The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) has rendered yeoman service to the youth of this country by making opportunities for advancement in society available to talented young men and women from rural backgrounds, Professor G. L. Peiris, Minister of Export Development and International Trade, said last week.

He was addressing a graduates’ seminar at the Mahaweli Centre, organized by the Sri Lanka Nidahas Tharuna Aruna 111 Upadidhari Sangamaya established by the public sector graduates recruited under the Graduate Employment Scheme of the government.

Prof. Peiris, referred in detail to the service rendered by successive SLFP administrations to youth lacking privilege. Among the initiatives he described were the decisions by the government led by Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike to put in place a system for university admissions which took into account the quality of the facilities in secondary school education available in the district from which the student came, the commencement of instruction in Sinhala and Tamil in professional courses of study including law, the holding of interviews in the national languages and other measures directed towards provision of equality of opportunity.

Nimal Siripala de Silva, Minister of Healthcare and Nutrition, observed that the government is proud to have been able to provide employment for 42,000 graduates. Those passing out of universities will be able to benefit from further employment opportunities which will be generated by the investments now being made, by both the public and the private sectors, with the dawning of a durable peace.

"It is the duty of educated youth, in these circumstances, to carry a strong message to voters of the Colombo district about the reality of the current political and economic situation", he noted.

Karunaratna Paranavitana, Chief Executive Officer of the Rupavahini Corporation, Prasad Indika Bandara Herath, President and Tharindu Bandara, Secretary of the Sri Lanka Nidahas Tharuna Aruna 111 Upadidhari Sangamaya, also addressed the gathering.