Korea pledges assistance to set up firefighting university here

Sri Lanka will soon establish a university that offers firefighting courses, the first in South Asia, Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara told journalists in Colombo on Sunday (20).

The Minister said that the South Korean government has already pledged assistance to establish the university.

Trained and qualified firefighters are in high demand across the world, Nanayakkara said.

The institution established in Sri Lanka will offer a degree in firefighting in 20 months, he said.

Nanayakkara said that not only can Sri Lankans be trained in the university, they can also seek foreign employment around the world with that invaluable degree, and the country can also earn valuable foreign exchange by taking in students from across South Asia.

Workers’ remittances have been a key pillar of Sri Lanka’s foreign currency earnings, he said.

The figures for worker remittances for 2021 and 2022 were 5.49 billion dollars and 3.8 billion dollars, respectively.