Industry EDEX+Plus showcases some selected positions and the choices and opportunities, for its readers to get an insight into this dynamic and thriving industry.
Continued... Page 8
7EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine
Many students all over the world are considering a career in engineering in response to the global shortage of engineers. With this mind, the Faculty of Engineering Sciences of the Colombo International Nautical and Engineering College (CINEC) is providing an educational opportunity for suitably qualified candidates to obtain Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) and Master of Engineering (MEng) degrees from the University of Wolverhampton, UK, or Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) degrees from the University of Tasmainia, Australia.
Both universities are listed in the International Handbook of Universities (Published by the International Association of Universities), and are thus recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Engineering profession has been and will be in the forefront of development. It is a profession in which demand in constantly rising. Engineering graduates can work in a wide range of fields. Engineering background is also the basis for a career in business, finance, government, law, and medicine.
CINEC is a quality driven higher eduactional institution which has been accredited by international quality accreditation bodies and operate under four international quality assurance systems. Infact CINEC has been the recipient of the National Quality Award for three consecutive five year periods since 1999. This year CINEC was awarded the International Asia Pacific Quality Award 2010 - Best in Class Education Organization. The facilities available in the CINEC campus are second to none. The students have the benefit of exceptional teaching and laboratory facilities designed with extensive state-of-the-art technology.
Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) and Master of Engineering (MEng) degrees from UK
University of Wolverhampton (UoW) offers five engineering degree programs that could be completed in full at CINEC.
• BachelorofEngineering(Hons)Electronics and Communications Engineering
• BachelorofEngineering(Hons)Automotive Systems Engineering
On succesful completion of any of the above three-year programmes, students could proceed to the MEng degree programme of one year duration, also in full at CINEC.
The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), UK, which is a Member Institution of The Engineering Council (UK) has accredited all the above courses.
Unlike many ‘overseas degree courses’ conducted in Sri Lanka, where students undergo a local diploma course to progress to an overseas degree course, this is very much a UK degree. From the moment students enrol in any of the five engineering degree programmes they become UoW students complete with UoW identity and registration. The courses offered at CINEC will be identical to the on-campus model, using identical syllabi, titles, numbers, texts, teaching formats, and evaluation methods and will be subject to the same rigorous UK Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) standards. CINEC programmes are interchangeable with UK programmes and it is possible for students to study part of the degree course in the UK. The degree certificates are awarded by the University of Wolverhampton under UK government licence to award degrees and will be identical to the ones issued to UK students.
The BEng degree is the academic requirement for Incorporated Engineer (IEng) status of the Engineering Council and is a qualification required for an entry-level engineering job. The MEng degree is the academic requirement for Chartered Engineer (CEng) status.
The University of Wolverhampton is a first class university spread over four campuses in the region and situated in the centre of England. The University is amongst the largest in the UK with a student population of over 24,000.
The University of Wolverhampton is recognised as producing world class research and this has been reflected in the recent Government Research Assessment
Exercise (RAE) who identified the University of Wolverhampton as producing areas of research that is amongst the best in the world.
Fully accredited engineering degrees from Australia
Australian Maritime College AMC, a Specialised Institution of the University of Tasmania (UTAS) is associated with CINEC as an official partner in offering the following BEng programmes at CINEC on a two-plus-two basis.
AMC engineering degrees are fully accredited by Engineers Australia and recognised by the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (UK) and the Royal Institution of Naval Architecture. The four-year BEng degrees are recognised for Chartered Engineer status.
AMC is among the top 10 maritime training institutions in the world. AMC-trained engineers are highly regarded..A reputation for excellence, coupled with an established student work experience program and strong industry ties means many students find employment before they finish their studies. AMC graduates can be found working in offshore oil and gas, ship building and repair, defence and a number of other related areas.
Students and parents are most welcome to visit the CINEC campus at Millennium Drive, IT Park, Malabe, to have an idea of the facilities available in the campus and obtain further information on the programmes of study. CINEC is the place for those looking for cost effective high quality higher education options.
Hotline : 011 4 486 486 / 0770770678More detailed information about CINEC can be found at: www.cinec.edu
AT CINEC FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE
ENGINEERING
EDUCATION
EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine8
Careers
Hospitality Industry
EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine8
Position Job Description Qualifications Required
Experience Starting Salary
Salary in 5-10 years
Promtional Prospects
Other Career Options
Director Sales & Marketing
•Handling the Corporate Sector and Leisure Sector
•Monitoring the competition and coming up with innovative ideas
•Keeping up the image of the hotel as an ambassador
•Diploma in Hotel/Hospitality Management
•Graduate Diploma
• 15 years •Rs. 100,000/- minimum
• Plus perks such as a vehicle
•Rs. 300,000/-
•General Manager
•Director Sales & Marketing in another Hotel
Public Relations (PR) Manager
• Promotions of the hotel•Management of PR events at the hotel•Maintaining a high profile with
customers and staff
•Diploma in Hotel/Hospitality Management
•Graduate Diploma •A Degree
in Business Management (Optional)
• PR Executive's experience of 5 years or more
•Minimum 75,000 - 100,000/-
•Rs. 500,000/-
• PR Manager/Director
• PR Manager in any corporate office locally/internationally
Chef • Planning and implementation of standard/innovative recipes and menus
•Maintaining quality and consistency of hygienic standards in the kitchen
• Familiarizing and training of staff on the H.A.C.C.P. Procedures, five crown procedures and also in implementing them
•Qualifications required on par with Ceylon hotel school diploma
•Diploma in Hotel Management and Catering Operations with specialization in professional cookery
•Minimum of 20 years experience in a graded five star hotel in Sri Lanka or with overseas exposure in an international chain hotel
•Rs. 150,000/ -
•Above Rs. 450,000/-
•Regional Chef
•Director F&B
•General Manager
Food & Beverages (F&B) Manager
• Liase with all restaurants, bars and banqueting departments, maintaining a high profile with customers and staff
• Ensure that an effective table reservation system is in operation
•Be fully conversant with and duly implement all statutory requirements regarding a food and beverage operation
•A minimum 10 years of experience, out of which the last 3 years should be in a managerial position, managing F&B for a mid-sized hotel, club or resort
•Must have had exposure to restaurant management, handling menus, food quality and service and general operations. Some amount of exposure to International operational standards would be an added advantage
•Rs. 150,000 - 175,000/-
•Rs. 300,000/-
•Director F&B
•Administration - Managerial or Higher
Banquet Manager
• Supervise the daily operations of the Banquet area to achieve customer satisfaction, quality service and compliance with local and corporate standard operating procedures
• Supervise and direct the Banquet associates including captains, servers, lead housemen, and housemen.
•Meet with the customers to review the Banquet Event Order and to review any changes, issues and/or problems to ensure delivery of a quality product
•Diploma in Hotel/Hospitality Management
•Graduate Diploma
•Hotel experience preferred. And, or experience of one to two full years of employment in a related position
• Individuals with excellent communication and customer service skills who will respond to the owners and guest needs in a professional manner
•Rs. 80,000 - 150,000/-
Rs. 250,000/-
•Director F&B
•Administraion - Managerial or Higher
House Keeping Staff
• Support the general resort operations by maintaining quality standards of the housekeeping function
• Identifyimg and reporting maintenance related problems
• Participating in daily operations including cleaning allocated areas to maintain hygeinic standards
•G.C.E O/L or A/L Examination
•No experience required• 5 years related housekeeping
experience will lead to a Maintenance Manager's post
•Rs. 10,000 - 12,000/- entry level
Depends on experience and promotions
Maintenance Manager
•Manager Operations
Front Office Staff
• To ensure that guests are greeted, checked in and allocated rooms promptly and courteously
•Making sure that the guests are happy with their room allocation, travel needs, etc..,
•Be conversant with more than one foreign language
•Diploma in Hotel /Hospitality Management (Staff)
•Graduate Diploma (For Front Office Manager)
• Experience in handling bookings/reservations
•Computer knowledge /Data Entry/Reservation systems
• Experience in accommodation and revenue management (Front Office Manager)
•Rs. 25,000/-
•Rs. 75,000 (Manager)
•Depends on experience and promotions
• PR Executive, Front Office Manager
• PR/ Customer Care positions in other Industries
*Note: - All Youth who aspire to enter the hospitality Industry have to be initially trained in the House Keeping, Front Office and the F&B Department (kitchen & operations) The training period is generally a minimum of 06 months per department for the aspirant to learn basics of work and functions of each department Duration of a Diploma in Hotel Management (or termed Hospitality Management) from the Government Hotel School is about 3 years An equivalent Diploma from a recognised Private Hotel School may take 2-3 years Duration of a Graduate Diploma is generally 5 years
EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine10
Sri Lankan professionals - among the best in the world
Sri Lanka is known around the world for Ceylon Tea, beautiful attractions such as archeological sites and golden sandy beaches and for its cricket world cup winning team. Since recently with giant strides made in the garment industry, Sri Lanka is also making a name for IT around the world. Little known to many of Sri Lankans however, a new breed of professionals are starting to put Sri Lanka’s name on the world map. These are the professionals in the knowledge economy ranging from financial analysts to medical practitioners to software engineers delivering world beating products and services in their respective industries.
There are financial analysts in Sri Lanka providing investment advice to world’s biggest corporate clients. Sri Lankan medical practitioners provide diagnosis and assist in consultations to world’s leading hospitals. Local software engineers are developing mission critical systems for world’s leading technology platforms. These emerging sectors will most probably be the engine of growth for the country in the future and opens up great opportunities for youth of the
country to achieve their career aspirations Highlighting the successes of Sri Lankan professionals in the knowledge economy, a team of Sri Lankan IT professionals recently made a great achievement by developing the world’s fastest electronic trading system. Working for Colombo based IT company MillenniumIT, this team of engineers mostly comprising of graduates produced by local universities
such as University of Colombo and University of Moratuwa achieved this feat by developing an electronic trading system for the prestigious London Stock Exchange. By building the fastest electronic trading system, this team has overtaken competition from big players like NASDAQ OMX group and NYSE Euronext group who are operating some of the world’s biggest electronic trading systems.
This team of professionals has proved that Sri Lankans can build world beating
products even in the highly technical field of mission critical IT solutions
without the help of outside world.
