Employment for school leavers after A/L and O/L, a bigger problem to solve - Grero

Nearly 300,000 enter job market annually

By Maheesha Mudugamuwa

The problem related to the students who leave school after sitting the A/L and O/L examinations was bigger than the problems related to the university students, said Monitoring MP of Education Ministry and Youth Affairs and Skills Development Ministry, Mohan Lal Grero, after assuming duties as the Monitoring MP of the Youth Affairs and Skills Development Ministry on Thursday (12) at the ‘Nupunatha Piyasa’ in Narahenpita.

The MP noted that each year about 300,000 students leave the school education system after sitting the GCE (O/L) and (A/L) examinations respectively. Only 22, 000 students could enter the universities. He noted that the number of students enrolled in tertiary education was extremely low.

Nearly 92 per cent of the youth were seeking for alternative avenues leading to productive employment opportunities after leaving the school.

"Every person should engage in a decent job. It is our responsibility to give them proper guidance to achieve their target and to change their negative mentality," he said

"All job seekers try to find a white collar job. This situation should be changed. As we all know masons, carpenters and other technicians get a good financial remuneration for their labour. We should strive to change this mindset prevalent among the youth and properly direct them to change their attitudes," Grero said.

He added that the Youth Affairs and Skills Development Ministry and Education Ministry should work together to find the solution for this major problem and to prepare a proper plan to conduct the vocational training courses related to diverse sectors to fit into both local and foreign job markets.

"I promise today that I will lend my fullest strength and support to the youth in this country to fulfill their dreams," Grero said.

Addressing the occasion Youth Affairs and Skills Development Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said that the image of the politicians has changed over the decades due to various reasons. Most of the people think that politicians are thugs or corruptions. But a majority of politicians are not of this type. There are people who show concern about the country, democracy and public funds in the field of politics. But they too inherited a bad image because of a rotten few.

Minister Alahapperuma also said that a politician should be both a futurist and an intellectual to achieve that success.

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