Abstract:
The current unemployment rate among the diploma holders of Advanced Technological Institutes
remains at a high level. It has been pointed out that the lack of soft skills among the diploma holders
has a great impact on finding job opportunities. In this background, the employers, specially the
buisiness entities ascribe diplomates’ unemployability to the failure of the education system of
Advanced Technological Institutes, emphasizing that the prevailing education system is not geared to
develop diplomates’ soft skills. However, adequate research has not been undertaken to sythesise the
possibilities to upgrade the soft skills through the prevailing carriculum of Advanced Technological
Institutes.
This paper looks into the challenges and opportunities of the current educational sysytem of
developing soft skills among the diploma holders and focuses on soft skills development through
language teaching and learning. This study utilized both quantitative and qualitative data collection
tools, but is rooted in a qualitative epistemological position that recognizes the importance of locating
the research within a particular context.
A quesionnaire was administered and the researcher had focused group discussion on a sample-set of
150 students both male and female (age range varies from 21-25) of Advanced Technological
Institute, Jaffna. Consequently the paper argues that the present rate of uneployment among educated
youth including diploma holders is not only due to skills mismatch, but also because the Advanced
Technological Institutes’ education system does not match the present requirements of the job market.