By Prabath Fernando
This team of professionals has proved that Sri Lankans can build world beating products even in the highly technical field of mission critical IT
solutions without the help of outside world
London Stock Exchange claims fastest trading speed
The race to have the fastest trading speed passed a new milestone on Monday after the London Stock Exchange said it was using the quickest share trading system in the world to drive one of its share dealing platforms.
The LSE’s new system was developed by MillenniumIT, a Sri Lank-an technology company that the UK bourse bought last year as part of a plan to overhaul its technology.
This team of professionals has proved that Sri Lankans can build world beating products even in the highly technical field of mission critical IT solutions without the help of outside world. The large number of patented technologies and other IP rights that has gone into this product is testament to innovativeness of Sri Lankan professionals who developed it. This type of achievements by Sri Lankan companies should encourage those who tend to migrate to think twice before leaving because most of them believe that their talents cannot be put into best use in Sri Lanka due to lack of opportunities.
The fact that most of the engineers who achieved this feat are products of local universities clearly indicates that local university system has the capability and capacity to produce professionals who can compete with the best of the world. If further qualitative and quantitative improvements to the higher education
system can be made, Sri Lanka will definitely be in a position to compete with other competitors like India and China.
Knowledge based economy is one sector that can be developed to greater heights in the country without spending large amounts on infrastructure. We already have the most crucial ingredient required for this industry which is a highly literate and educated human capital. In this Internet era where the world has become a global village due to advanced communication facilities, it has become increasingly viable for companies to set up offices in countries like Sri Lanka and provide knowledge based products and services to clients around the world. Sri Lanka should take this opportunity and take concrete steps to develop sectors like IT BPO industry which will enable the country to earn large amounts of foreign exchange, making maximum use of its human capital.
If Sri Lanka wants to become the miracle of Asia, the country needs to guide more and more youth into the knowledge economy and should reduce dependency on industries that rely on cheap labor. To achieve this objective, the country should have more higher education institutes that produce and train graduates in professions that are in demand. The country should attract investors, both foreign and local into these sectors to setup operations in the country. The government has already announced incentives like tax concessions to companies that bring in foreign currency by exporting products and services in a range of service sector industries which is a good start in the right direction.
The message going out to the aspiring youth of the country is that you should consider and give special attention to professions in the knowledge economy when taking the all important decision of selecting a career. The opportunities in this sector will definitely enable you to achieve greater heights while working from your own country and will enable you to put yourselves among the best in the world in your selected profession.
Sales coup landed in a war zone
The oversized lobby of MillenniumIT’s headquarters is dominated by a glass room that showcases buzzing racks of servers. These machines are the engine room of MillenniumIT’s race to build the world’s fastest trading platform for the London Stock Exchange by the end of the year.
Tony Weeresinghe, founder of MillenniumIT, had spent years battling skepticism that small software company on an island in the Indian Ocean could provide foolproof global trading systems. “We don’t need a lot of people, we just need a few brilliant people,” says Mr. Weeresinghe.
In this Internet era where the world has become a global village due to advanced communication facilities, it has become increasingly viable for companies to set up offices in different countries
Finncial Times UKWWW.ft.com./cms/s/o/b6d 13924-11df-8e8b-00144feabdco.html
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EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine16
SportsThe Importance of
2 The negative brigade
The most common objections or negative attitudes towards sports are:
No time for sports
Anyone who does not learn how to manage their time while in school will find it difficult to do so in their working lives. This can become an obstacle to progress in a chosen career.
Can’t do attitude
Some do not like to compete as they do not like to lose or they are unsure if they have the skill. They could find a sport that they can do. If you don’t try you will never know if playing sports could have helped you.
Have to work hard at it to be any good
This is true about everything in life, so it is an excuse for laziness.
Do not want to be a professional
This is a misunderstanding of playing sports. Very few of those who play sports turn professional but the majority benefit from it.
Do not want to sacrifice a good education for a chance at becoming famous
This depends on the individual. There is also a balance that can and must be struck between work and play. For example, some of our famous cricketers representing Sri Lanka were also budding schoolboy cricketers in their time and some have trained in professional careers as well.
It is a well known fact that what you learn as a child is easy to progress through life, but to start something new later requires great effort, and even sacrifice. This applies to many diverse skills from dancing through reading to many forms of sport.
3 So why are sports so important?
What is life without sports? Probably boring and lifeless as it is. Sports are vital for young lives as it teaches them a lot of things about life. The old saying “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”, puts this in a nutshell.
Sports are an important part of just about every society, every country, and every part of our planet. In one way or another, everyone is involved in sports of some sort, whether they're playing, watching or just admiring someone they know who is performing.
Apart from being a fun activity, sports offer several health benefits, thus contributing to your physical and mental well-being. Sports also play a vital role in development of your personality and learning important social and working skills to enhance career prospects.
Let us look at these in more detail.
4 Physical benefits
Fitness Improvement
A sound standard of fitness enhances the possibility of reaching your full potential, not only in sports but in your entire life. This is because fitness improves your stamina, strength, speed, skill and suppleness. It brings you to an energetic state that helps you achieve. There is no need to train to the level of a champion athlete to benefit from being fit.
Weight management
Exercise causes an increase in your metabolic rate, where complex chemical changes in the body convert food into energy. After vigorous physical exercise, these changes enable a reduction in body weight. Further exercise combined with a controlled diet can result in the breakdown of stored fat to maintain body weight.
Health benefits
Research has revealed that playing sports provides a wide variety of health benefits, e.g. keeps the immune system strong, reduces blood sugar levels, reduces the risk of high cholesterol, decreases the chances of hypertension and reduces the probability of depression, anxiety and other psychological disorders.
5 Mental benefits
Exercise converts Adrenaline into Energy
It is known that when we are under stress our brain signals the production of adrenaline which causes a heightened stimulation, usually increasing the sense of anxiety, certainly provoking higher blood pressure and an increased heart rate. During regular exercise this adrenaline is converted into energy, which is used as a fuel and burned up along the way. Therefore regular exercise acts like a pressure valve, allowing the release of tension in a healthy and controlled way.
Exercise causes the brain to secrete Endorphins
It is also known that exercise provokes a natural 'high' caused by the brain's secretion of endorphins, which are morphine-like chemicals that help combat pain and stress. It is this chemical that many fitness fanatics become addicted to, but as long as your reaction to it does not become obsessive, endorphins give you a healthy sense of wellbeing.
By Nalin Goonewardene
EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine16
Careers
Introduction
Educationists will say that sport is essential for both the physical and mental growth of a child. Yet some school going children are focused on academic studies only, often not participating in any other activity, let alone sports, during their school days. So why do we stress that sports is so important in a young person’s life? While some can understand the value of sports others see a negative side
17EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine
Exercise promotes Self-confidence
Our perception of the quality of life is closely linked with the knowledge that we are making the best of our available hereditary characteristics. Certainly there is something deeply satisfying about realising our potential, doing our best, making the most of what we have when we are exercising. This in turn increases our feelings of self-worth and self-confidence because we feel good about ourselves.
Exercise Makes You Feel Alive
The centres of the brain that manage and co-ordinate our muscular actions are anatomically very close to the centres that manage feeling and thinking. The possibility that one brain centre could positively affect another is large, and a sense of being alive might very well be our “feeling brain centre's” response to the “muscular brain centre's” activity.
6 Development of Social skills
It is expected that participation in sports will help you to become a ‘sports-person’. It is not always expected that it helps you to develop many social skills such as:
People skills
When you play sports, you meet so many people you probably wouldn't if you didn't play. You get to know people that enjoy playing the same sport you do. You learn to interact positively with them. By listening to them, you learn to respect other people’s opinions. As a consequence you learn to communicate effectively with others.
Constructive Use of Time
Young people ooze with physical energy which is used up constructively when involved with sports. It is a natural release of this energy which otherwise may have been tempted into anti-social activities.
7 Learning Career progression skills
Many skills are required to develop your career to the highest levels. Some of these are academic, some social and critically, your working skills. However ‘good’ you are, if you cannot get on with others in your work place, your chances of achieving outstanding results are slim. These skills cannot be taught or learnt from books, they have to be experienced, and the lessons absorbed.
Many of these skills can be acquired by playing sports. In particular, these are:
Teamwork
Blending in well with the work environment consisting of various types of employees and superiors as well as conforming to the standards and behaviour of the work place
are critical skills for career progression. It is well known that a team working together can deliver much more than if they worked as individuals.
When playing sports in a team, you learn that there is a captain, there are rules of the sport, opposing teams and rewards for achievement. You learn to play within these boundaries, pulling together to succeed.
Preparation
When asked to deliver something at work, there is a certain amount of preparation required to achieve a high standard. The process of preparation is identical to that in playing sports. To succeed at any sporting event, careful preparation is required. This includes having a strategy, doing some planning and a lot of training (practice).
Dedication
No one achieves anything significant without dedication. This is true at work and learned by playing sports.
Discipline
You need to be disciplined to focus on priorities and essentials to climb the career ladder. You cannot turn up fresh at a business meeting after a late night of excesses.
Discipline and techniques are key to success in sports. You learn when to be patient and when to throw caution to the winds. You learn that clean living is essential to achieve good results. This automatically helps you to avoid things that hinder achievement such as drinking, smoking, gambling and even drugs.
Determination
When things are going badly at work, it is often important to ‘stick with it’ and find solutions rather than just give up. This is exactly the same in playing sports. If you are losing, you will look for ways to recover, and continue to do this without giving up
e a s i l y .
Hence you discover the value of hard work, patience and determination.
Competitiveness
Competition is an essential part of survival in the world of work. If you are competitive you will know how to compete, how to win and how to lose. You learn these things by playing sports.
Striving to win with an all-out effort, showing grace under pressure and being able to accept defeat are the cornerstones of building your competitiveness through playing sports. You learn that you cannot win every time and to lose is not failure, but where lessons are learnt to do better next time.
Decision Making
A key factor in success at work is in making decisions – right or wrong. It is better to make a positive decision based on what you know than not make any decision at all.
In sports, you have to make quick decisions depending upon your situation. A batsman must decide instantaneously whether to attack or defend. This is learnt through experience, though talent is also involved,
8 Conclusion
People are entitled to their own opinions but the negative view of sports appears to come mainly from misunderstanding what it is and not recognising the benefits it can deliver.
