Creative & Cultural Skills
27 November 2009

Tom Bewick, Group Chief Executive, Creative & Cultural Skills, is this week visiting Sri Lanka as the guest of the British Council and the Sri Lankan government. He has given two keynote speeches on the role of the UK’s sector skills councils to both government and industry audiences, culminating in a visit to the opening of the Sri Lanka Design Festival in Colombo. The Skills Policy Dialogue and Skills Summit took place on 26 and 27 November in the capital.

Speaking to government ministers, industry and educational audiences, Tom Bewick said:

“It is fantastic to be invited to this dynamic and ambitious country. I’m particularly pleased to see too that you also recognise that in an increasingly global economy, education and training systems need to be far more attuned to industry demands and competitiveness. There is no better example, in my view, than the role industry-led sector skills bodies are playing throughout the industrialised world in turning this vision into reality. With my colleague, Brian Wisdom, Chief Executive, People 1st (the Sector Skills Council for hospitality and tourism) we are delighted to share with Sri Lankan colleagues the experience of the UK’s sector skills councils. Between us, the UK’s network of independent SSCs represent 90% of the UK’s workforce. For every £1 of public funding, on average, we deliver another £12 of industry investment in skills and workforce development for our sectors. That’s why there is increasing interest across the globe in the work that employers, working through sector bodies like SSCs, are doing to bridge the gap between education and industry. We’re looking forward to sharing this experience as well as learning from Sri Lanka’s plans to set up a network of SSCs.”

Gill Westaway, Country Director for the British Council, Sri Lanka, said:

“We are delighted to have been able to invite Tom Bewick to join us for our Policy Dialogue on sector based skills development in Sri Lanka. We recognise the important role that the Sector Skills Councils now play in bridging the gap between education and industry in the UK and hope that our colleagues in Sri Lanka may wish to adapt our model to suit their own needs. It is also particularly appropriate that, as the Chief Executive of Creative & Cultural Skills, Tom can be with us to witness the opening of the first ever Sri Lanka Design Festival. The British Council has been instrumental in the conceptualization of this event and is billed as strategic partner, positioning the UK as the knowledge partner of choice in developing the creative economy.”

Ends
For more information on this press release please contact Catherine Large, Director, External Relations, 020 7015 1828. Catherine.Large@ccskills.org.uk

Notes to editors:

Creative & Cultural Skills

Creative & Cultural Skills is the sector skills council for the creative and cultural industries. Our remit covers advertising, craft, cultural heritage, design, music, performing arts, visual arts and literature. Our remit is UK-wide. For further information please visit www.ccskills.org.uk

Find out further details about the Sri Lankan Skills Policy Dialogue and Skills Summit