From left: YMF Chairperson Gillian Nugara, CCC Secretary General/CEO Mangala Yapa, Rajarata University Vice Chancellor Prof. Ranjith Wijayawardana and Rajarata University Career Guidance Unit Director Dr. Sanjeewanie Ginigaddara
Pic by Kithsiri de Mel


By Chandeepa Wettasinghe
The Young Members Forum (YMF) of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) and the Rajarata University will be holding the first ‘Careerlead’ job and entrepreneurship fair this month to bridge the gap between the employers and human resources in rural areas.

“This is a platform to bridge the gap and an opportunity to find good graduates coming out of universities. More than concentrating on the Western Province, we decided we need to go out because the chamber believes in regional integration,” CCC Secretary General/CEO Mangala Yapa said.

Rajarata University Career Guidance Unit Director Dr. Sanjeewanie Ginigaddara said that over 2,500 third year and final year university students, school leavers, technically qualified personnel of five regions are expected to take part on each day of the fair, held on September 10 and 11.

“Wayamba University, Jaffna University, Eastern University, South Eastern University and Rajarata University degree programmes were taken into consideration and we connected with the relevant potential industries to come for this career fair,” she said.

Yapa said that 45 companies in all industries and service sectors with over 100 vacancies and even more future job opportunities will be attending the fair.
“The companies may not recruit today. There are also third years, so it will allow the companies to plan ahead in their human resources. We’ll be providing screening interviews for companies and providing students with mock interviews and mock CV training,” he added.

Rajarata University Vice Chancellor Prof. Ranjith Wijayawardana said that around 60-70 percent of graduates from Rajarata University find employment upon graduation and said that the opportunities are not present in rural universities to rigorously challenge students.

Yapa expressed that this would be the first career fair of many, expected to be held annually at different universities in the island.

“This is just the first step and we plan to do more. But we, as a chamber, can’t do it alone. The government, private sector and universities have to come together because if the youth don’t have opportunities, it will lead to youth unrest,” he said.