These benefits are invaluable for maintaining physical and mental health, as well as learning social skills and skills to enhance careers. Hence we can see that
participating in sports is very important
for achieving success in life.
Exercise causes an increase in your
metabolic rate, where complex chemical
changes in the body convert food into
energy
17EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine
Careers
EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine18
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The human body supplies energy in the form of ATP to perform many complex body functions by two metabolic systems called aerobic (dependent on oxygen supply) and anaerobic metabolism. (dependent on oxygen)
The Phosphagen system (uses energy stored in muscles) is one of the two anaerobic metabolism systems and is very important in production of energy in exercises that are short but need a very high amount of energy such as 100 meter running, high and long jump or power lifting. The Lactic acid system (makes energy by use of glucose) is the other anaerobic metabolism process and an important main source of energy to sustain high intense exercise such as 400-800 meter running, soccer, field
hockey, basket ball, tennis or volley ball, etc. The Aerobic metabolic system uses carbohydrate, fat and protein as a source of ‘fuel’ to make energy and it has unlimited capacity to make ATP. It supplies energy for low to moderate intensity exercises such as sleeping, sitting, walking etc. As activity becomes more intense other anaerobic systems supply extra energy needs.
In untrained individuals large amounts of energy come from metabolism of carbohydrates. But in a trained athlete’s body fat is used as an energy source for as much as 50%.
The body’s ability to deliver and utilize oxygen in sufficient quantities in line with exercise is called fitness.
Nutritional requirements of the young athlete
The Energy and nutrition requirement of athlete varies with his/her weight, height, age, sex and metabolic rate.
1. Energy
More strenuous the activity, longer the duration and heavier the person, higher the energy amount needed .Carbohydrate is the preference for an active person and there is no greater need for protein or fat for an athlete than a non-active person.
Physically active children and adolescents have calorie requirements that are 12-15 percent greater than those of their sedentary peers and precise calorie and carbohydrate requirements will vary depending on the type, intensity, frequency and duration of exercise in which they engage. Also children and adolescents generally need more calories and protein per pound of body weight than many adults.
It is a well-known fact that children need this extra energy to grow, fully develop, and thrive. Nutrient needs further elevate and reach their peak during adolescence.
2. Critical Micronutrients for young athletes
Current research and trends point to deficiencies in calcium, iron, folate, vitamin B6, and zinc for young athletes.
Calcium
Proper intake of calcium is needed to
support bone growth, increase bone mass, and aid in nerve impulses and muscle contraction. Poor calcium intake can lead to decreased bone mass and consequentially increase risk for stress fractures and other bone-related injuries. Because a young athlete’s growing bones cannot handle much stress as an adult’s mature bones, optimum bone health is critical. To ensure proper bone health, the adequate intake of calcium for children aged 9 to 18 is 1,300 mg per day.
Iron
Iron is noted for its oxygen-carrying capacity. For this reason, young athletes with iron-deficiency anemia may experience performance inhibition ranging from decreased work capacity to extreme fatigue. Because iron deficiency is one of the most common nutrient deficiencies in the world, it is important that young athletes are aware of the iron intake.
Recommended foods that are high in iron, are red meat and enriched cereals and grains, coupled with fruits and vegetables that are high in vitamin C, which aids in iron absorption.
B Vitamins
Both vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) and folate are members of the B-complex of vitamins and are critical components of energy metabolism. In general, a B-complex deficiency can lead to fatigue, muscle soreness, apathy, and loss of cognitive function.
Zinc
Zinc plays a role in more than 300 enzymatic reactions in the body and is critical for wound healing, tissue growth and maintenance, and immune function. Zinc is critical to athletes. Dietary protein enhances zinc absorption, and athletes who are most at risk of a deficiency may be vegetarians.
3. Carbohydrate
In athletes, poor carbohydrate intake results in inadequate glycogen stores and premature fatigue, which not only compromises performance but also forces the body to rely on another source for ‘fuel’ which is protein. Glucose from carbohydrate sources is essential to most
Good nutrition is important for fitness and higher athletic performance. Generally athletes need more energy and more water than non athletic people. Optimal performance depends on good nutrition habits throughout life rather than just avoidance of particular food. However good nutrition will make a difference to provide the “competitive edge”
for young athletes leads to victory
21EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine
Careers/Health
body functions during exercise. About 55% of total daily calories should come from carbohydrate. The young athlete has the capacity to store carbohydrate in the form of glycogen, but this capacity is limited, so carbohydrate must be consumed daily. Carbohydrate needs are based on body weight and intensity of activity.
4. Protein
Protein is an essential part of the young athlete’s diet, and the role of protein for youth includes building, maintaining, and repairing muscle and other body tissues. It should be noted that an adequate protein intake with inadequate caloric intake prohibits protein balance, even when the recommended daily allowance for protein (10-15 % of total energy requirement) is consumed. Therefore, it is critical that young athletes consume enough calories to maintain body weight.
Athletes participating in endurance sports require 1.2 to 1.4 grams per kilogram per day of protein, bit more than for other sports. There is no evidence that eating more protein can increase metabolic efficiency or lead to enhanced strength. Increase muscle mass is only achieved by long term training.
Vegetarian athletes should be counseled to ensure that adequate intake of protein is consumed from plant sources.
Consuming an overabundance of protein can lead to dehydration, weight gain, and increased calcium loss.
5. Fat
While carbohydrate is often spotlighted as the preferred ‘fuel’ for sports, there are
some bodies of research suggesting that lipid or fat may be the preferred fuel for children. This may be due to the higher rate of fat oxidation in children. As a major energy source, fat is essential for light-to moderate-intensity exercise and for endurance exercise.
While a low-fat diet can be followed, it is important that young athletes consume an average of 20% to 30% of calories from fat. Dietary fat is not necessary to maintain fat stores since excess kilocalories will be stored as fat in body regardless of its dietary source.
Like adults, young athletes should aim to significantly lower the amount of saturated and trans fat in their diet. The focus should be on an intake of healthy fat from plant oils and soft margarines made with vegetable oils and on limiting the amounts of fried and processed foods.
6. Fluid
A normal person obtains two thirds of water intake from drinking fluids and rest from water in solid foods, athletes on other hand must obtain 90% of water intake by drinking water.
Maintaining fluid balance is critical for the young athlete. Aside from the risk of heat-related illness, dehydration is strongly associated with fatigue during exercise. This risk is increased in certain environmental conditions such as high heat and humidity.
A number of factors place young athletes at an increased risk for dehydration and various heat illnesses. These are higher energy expenditure of young athletes means that they produce more metabolic heat, young athletes don't sweat as efficiently as
older athletes and thus cannot cool their bodies as effectively.
Finally, young athletes are not as diligent about drinking fluids and their body core temperature during dehydration tends to increase faster. For these reasons it is essential that young athletes be encouraged to drink frequently even when they are not thirsty.
Child and adolescent athletes should aim to replenish lost hydration stores during and after an event. For activities lasting less than 60 minutes, select water for hydration.
For activities lasting more than 60 minutes, select sports beverages for hydration, electrolytes, and energy from carbohydrate. Select a beverage that provides 6% to 8% carbohydrate.
About 2 hours before event the athlete should consume about 500ml water and 10-15 minutes before competition another 500ml. During competition it is better to take 100-200ml chilled liquid every 10-15 minutes.
Parents should make sure that athletes arrive at practice sessions, games or competitions fully hydrated. Coaches should enforce drink “pauses” every 15-20 minutes even when athletes do not feel thirsty. Cool beverages are absorbed more quickly from stomach as it is important to speed rehydration and minimize discomfort in full stomach. Parents, coaches and the athletes themselves should watch for the “warning signs of dehydration” such as dark urine, small urine volume, muscle cramps, reduced sweating, increased heart rate, headaches, and nausea.
Overcoming Nutritional Obstacles
While young athletes rely on their parents and coaches for advice, they are extremely susceptible to peer and media influence and the plethora of misinformation that exists in the sports nutrition world. It is responsibility of coach and parent to guide the young athlete to correct health professional for advice and guidance.
Ideal meal pattern before, during and after the sports event
Before the event During the event After the event
Eat small comfortable meal about 2-4 hours before the event
Drink only fluids Plenty of carbohydrate
Meal high in carbohydrate and fluids If event is all day long, high carbohydrate, low fat foods are taken
Lot of fluid, sports drinks or juices easy to digest
Meal low in fat, protein, fiber and gas Carbohydrate rich food
15 minutes before long event drink 100-200ml of water or fluid
Coffee, tea, caffeine or carbonated beverages must be avoided
References:1. Sports Nutrition for Young Athletes : by Pamela M. Nisevich. Today’s Dietitian, 2008.2. Food for Life : Oliver Gillie
EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine22
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,nkafka jD;a;ShfõoSka fkdj yqÿ ±kqu
muKla w;am;a lr.;a lD;%su ñksiqkA ùuhs'
wOHdmkh hkq ±kqu" l=i,;d"
wdl,Am hk ish¨ wxYhkA flfrys
wjOdkh fhduq lrñkA f,dalhg mßmq¾K
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ñi m%dfhda.sl ±kqu biAu;= lsÍu fkdfõ'
úIh ks¾foaYkg muKla iSudù mj;sk
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ìysjkAfkA yqfolA kHdhdpd¾hjrekA ñi
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wOHdmkh u.skA jD;A;sh m%ùK;djlA
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rgl wOHdmkh bjy,A lr.; hq;af;a
wjidkfhA oS fyd| úpdrYs,s ^Rational& mqrjeisfhl= ìyslsßu i|ydhs' bf.kSfï
oS yd bf.k .ekSfï oS YSIHhd fydA
Ydia;%{hd yodrKq ,nk úIh Odrdj
jeo.;A fkdfõ' jvd;a jeo.;a jkafka
yeoEÍu ;=<oS Tyq fyda weh ;=< ta
flfrys mj;sk lemùu;a" oekqu fidhd
hdfï wdYdj yd l=;=y,h;a muKs'
tkuq;a j¾;udkfhaoS fndfyda fokdf.a
u;h njg m;aj we;af;a Wmdêhl
jákdlu mj;skafka yodrKq ,nk
úIh Odrdfõ njhs' tfy;a f,dalfha
fndfyda kj ksmehqïlrejka fukau"
;nd we;s fujeks hq.hl wOHdmkfha
ld¾hNdrh f,i ie,flkAfkA ±kg
t<U we;s wNsfhda. yd wjYH;d yuqfõ
Bg fkdìhj uqKosh yels ±kqfukA
msßmqkA jD;A;shfõoSkA ìyslsÍuhs' jD;a;sh
wOHdmkh hkq thhs'
wOHdmkh ms<sn|j uE;loS m%ldYs;
cekAiA fvd,¾iA jd¾;dfõ ^Jaques Dollars Learning : The Treasure within&
wOHdmkh ms<sn| m%Odk l=MKq y;rlA
.ek lshfõ'
01' oek.ekSug bf.kSu
^Learning to know&
02' lsÍug bf.kSu
^Learning to do& 03' tlAj Ôj;aùug bf.kSu
^Learning to live together& 04' osúmeje;Aug bf.kSu
ixj¾Okhg ^Sustainable Development& fhduqfjñkA mßirh iqrCIs; jk f,ig
;u Ôú;h yev.iAjd.ekSug iu;Aú;
hq;=h' udkjfhla f,i ish,a,kaf.au
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wOHdmkh hkq thhs' taksid j¾;udk
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wd;au YsCIKfhka fyì Wodr mqoa.,fhl=
fodrg jeäuhs'
- fcdaka rialska -
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ta wkqj ±kqu m%d.aOkh f,i i,lk
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úh hq;=h' th jD;a;ska wruqKq lrf.
