Comprehensive research conducted by educational experts has revealed that a large number of young men and women in rural areas are obsessed by fear of unemployment due to lack of opportunities to gain a good command of the language. The Sri Lankan government has decided to train English teachers in India with the assistance of the Indian government, the Presidential Media Unit said.

A spokesman of the Presidential Media told The Island that on the concept of President Rajapaksa, Education Minister Susil Premejayanth and Deputy Minister Nirmala Kotalawala had commenced a programme to send Sri Lankan English teachers to specialize in English teaching because young men and women in rural areas were unable to secure employment opportunities in the private sector by learning the language under most of the present teachers.

He said that English teachers serving in government schools in Western, Central and Southern provinces would be selected for training and after three months of intensive and extensive training these teachers would be transferred to rural areas to teach English to young men and women. The government was convinced that in this era of globalization English knowledge is a sine qua non for employment.