ku lrk wOHdmkh fkdfõ' tfia n,k
l< kq;k f,dalfha oS jD;a;Sh wruqKq
lsÍu wOHdmkfha tla mrud¾:hla muKs'
tksid ±kqu mru Okh f,i i,lkafka
kï wOHdmkfha oS jD;a;Suh ch.%yK
isyskhla fkdjkq we;' kúk;u wkdjels
j,g wkqj j¾I 2015 muK jkúg iEu
meh tfld<ylgu jrla mj;akd ±kqu
fo.=Khla jkq we;' 21 jk ishjig md
kj f,dalfha m%d.aOkh hkq
jD; a;sh
±kqu mru Okh f,i i,lkafka kï wOHdmkfha oS
jD;a;Suh ch.%yK isyskhla
fkdjkq we;
23EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine
HR
Team can be defined as a combination of people working for a common goal with a winning attitude, when you consider the most basic way of looking at a team, which is one + one = Team.
Working in a team can be an enormously rewarding experience, which will allow you to fully develop your potential by identifying your strengths and weaknesses. When considering a team a clearly defined purpose should be there at the first place in order to work for it within given time, with given resources. Team members understanding of the goal is one of the key factors for success. Understanding what makes a team effective and being a good team player makes you a more valuable employee as well as increases your chances of enjoyment and satisfaction in your career.
When considering our lives we are abound with examples of teams – from playing Cricket in our early days to workplace successes. Teams are formed to handle projects, processes, designs, solve problems etc.
A team is a group of people coming together to collaborate on a task for which they are mutually accountable; it is not just a collection of people grouped together for administrative convenience. To become a team, a group must have shared responsibility, shared information, unity of purpose, a clearly defined objective and authority (power). A useful team out performs a group and outperforms all reasonable expectations of its individual members. One plus one equals a lot more than two! Good team members are deeply committed to each other’s personal growth and success, as well as that of the
team. Specially, being a part of a team at College level will give you a taste of what you will encounter in your working life. It can be a complete different ball game. However, understanding your role and your responsibility in the team, winning and losing, working under a captain/leader will get you into the path where you will be able to do things right. That will make a team member a leader.
Team members not only co-operate in all aspects of their mutual tasks and goals; they share in what is traditionally thought of as management functions, such as planning, organizing, setting performance goals, assessing performance, developing strategies to manage change and securing their own resources. An ideal team offers three major benefits to an organization.
• It maximizes the orgainisation’s humanresources. Members help and lead each other and share in each other’s successes and failures. Members are more willing to take chances, because they do not shoulder all the blame for failures and they enjoy the group’s successes.
• A team will outperform a group ofindividuals because of synergistic effects of a team.
• There isacontinuous improvement,asteam members pull together and push aside their personal conflicts.
In a successful team, benefits to the individual are less stressful because of shared responsibilities and feelings of involvement and accomplishment result in increased productivity, increased quality of work, increased employee morale, reduced cost, reduced losses and ultimately, increased profits. There are
various types of teams, but as a summary all those can be categorized into 3 groups. Each is different in terms of their structure, behaviour demanded from members, strengths, vulnerabilities, limitations and requirements.
Functional teams – Members work within their principal function or discipline. Primary responsibility for the project passes to the manager of the functional team to whom the team members report to.
Cross-functional teams – A project manager works with a liaison from each function (e.g: - engineering, marketing, etc.) to determine member responsibilities and coordinate team activities. An example is a team organized to review a company’s web design, with members from each department told that they are responsible for representing department interests and they must attend team meetings.
Autonomous teams – Individuals from different functional areas are formally assigned to (and often located with) the project team. The project leader is an influential member in the organization, and has complete control over the responsibilities of team members. The team that is most likely to produce a genuine innovation like the personal computer 15 years ago is probably an autonomous team.
Successful teams are those that make better use of workforce. When individuals at any level of an organization participate in teams, they learn to solve problems as they participate in decision making and develop an understanding of the company’s objectives and work practices.
Team should clarify and identify the cause of conflict, then try to understand each other’s point of view
1 1
By Lasantha De Silva
EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine24
Thus the entire organization, from top to bottom, becomes more skilled. Forming a team requires careful attention. To form an effective team, you must understand its elements as well as when it should be formed and who should be chosen.
An effective team operates in an atmosphere where:
• Thereisacommitmenttotheteamandcommon goals
• Team members co-operate andcollaborate
• There are no procedures for discussionand decision-making
• Communication is open, honest andfrequent
• Thereisaprocessformanagingconflicts
When considering a team, conflict is an inevitable ingredient of the decision-making process, but it can destroy the process if it is not managed correctly. For better output as well as focus the team striding towards a goal must attend to issues then and there. Team should clarify and identify the cause of a conflict, then try to understand each other’s points of view. Finding common goals on which all
members can agree is a step going forward. Then needs to determine on what are the team’s options. Identifying and removing barriers to consensus before finding a solution that everyone can accept is a must. Then you need to make sure that all parties understand what the solution means.
One plus one equals a lot more than two! So in order to make a team, a team role to be identified was the “plant”. The role was so-called because one such individual was “planted” in each team. They tended to be highly creative and good at solving problems in unconventional ways.
One by one, the other team roles began to emerge. The Monitor Evaluator was needed to provide a logical eye, make impartial judgments where required and to weigh up the team’s options in a dispassionate way.
Co-coordinators were needed to focus on the team’s objectives, draw out team members and delegate work appropriately.
When the team was at risk of becoming isolated and inwardly-focused, Resource Investigators provided inside knowledge on the opposition and made sure that the team’s idea would carry to the world outside the team. Implementers
were needed to plan a practical, workable strategy and carry it out as efficiently as possible. Complete Finishers were most effectively used at the end of the task to “polish” and scrutinize the work for errors, subjecting it to the highest standards of quality control.
Team workers helped the team to gel, using their versatility to identify the work required and complete it on behalf of the team. Challenging individuals, known as Shapers, provided the necessary drive to ensure that the team kept moving and did not lose focus or momentum.
It was only after the initial research had been completed that the ninth team role, the “Specialist” emerged. The simulated management exercises had been deliberately set up to require no previous knowledge. In the real world, however, value of an individual with in-depth knowledge of a key area came to be recognized as yet another essential team contribution or a team role.
Just like other team roles, the Specialist also had a weakness: a tendency to focus narrowly on their own subject of choice and to prioritize over the team’s progress.
APIIT Opens Registration for February 2011 Intake
The Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology (APIIT) – Sri Lanka has announced the
commencement of registration of students for the February 2011
intake. The academic activities are scheduled for commencement in February 2011 a after one-week
orientation programme.
Another batch of promising students will begin a unique journey towards acquiring a prestigious internal British Degree awarded by Staffordshire University, UK. Students will go through a rich educational experience, making the journey as important as the destination.
APIIT’s main goal is to contribute to the expansion of higher education opportunities in the country while promoting quality and standards and its relevance to the Industry and Commerce. APIIT works closely with all its stakeholders, particularly APIIT students, their prospective employers and international partners. APIIT has excellent facilities for teaching, learning and a dedicated, competent academic and administration staff, backed by international partners committed to quality education.
The January 2011 intake will enrol students for the Law degree, and the February 2011 Intake will enrol
students for Computing/ IT and Business degree programmes. Registrations will close on reaching the target of 200 students. APIIT wishes to advise prospective students to register early and reserve their places as a ‘first come, first served’ basis applies in terms of registration.
Students and parents are invited to visit the state-of-the-art APIIT City Campus at 388, Union Place, Colombo 02 to find out more about APIIT study programmes. Information may also be obtained over the phone (0112675060) or via [email protected].
We use computers for everything from banking and investing to shopping and communicating with others through email or chat programs. Although you may not consider your communications "top secret," you probably do not want strangers reading your email, using your computer to attack other systems, sending forged email from your computer, or examining personal information stored on your computer (such as financial statements). Data lost due to disasters such as a flood or fire is crushing, but losing it to hackers or a malware infection can have much greater consequences. General idea is that hackers break in to your systems and
do all the above mentioned harmful acts. However, hacker is not that bad. There are several categories of hackers and now a day’s computer hacking is a highly paid occupation as well. www.ehow.com defines hackers as computer enthusiasts who break into remote computer systems, combining the power of Internet and specialized programming skills to bypass sophisticated security systems for their own gain, ignoring any State and Federal laws they break in the process.
However it’s really hard to define or categorize hackers. The problem with them is, they do whatever they want, whenever they want and wherever their
interest guides them. However there are two kinds of hackers who can be identified good ones and the bad ones. Well, the good ones, or ethical hackers also known as white hat hackers are the hackers use their intelligence to serve others. He helps to prevent computer hacking and also tracks down criminals through computer activities. The bad ones or the so called black hat crackers use their knowledge to develop malicious computer programs, viruses and to break in to highly sophisticated security systems. Ethical hackers attempt to use the same methods criminal hackers would use to break into an organization’s systems to expose gaps
It is a “new way of life, with a philosophy, an ethic
and a dream”By Shriwanthi Amarasinghe
Computer Security &Ethical Hacking
IT Savvy
29EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine
in security, which can then be closed. According to www.ehow.com, professional computer hacking are one of the most high paying computer careers.
This requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science or information technology. Often, however, an MBA with a focus in technology is highly preferred. An Ethical Hacker is one name given to a Penetration Tester, who will be usually employed by an organization that trusts him or her to attempt to penetrate networks or computer systems, using the same methods as a hacker. The purpose of this is finding and fixing computer security vulnerabilities of the system. There is lot of professional qualifications available to become an ethical hacker. The Certified Ethical Hacker (CEh), Penetration Testing and Certified Ethical Hacker, Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual (OssTMM) professional security tester and analyst certifications, certified security testing associate/professional and certified forensic investigation analyst qualifications, GPEN - GIAC Certified Penetration Tester, OsCP - Offensive Security Certified Professional, ECsA - EC-Council Certified Security Analyst, CEPT - Certified Expert Penetration Tester, CPTE - Certified Penetration Testing Expert, CPTs - Certified Penetration Testing Specialist, are some of them.
The U.S. Department of Defense this month changed its regulations to allow its own personnel to be trained in computer hacking. The department says “it’s not training personnel to become active hackers against other nations, but rather to understand how they think in an effort to prevent penetration by foreign black hat hackers” according to an article in Time magazine.
Why is it special? The work is highly paid and challenging, though far from glamorous, often requiring days of persistent, repetitive work. The public views about hackers have changed now. It’s not all those bad guys anymore. It’s a world of challenge, attractive income and it’s a highly respected field. People who try to show their skills by breaking into systems uninvited will find themselves blacklisted. Any company will not hire former "criminal" hackers, no matter how talented they are. All those genius computer nerds and geeks are fully welcome to the world of Ethical Hackers! But they should be Geeks with “attitudes”, never to break laws.
It is a “new way of life, with a philosophy, an ethic and a dream”
Happy Hacking!
So you want to learn how to become a professional hacker? (IT Security Personnel)
With some education, training and basic computer skills you can start a career as an ethical hacker for a large corporation or organization. Professional hackers
All those genius computer nerds
and geeks are fully welcome to the world of Ethical
Hackers! But they should be Geeks with “attitudes”, never to
break laws
protect computer systems from hazardous invasions by preventing malevolent hackers from being able to access the network system and do damage. This job requires dedication, formal training, initiative, motivation and continued self-education, but if you're up for the task you can have a great career.
The first step to become a professional hacker is to learn about all the career options, and see where the job opportunities are. Get career information from banks, financial institutions, government organizations, military establishments and private companies, and see what the basic requirements are. You must decide whether you want to specialize in hardware or software, as they require different types of knowledge and training. It would be wise to analyze your strengths and weaknesses when making this decision.
Formal training starts with basic programming language knowledge such as C or Java, so you can read and write code. You'll also need to learn the ins and outs of the Mac OS, Windows and UNIX operating systems if you haven't already. Then you'll be ready to take a professional course in ethical hacking or Internet security and begin doing your own work at home, so you can gain experience controlling situations with hardware and software. And most importantly, you must get professional certifications after completing your formal training, so you are able to apply for the best jobs and get hired. Throughout your career you will also need to continue your education and remain connected to the ethical hacking community to stay on top of your game.
In Sri Lankan market, this is a rising up occupation and the current salary for IT Security personnel varies a lot. Actually IT security jobs depend on not only the educational and professional qualifications, but also on the ability of the individual and experience too.
To find more information about how to become a professional hacker, seek out companies or agencies that already employ professional hackers, and speak with their respective human resources departments.
If you use your computer for some time, you will come across the question "where is it?" meaning "where is that file which I know contains what I am looking for?" Unless you have an organised approach, you will spend much time searching through the clutter on your computer. Spending precious time looking for data can take the pleasure out of any kind of creative work you might be doing. It can add to your stress levels as well. Even if it's just a couple of minutes here and there, it all adds up. Simple good file management habits can hugely simplify your life.
There are added benefits to being organised. For example, your reputation will be enhanced, if when asked for information, you produce it in a few actions, rather than going searching for it.
When it comes to using Windows, please remember that Microsoft keeps trying to make one product suit all people. This means that there are several different ways to achieve the same result. Depending on whether you are a beginner or an advanced user, the way you use Windows will be different. Therefore, it is not advisable to get into ‘lazy’ habits from the beginning. Windows 7 introduces the use of Libraries where the files may be anywhere but the library has a pointer to it. However, even then, you will need to organise the libraries, so you can find what you are looking for.
What follows is common to all versions of Windows and in fact is not software dependent. We explain here what you need to do. Because each person is different their needs are different. So spend some time up front setting up the structures that suit YOU, to make your life easier and more fulfilling.
File Management
File management is not a computer speciality. Digital files are no different from paper files, and when you have a good method of organisation, things don’t get lost quite so easily. Any librarian will tell you that the problem of saving information is not in the filing but in the retrieval afterwards.
In a library if all the books were placed next to each other in a long row, imagine how long it would take to find a particular book. That is why we classify them and put them in separate areas. When storing clothes, if you put them all in one large drawer, finding a particular piece of clothing could take a long time and disturb the other clothes as well. That is why we separate them and put them in different drawers.
With books and clothes we can see what we are looking for and where they are kept. With computer files we can only see the name, until you open the file to see what is inside. So, the name is very important. When you eventually find the file you want and open it you may find the contents are not what you were looking for after all.
Basics of files
So, we can see that there are three things of importance in dealing with files, namely the location of the file, the identity (name) and some specific contents. There are two kinds of files on your computer - program files (which do not change, and should be left alone) and data files (which contain the results of your actions in using the programs). Within data files, there are different types, depending on the program that understands how to manipulate them. These files may be saved in groups called Folders, like drawers in a cabinet. A folder
can contain many levels of sub-folders as well. Let us start with Location. Most folders are normally kept on the main hard drive of your computer. You may elect otherwise, but we will come to that later.
Naming
File naming is the foundation of file management. In order to find files later, it is a essential to adopt consistent methods for naming files and folders. It would also help if you define names that will prompt your memory, based on some aspect of why you are saving the file. All guidelines on file names apply equally to folder names.
Although software may allow you to have long names, it is not a good idea to do this as they are harder to read quickly. Keep file names short by using common abbreviations, such as "Mtg" for meeting or "Actg" for accounting etc.
The computer is dumb, so make sure your spelling is consistent, If you use an ‘e’ instead of an ‘a’ for example ‘week’ for ‘weak’, it may be difficult to find the file. It does not matter how you mix capital and simple letters. Special characters are not allowed, so stick to the alphanumeric set.
Adopt a folder structure and separate out topics by naming the folder appropriately. It is best to name your folders according to the type of work or project you are doing just as in paper filing
Where is it?Where Is It?Spending precious time looking for data can take the pleasure out of any kind of creative work you might be doing. It can add to your stress levels as well. Even if it's just a couple of minutes here and there, it all adds up. Simple good file management habits can hugely simplify your life
By Nalin Goonewardene
EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine32
IT Savvy
of documents in a docket with a label saying what is contained inside. Again, keep your names short. Divide your main folders into subfolders by subject area.
Software will normally display file/folder names in alphabetical order. If you need to retain the names but change the order in which they are displayed, put a number in front to keep the order you desire, while keeping the names meaningful.
For example, folders with names such as Actions, Backups, Current, Downloads, will be shown in this order. However, to file in a different meaningful order use numbers such as 1-Current, 2-Actions, 3-Downloads, 4-Backups if it makes more sense.
If you want to keep some files together without creating another folder, start each file name with a code, such as GR to indicate GREEN TOPICS. Do not capitalise entire file names as they are not easily readable, but use capitals as in normal usage.
Saving
Saving files on your computer is similar to the way you store and manage your paper files. So store the information in folders – by category, and in a sequence that makes sense to you. Here are some tips to follow:
Update file properties
Before saving a file update its properties for Author, Title and Subject. That way, when you move the mouse over the file name it will show these values which may help you to identify if this is the file you want.
Avoid saving unnecessary documents
Be selective in what you keep. Think before you save anything. Glance through the content, and save only that which is relevant for you. Having unwanted data on your computer adds to clutter and makes it harder to find things in the future – and it may, over time, also slow down
your computer's performance.
Avoid large folder structures
If you need to put so many subfolders in a folder that you can't see all of them at a glance, consider changing your folder structure. It is easy to miss something if you have to keep scrolling to see the entire contents.
Store related documents together, whatever their type
For example, store Word documents, presentations, spreadsheets, and graphics related to a particular project in a single folder - rather than having one folder for presentations for all projects, another for spreadsheets, and so on. This way, it is much quicker to find, open, and attach documents for a particular project. Remember, there are two ways of opening a file, by using a program
All hackers know about the default storage locations
so it is easy to write programs to access
these once they have access to your
computer. It is a wise measure not
to use these default locations to store files permanently.
Then they have to go searching for where
it is and what it is called
- like Word or by clicking a document created by Word.
Storage Locations, Privacy and Security
Unless you say otherwise, Microsoft programs save your files in a folder called ‘Documents’ or ‘My Documents’. This is not the case with saving files from other programs or the Internet. Most programs have a feature to define a ‘default’ storage location, that is where files will be stored automatically. You can change this to suit your convenience, so you do not have to save all files in ‘Documents’.
All hackers know about the default storage locations so it is easy to write programs to access these once they have access to your computer. It is a wise measure not to use these default locations to store files permanently. Then they have to go searching for where it is and what it is called. So if your file name is ‘Main Accounts’ stored in a default location and it has all details of your accounts, you are at risk and vulnerable to any hacker attack. Remember most programs are not intuitive like humans, so even the best anti-virus, anti-spam and other ‘protection’ programs cannot help you ALWAYS, as they will not know about the new techniques hackers are using.
If you use your computer for sensitive material such as finances, it is a good idea to permanently store these files on a pen drive. You may work with them on your hard disk or the pen drive, but when you finish, make sure the updated files are on the pen drive and delete those on the hard disk. This is a precaution in case your computer breaks down, and your sensitive information is not available to repairers and others. When you delete use the shift key to permanently delete instead of moving to trash.
Try not to save account numbers on the same drive as account details by giving the accounts your own names. This way, if files fall into hackers hands they still cannot get at your money. Needless to say, you should make regular backups to have
a separate copy of your working files.
EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine32
33EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine
Finding and Viewing files
When we look for files, we look for names, which are usually displayed in alphabetical order, so being completely familiar with the English alphabet will help speed up the process. Although files are saved in alphabetical order, it may sometimes help to view them in a different order when searching for something. Clicking 'sort by' from the View menu enables selection of different orders for viewing such as by name, date, size, ascending, descending etc . This does not change the order in which files are saved. Selecting 'name' restores the view to be alphabetical.
When looking for a file it may also help to ‘choose details’ from the View menu to select what you want to see about the files. There are many details that can be selected such as name, date modified, size etc. These selections are placed on buttons within the file display window so you can easily switch between them to find what you are looking for. When looking for pictures, photos and graphical items, use thumbnails or icons from the View menu. For general use do not view files as thumbnails because they take up a lot of space, making it difficult to view many files at a glance. Instead use List from the View menu.
Another way of finding a file you have used recently is to look at ‘My Recent Documents’ or ‘Recent’ depending on which version of Windows you are using. Also, Microsoft Office Programs can give you a list of recently used files when you open the program. Finally, if you cannot find the file within your folder structure, you can use the 'search' or ‘find’ facility using various characteristics of the file - too many to be outlined here. Be warned that this will take time, so it should be your last resort.In general, many of these options may be unnecessary if the files
are named well and stored in meaningful folder structures.
Conclusion
You owe it to yourself to file effectively, however boring this may seem. But for any system to be useful and effective, it must also be convenient for you. To some extent, this depends on the nature of your work and how you use your computer.
So, although there's no single solution to good file management, we hope that by customizing the tips above to serve your needs, you will never again wonder "where is it?"
IIT proved through their recent success stories, that they turn out students who highly employable and widely recognized as the best in the field.
IIT has won a series of prestigious awards. The gold award was won at the National Best Quality Software Awards (NBQSA) by Mohomed Hamzeen, in the tertiary category. This is the second time in succession IIT won the Gold Award. Last year Lahiru Lakmal Priyadarshana, won the Gold award in the tertiary category, as well as the award for the Best Product developed using Open Source Tools for his iDisplay project. Another student of IIT Amani Soysa was awarded the Bronze award for her Chord a Tune project. Lahiru and Amani won these awards competing with the cream of software engineering students from more than five state universities and private institutes.
IIT offers the BSc(Hons) in Business Information Systems and The BEng(Hons) in Software Engineering degree, affiliated with the prestigious University of Westminster UK. IIT has an excellent campus environment, with a state of the art library and well equipped laboratories. Their computing faculties are linked to the intranet of the University of Westminster, enabling students to access the digital library, lecture material and past papers.
The lecture panel comprises industry experienced lecturers who employ a diverse range of teaching strategies including case studies, video presentations and project work. These teaching methods are used to develop students' knowledge, skills and ability to identify and solve real world problems.
INFORMATICS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (IIT)
WINS PRESTIGIOUS AWARDS
EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine34
The Boss and I are Me
Three keys to entrepreneurial success
Passion, Innovation and Thinking BigBy Sharlene De Chickera
Harsha Purasinghe, 36, is a young Entrepreneur in the field of ICT who pursued his school-boy dream of engaging in an IT related business. Little did he realize that his passion for innovative ideas would make him a successful businessman and earn him global recognition.
Harsha founded Microimage in 1993, at the age of 19 while studying at Ananda College with few other students. The company grew by trial and error and more than 10 years after its inception, Harsha was crowned as the “Most outstanding entrepreneur in IT/BPO industry in Sri Lanka” in 2007, in due recognition of his professionalism.
His company has received many accolades since then, both local and global, including the inaugural “GSMA Asia Mobile Innovation Award”, receiving commendation at “GSM World Awards” and being “Runners-up at the Asia Pacific ICT Awards”. (APICTA)
He shares with us his success story and gives young entrepreneurs an insight into the future of ICT and the role Sri Lanka can play. To be a successful entrepreneur, one need “passion”, “innovation and “think-big”, Harsha, strongly states. He also says pragmatically that an entrepreneur needs cash for business, without which you cannot run a business, but cautions against having any fancyful expenses at the outset.
Harsha recalls how his team developed Sinhala fonts, experimented and added innovations, such as a spell-checker, to have an edge over the competition. Talking about the transformation of his company Microimage, Harsha says that from being unknown to known in the marketplace, branding is of paramount importance, saying that it is vital in an industry like IT, where piracy is common-place. “An entrepreneur has to be sharp enough to grab opportunities that come one’s way”, Harsha says, recalling a breakthrough business he devised by innovating a ‘time-attendance’ system, which was marketed to garment factory owners. It was a pay-
roll software for running on Windows, which gave an impetus to the garment industry, while giving him good business. He also stated that while ‘growing-up’ in the industry, he benchmarked his products against IT giants like Microsoft, and developed an attitude that always made his team stretch.
“Along the way, we learnt the art of customer care. I employed people who were best in the field, who can keep abreast of the competition and deliver. I am also proud to say that my friends from school days have stood by me in good times and bad.”
Moving on as an entrepreneur, Harsha’s company became the first company to 1st 100% web based enterprise HRIS software in Sri Lanka.
Microimage became the first South East Asian company to delve into “enterprise radio automation”. This initiative reached for higher goals in 2004 when Microimgae moved onto mobile localization platform partnering with prestigious global firms like Microsoft
An entrepreneur has to be sharp enough to grab
opportunities that come one’s way
Red-Burn and local authority in ICT the ICT Agency.
“What we endeavoured to do was to empower people to send messages in their local languages”, he said, highlighting that they wanted to take away the fear of using IT savvy products. Harsha re-counted the devastating Tsunami in 2004, saying that they were instrumental in devising disaster and emergency warning systems which are used in natural cataclysms such as Tsunamis. Innovated with the desire to help humanity, this product has won many accolades locally and globally. Harsha also says that he was humbled to be able to learn from Michael Porter in his Executive MBA classroom, at Harvard Business School.
“This field has taken me around the world. I have met many high-profile people, and have been privileged to be at many global awards. One such moment was meeting Craig Barret, Chairman of Intel in Sri Lanka, where I had to meet him in front of an audience of 750 top corporate personalities”, he reminiscences.
He has met many well-known personalities in the corporate world, but has not lost his love for Sri Lanka and the rural youth, as he visits different towns in Sri Lanka regularly to share knowledge of his IT related products.
These are random thoughts of a successful entrepreneur, who was once a nervous school-boy who lost the opportunity to enter a university. Being without an avenue to go to a university, he pursued his passion and dream of reaching great heights in the IT industry.
From smaller beginnings at his father’s office room, Harsha and his team have evolved from being small to reaching global heights. “Do what you love and work with a passion; and sky’s the limit”, says Harsha.
“That is what young people should aim for. To be truly Sri Lankan, yet compete on an international platform, and turn your ideas into innovations that help people and give you great returns too”.
EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine34
35EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine
The days of having a single professional qualification to get one’s foot in the corporate door are coming to an end; in today’s competitive job market, having more qualifications means having a sharper edge that will take you further up the ladder faster.
What we offerQualification For whom Useful Information
ACCA Professional Qualification
Post A/L students and graduates who want to purse a globally mobile career as a finance professional
Exams - Comprise 14 papers, 9 of which are available for exemptions depending upon the relevancy of your current academic achievements.Ethics - Students need to complete an online ethics module prior to applying for membership.Experience - 3 years relevant practical experience during, before or after exams.
Certified Accounting Technician (CAT)
Students over 16 years of age
CAT provides an early start to the young student who can use CAT as a foundation for the ACCA Professional qualification or as the basis for seeking employment in account support roles.
BSc (Hons) in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes University UK
ACCA Professional scheme students
Students who complete the Skills level of the ACCA examinations can submit a research project and complete an ethics module in order to obtain the degree. The research project is marked by the Oxford Brookes University and the marks of the ACCA papers are taken in to account when awarding the degree.
Contact the ACCA Sri Lanka #424, R A De Mel Mawatha, Colombo 3.
Community forestry has contributed to restoring forest resources in Nepal. Forests account for almost 40 per cent of the land in the country. Although this area was decreasing at an annual rate of 1.9 per cent during the 1990s, this decline was reversed, leading to an annual increase of 1.35 per cent over the period 2000 to 2005.
Community forestry occupies a central place in forest management in Nepal. In this approach, local users organized as Community Forest User Groups (CFUGs) take the lead and manage resources, while the government plays the role of supporter or facilitator. Forest management is a community effort and entails little financial or other involvement on the part of the government.
37EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine
Green Economy
FOREST MANAGEMENT
IN NEPAL
Since 1980, about 14,000 CFUGs have been formed. About one-fourth of Nepal’s national forest is now managed by more than 35 per cent of the total population. Community forestry is now the second-largest forest management regime after government-managed forests.
Forest user groups develop their own operational plans, set harvesting rules, set rates and prices for products, and determine how surplus income is distributed or spent. There is evidence of significant improvement in the conservation of forests (both increased area and improved density) and enhanced soil and water management.
Benefits from community forestry managementThe advantages of community forestry include employment and income generation from forest protection, tree felling and log extraction, as well as non-timber forest products. Additional
economic benefits are in the form of sustained wood fuel sources, which contribute more than three-quarters of energy needs to households. Improved forest management and cover also contribute to nature conservation. Community forestry promotes inclusive growth. Some community forest activities have initiated a scholarship programme for low income people, as well as savings and credit operations among members, including loans to finance income generation activities. Community forestry also empowers CFUGs with greater influence over decision making through participation in planning and management.
Policies to protect deforestation
The Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation (MFSC), as the lead institution for creating an enabling environment for forest resource management, has implemented two policies, including Community Forestry and the Leasehold Forestry Policy,
that have helped the government of Nepal achieve significant success in forest conservation and environmental protection. The Master Plan for the Forestry Sector prepared in 1989, the Forest Act of 1993, the Forest Regulations of 1995, and the Forestry Sector Policy of 2000 were developed and implemented to support the community forestry programme, after earlier efforts at centralized control. The Forest Act and Forest Rules accelerated the transfer of forests to forest user groups; they provide the legal basis for the implementation of community forestry and recognize CFUGs as “self-governing autonomous corporate bodies for managing and using community forests”.
The remarkable turnaround in forest management in Nepal is directly attributable to the benefits generated for community groups, in the form of environmental goods, services and welfare enhancements.
Courtesy : United Nations Environment Programme (2010)
EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine38
Green Careers
38
Exciting New Opportunities By Nalin Goonewardene
Introduction
One of the fastest growing areas in careers and jobs is in Green Professions - primarily in the developed world. This is because the public demand that major organisations do something positive towards developing a sustainable living environment. They want a long term future for their children and a healthier life style for themselves.
This has lead to the creation of new jobs supported by areas of study attached to existing disciplines in many professional areas such as law, engineering, agriculture etc. New jobs and careers are being offered in these areas with good starting salaries and future prospects as the industry is set to grow, despite the economic turmoil of recent years.
There are some opportunities to advance careers in the ‘green professions’ in Sri Lanka, but the most exciting and lucrative ones are overseas. Here we examine what it means to students who want to embark on such careers, taking a look at just two professions - The Environmental Engineer and The Environmental Lawyer.
The Environmental Engineer
Environmental engineering is not a new subject by itself, though the scope is deep and wide regarding the environment. A person without a basic engineering background in Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English etc. would be unable to follow and understand the new subject areas sufficiently well to qualify and be successful in practice.
Below, we provide a brief outline of some environmental areas and their significant factors, to give an idea of the scope that is covered including methods on dealing with these factors, and conforming to existing/new standards and laws.
Courses may also cover various professional subjects e.g. works and cost management, transportation engineering, irrigation engineering, hydraulics,
environmental engineering and earthquake technology etc. to gain specific higher qualifications. These courses are offered in many developed and even developing countries such as India. The areas covered will depend on the course.
Some Environmental Areas covered are:
Air Pollution and Control Methods
The sources of pollution and their types, effects on human beings, global effects,
particular control devices and general methods of controlling gaseous emissions.
Special Treatment Methods
Absorption, reverse osmosis, de-fluoridation, Ion exchange, ultra filtration.
Theories of Industrial Waste Treatment
Volume and strength reduction, neutralisation, equalization, proportioning, nitrification and denitrification, removal of Phosphates.
Solid Waste Management
The sources, composition and properties, collection and handling, separation and processing.
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39EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine
Green Careers
Solid Waste Disposal Methods
Land filling, incineration composting.
Hazardous Waste
Definition disposal and control methods for nuclear, biomedical, chemical waste, effluent standards.
Noise Pollution
Effects of noise and control methods, air emission and effluent standards, air standards as well as environment protection.
Engineering continues to be a vibrant sector with strong demand in some traditional sectors and growing demand in newer, emerging ones. Engineering Institutes predict an increasing demand for skills in the development of environmental technologies to reduce carbon emissions, provide sustainable energy supplies, develop new techniques and materials for construction and to sustain sanitation and waste management.
The United Nations Environment Programme expects the value of such products and services to reach nearly £2000 billion by 2020, but both the Confederation of British Industry and the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory have identified a serious lack of engineers as a major problem now and into the immediate future. Australia is already desperately short of highway engineers, geotechnical engineers and hydro-geologists for their huge infrastructure developments.
It is estimated that about 50% of experienced engineers are due to retire within the next 10-15 years in the western world which will add to the shortage and increase the demand for environmental engineers.
Be aware though that there is strong competition from those who have already embarked on the exciting opportunities available. A new source of competition is from the increasing number of girls taking ICT, physics and technology, maths, chemistry and biology and outperforming boys in general at ‘A’ Level in these subjects.
The Environmental Lawyer
Environmental Law is new, in the world of practicing law. In layman terms, traditionally, budding lawyers studied 'law subjects', dealing primarily with non-physical entities. In the new world of environmental law, there is a need to have a good background regarding environmental issues, which mainly deal
with physical entities. Also, the law itself is comparatively 'new' and undergoing constant evolutionary change. Another difference is that the law is heavily balanced towards dealing with corporations, and not so much with individuals.
Further courses cover many diverse aspects of environmental law such as waste permitting, water law, liability for contaminated land, health and safety and environmental compliance for various industries.
A practicing environmental lawyer may have to deal with other diverse aspects such as:
• ensuringcorrectpermitsareinplaceforregulatory and compliance issues
• regulatoryissuesonpolicydevelopmentand strategic advice to companies
• assessingenvironmentalrisk
• risk apportionment on corporate andproperty transactions
• prosecutionsrelatingtopollution
• defendingprosecutions
• healthandsafety
• environmentalduediligence
So are these careers for you?
These careers have a strong future. It is now understood worldwide that environmental issues have to be taken seriously and that the world must work together to provide sustainable living for all concerned. Meantime, the world population is growing and there will be an increased need for the basics of food, clothing and shelter, as well as energy, transport, employment, etc. All this with adequate protection of the environment.
Therefore, the need for skilled qualified engineers and lawyers (among others) will increase as will the ability to grow with the changes that are to come, and their attendant rewards.
So if you want to ride the wave of change, this is for you.
However, a word of warning. Many of the leading developments, study courses, qualifications and jobs will be outside Sri Lanka, at least in the near future. It is not everyone’s desire to leave family and friends in this paradise island for harsher climates of weather and industry in lands far away. Then there is the chance that with greater rewards you may never come back. Finally, there is the cost. Not everyone can afford to take up these challenges abroad. But if you can deal with these issues, and are adaptable, a promising future awaits you.
We hope that this brief overview gives an insight into two of the exciting new opportunities for careers in Green Professions that you may decide to investigate.
Therefore, it may sound strange but, science is good for law - where environmental disputes are concerned. A scientific background (particularly in biology or chemistry) provides a scientific approach to analysis and problem solving, which helps in bringing together the strands of an argument resulting from legal research, to advise clients who expect complex ideas to be communicated clearly and concisely. A scientific background also helps in speaking the same environmental language as the clients and understanding issues from a practical as well as legal perspective. In addition, much time is spent using online databases and search engines for research, as well as to keep in touch with changes, so acquired IT skills will prove to be invaluable.
The UK offers a CPE (Common Professional Examination) or GDL (Graduate Diploma in Law) which can be followed by the LPC/BVC professional exams to enable scientists to become lawyers.
The CPE/GDL are law conversion courses for graduates of other disciplines. Although they have different titles, there is no difference between them in core content and professional accreditation. Both courses allow progression to the Legal Practice Course (LPC) for solicitors, or the Bar Vocational Course (BVC) for barristers. The CPE/GDL gives an intensive, year-long foundation in core legal knowledge and skills. The course doesn’t cover the full range of subjects available on a three-year degree programme, but it provides the skills and methodologies to pick these up later.
New jobs and careers are being offered in
these areas with good starting salaries
and future prospects as the industry is set to grow, despite the economic turmoil of
One such incident dawned with the 175th anniversary celebrations of Royal College. Laying special emphasis on “green initiatives” of the Edex Think Green committee, the Interact Club of Royal College joined to initiate a rain water harvesting scheme at the college premises in August.
The motive was to harvest rain water in an eco friendly manner which otherwise merely flows away without being made use of, to water the plants grown by the agriculture students. Two tanks each with a capacity of 8000 litres were set up during the August vacation, to harvest rain water emanating from roofs of adjoining buildings. The water is collected from rooftop gutters and sent to an above ground Ferro-cement tank, located closely. As
existing gutters were not designed for this type of a project gutters were thoroughly cleaned and prepared. From the tanks, harvested water is routed to the cultivated area.
Construction of tanks were carried out by professionals of the National Rainwater institute of Sri Lanka, ably assisted by young interactors without being mindful of getting their hands dirty. Daily, 5 Interactors attended the work site for one week to help with the construction work.
Interactors express a special thank you to the Edex Think Green committee and Rain Water Harvesting department of Sri Lanka for the support and guidance given throughout the project.
Global warming, green house gases, carbon dioxide, ozone depletion have all become common topics since of late. People are experiencing the repercussions of careless disregard paid to the environment in the past and suffer greatly from consequences of such actions. Yet, it is still not too late and some are contributing in their own little ways to reverse such drastic consequences.
Design of the RWH System
Interactors busy with construction work
Tanks being completed
Two tanks each with a capacity of 8000 litres were set up during the August vacation
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45EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine
A Principal's Perspective
Career Guidance - Vital for Youth
Career guidance should be based on a number of considerations such as the country’s socio-economic requirements and development goals, while fulfilling hopes, expectations and aspirations of a youthful population aged between 15 to 30 years seeking education and employment. A realistic information and knowledge based approach would be best. Furthermore, this delicate operation of advising the young by way of career guidance should be honest and sincere, and handled by trained, highly motivated service-oriented individuals who have the interests of guidance seekers and their future at heart.
It should not be based on financial considerations mainly by interested educational institutions and universities to lure desperate students into degrees or their equivalent with little long-term value to them once they return home or seek less attractive jobs abroad.
Career guidance has become vital in Sri Lanka today as with free education great numbers of students are being educated raising expectation levels to incredible heights. The chiefly academic nature of this education is visible in the thousands
Career guidance advisors shall carefully asses present and future opportunities well in advance
By Sandamali Aviruppala, Principal, Visakha Vidyalaya
who sit GCE O’Level and A/L exams apart from school drop outs.
Sri Lanka’s population at Independence was approximately 7 to 8 million. Today 60 years later it is near 20 million. In this context the demand for education, employment, skills-training, self-employment etc., is enormous. The wealth-gap between rural youth and wealthy newly-rich, newly-educated commercial business class is extremely wide, almost unbridgeable. Unplanned, ad hoc development is causing hardship, poverty and disillusionment, in which the 1970 youth uprising and the 30 years of Northern war had the same root cause.
Students today are fast becoming a ‘lost’ generation, trying everything and anything in the hope that some small window of opportunity may open. The more specific avenues of conventional employment as medicine, engineering, accountancy, legal and teaching professions are fast becoming saturated with dwindling opportunities and recession. At this juncture a very realistic approach to career guidance is vital. In keeping with economic
realities other avenues of opportunity could be opened up. Middle-level skills training of electricians, plumbers, masons, carpenters are opportune for these vital skills.
Self-employment in tailoring, clothing, the food industry has helped a few lucky ones. The hospitality trade and travel has helped others. Absorption by the private sector requires a working knowledge of English, while the public sector is top heavy and closed. In this context engaging in career guidance requires a serious evaluation of types of education in demand, school drop-out levels and an honest examination of real opportunities available, to diversify and encourage job seekers into less explored avenues of employment.
Career guidance can be effective if it is able to win the trust of guidance seekers. For that advisors need to do their home-work of a realistic evaluation and assessment of youth’s demands, expectations and opportunities provided by the current status of economy and future development plans.
V FOR VENDETTA sTEVE MOORERemember, Remember, The Fifth of November...
This is the setting for the story of Evey, a young woman who is saved from death by a masked vigilante calling himself only V
Imagine a Britain without Democracy, a world of the not so distant future, in which freedom is not lost, but surrendered willingly to a totalitarian regime that rose to power by exploiting the people's worst fears and damning weaknesses. This is the setting for the story of Evey, a young woman who is saved from death by a masked vigilante calling himself only V. Beguiling and dangerous, V ignites a fuse of revolution when he urges his fellow citizens to wake up and shed the blanket of tyranny and oppression in which they have permitted themselves to be cloaked... As a story that emerged from a graphic novel in the Eighties, to an award winning Best-seller, to an Oscar winning blockbuster, V for Vendetta is by far one of the best pieces of fiction I have read. For an eighteen year old like me, who has no concept of how the world works and how deep things run in a country, this fantastic work of fiction was an eye opener. What captures me the most is the fact that the main character in this novel, who wears a Guy Fawkes mask throughout the story, is not a person, but a mere idea! The subtle yet astoundingly extravagant way in which Steve Moore has managed to transform an idea in the name of “V” into a reason why an entire nation stands up for itself is just astonishing. The story follows V's one year plan of eradicating an entire system of governance, and while those in power try to neutralize the
threat, police pursue the mystery of V, unaware of the truth that awaits them at the end. It is Evey, however, who with V as her enigmatic guide, sets out on the most painful path of all: a journey of deception and self-discovery. Her transformation is what makes this novel even more unique, as it breaks away from the genre of being just another fictitious political babbling. The story addresses both the issues of England in a time of crisis as well as Evey, with dire need of help to stand up for herself. It is fantastic to note how Steve Moore has managed to intertwine two very different social dilemmas into one novel, with V, who is in its literal sense, more of an idea than a man, acting as a bridge between the issues. The story moves into all aspects of British politics, including other countries such as the United States of America (who in the context of this novel, is united no more) and addresses what most writers would chose to ignore. At the same time, the story is a deep insight into a man who has been tortured through and through, both by his own life and the country which he is now trying to revolutionize and now has made himself to represent an idea rather than a personality, and therefore lives a life of seclusion. The journey that his only acquaintance, Evey, goes through, while all this is happening, adds to the story's deep sense of self retribution in a way that one wouldn't expect. The novel, with its close historic resemblance and references to how current issues in the world can actually grow out to be
bigger disasters than we would expect them to become in future, captures the reader's mind to question whether the steps taken as a thriving society to solve problems is actually the right steps to be taken.
The novel takes us through a fantastic journey of two individuals who lived two very different lives for two different purposes of life, but both being unable to coexist without each other. It deserves your time to read if you are willing to open your mind into a world that may seem ordinary, but as Steve Moore shows, actually isn't. It is of value to read this story about a man who wore a Guy Fawkes mask to lay his path of deconstruction and recreation, and to make his voice heard through vindication and vengeance...
EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine48
By Kaushika Jayalath
49EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine
Educational Movies that will delight you!
Mr. Holland’s Opus A teacher belatedly discovers the significance of his contribu-tion to society in this emotional drama. Glenn Holland (Richard Dreyfuss) is a man who has a deep love of music, and a desire to compose one memorable piece of music to leave his mark on the world. However, playing piano in cocktail lounges while he works on his own compositions doesn't pay the bills, so in 1965, he reluctantly accepts a job as a high school music teacher, teaching a class on Music Appreciation. Over the next 30 years, Holland teaches a great deal about music and life to the thousands of kids who pass through the classes he teaches and the bands he directs. However, his commitment to his profession pulls him farther away from his family, and leaves him with no time to work on his ”American Symphony”.(1995) Running Time: 143 min
Stand and Deliver (1988) Edward James Olmos portrays the real-life Jaime Escalante, a no-nonsense mathematics teacher in a tough East LA high school. Given a classroom full of "losers" and "unteachables," Escalante is determined to turn his young charges' lives around. Drawing from his own cultural heritage, Escalante forms a bond with his largely Hispanic student body, by invoking the names of famous Spaniards and Latin Americans whose great accomplishments were predicated on their ability to learn. The students gradually come to realize that the only way they'll escape their own poverty stricken barrio is to improve themselves intellectually.
1988: Running Time: 103 min
Dead Poet’s Society In 1959, the Welton Academy is a staid but well-respected prep school where education is a pragmatic and very serious affair. However, this atmosphere soon changes when a new teacher ar-rives at the school. John Keating (Robin Williams) uses uncon-ventional methods to inspire his students into seeing the world in a different light and going against the norm, to think for them-selves and do what they truly want to do, instead of what their parents decide would be best for them. Keating’s free - thinking attitude and the liberating philosophies of the authors he intro-duces to his class have a profound effect on his students.
(1989) Running Time: 129 min
Freedom Writers Hilary Swank stars in this gripping story of inner city kids raised on hard-core attitude and the teacher who gives them the one thing they need most: a voice of their own. Dropped into the free-fire zone of a school torn by violence and racial tension, teacher Erin Gruwell battles an uncaring system in a fight to make the classroom matter in her students lives. Telling their own stories, and hearing the stories of others, a group of suppos-edly "unteachable" teens will discover the power of tolerance, reclaim their shattered lives, and change their world.
(2007): Running Time: 122 min
Movie Review
49EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine
EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine50
CROS
SWOR
D NO
2C
RO
SS
WO
RD
NO
2
Across
1. Remittance (Money) in payment3. A Hollow container to hold liquids6. Oliver Twist asked for this7. Put (Data) into a computer8. Natural Satellite of any planet10. Furrow11. Dance to Pop Music13. An indefinite and very long period15. New or unusual18. Be editor of a Newspaper19. A sum offered for detection of a criminal
Down
1. Warmest season of the year2. A cherished ambition or ideal3. Animal doctor4. Come to a halt5. (Of a ship) lean over to one side7. Information9. A semi-transparent precious stone12. A person engaged to carry luggage14. Female relative15. At a short distance away16. Aspect17. Modern
Note
1 2 3 4 5
6
7
8 9
10 11 12
13 14
15 16
17 18
19 20
The first correct entry eill receive a prize of Rs. 1,000/- Send all your entries to the Editor, Edex+Plus Magazine, Edex Secretariat, Royal College Union, Rajakeeya Mawatha, Colombo 07. "Please Mark "Crossword 02" on the top left hand corner of the envelope.
EDEX the pioneering higher education and careers exhibition in Sri Lanka is organized by Royal College Union attracting the largest and most diverse number of local and overseas participants held annually in Colombo and Kandy.
The 8th EDEX expo will be held on January 22nd, 23rd & 24th 2011 at BMICH Colombo and on January 26th & 27th at the Kandy City Centre respectively under its theme for 2011, “Be Wise, EDEX-Wise”.
Since its inception, the EDEX exhibition has offered the youth choices, options and opportunities in the education market, and had a strong impact in directing the focus and re-defining the attitudes of youth, to make the correct choices in higher education and skills development.
Thus the EDEX platform is the ideal point of convergence for youth to meet and discuss their future in education and careers. The EDEX-2011 exhibition will provide youth wider choices and options in education and technical training, to empower them the right knowledge, qualifications and skills necessary to excel in their chosen careers.
The local University system in Sri Lanka finds it difficult to provide the necessary higher education to a larger number of students and the slots available in the local universities are limited, even though there are a higher number of talented and intelligent students eligible for university entrance.
The EDEX exhibition exposes youth to world class education and training options which will lead to gainful employment, thereby creating a task force who could gainfully contribute towards economic development of the country. By having two exhibitions in two locations, a larger group of youth will have access to the host of choices.
Options for youth to consider include the traditional and also new careers emerging in the market place, which are contributory to the new economic developmental goals of the Government, such as the BPO and KPO. Emerging fields such as Nanotechnology is also a brand new career for youth to consider.
The opportunity for youth is up for grabs! EDEX-2011 promises to be catalyst in changing attitudes and creating career paths for the youth of Sri Lanka to benefit wisely.
EDEX 2011 offers youth prosperity in the New Year and beyond
EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine54
EDEX Notes
55EDEX+Plus Careers Magazine
EDEX Notes
Read the trilingual e-version @
www.edex.lk
Pix shows the Chairman of EDEX+Plus Mr. Kamal Abeysinghe, presenting the first publication to the Hon. Minister of Education, Mr. Bandula Goonewardene, at the Education Ministry. Principal, Royal College, Mr. Upali Gunasekera looks on.
‘EDEX+Plus’ the pioneering Careers Magazine launched in October 2010
EDEX+Plus Sri Lanka’s pioneering Education and Career
Guidance Magazine, for youth was launched in October 2010.
“EDEX+Plus is a vehicle, the first of its kind to reach out to the aspiring youth, especially the senior students and school leavers in rural areas. Its features are carefully designed to motivate and help them to make informed decisions for lifelong academic and career attainments”, Chairman of EDEX Expo and EDEX+Plus, Mr. Kamal Abeysinghe, stated, highlighting
the scope and outreach of the magazine.
EDEX+Plus aims to educate readers on the choices, options and opportunities in the realm of education, technical and vocational training, leading to gainful employment available in the market.
“The contents of the EDEX+Plus with its selected theme pages have been designed to capture insights into segments such as Careers, Education, IT, HR, Creativity, Innovation, Aesthetics, Campus Life, ‘Think Green’, youth activities to name a few. A number of
interactive themes for all young readers are also included’, Sharlene De Chickera, the Editor emphasized.
EDEX+Plus, is endorsed and supported by the Ministry of Education is an ideal platform which can be used by educational service providers and corporate establishments who wish to promote their services targeting youth in a responsible manner. They can also use it for corporate image building, CSR initiatives or even recruitment and training.