What can Sri Lanka offer its youth? - EDITORIAL

Just the other day there was a discussion among some rugby administrators in Colombo. And those present were informed that a large number of schoolboys engaging in the sport played with the oval shaped ball had emigrated due to the lack of opportunities to excel in their chosen disciplines. 

The reason for this is the present pandemic situation in the country. Many know that some of the accomplished youth sportsmen and women concentrate on sports more than on studies after reaching national level competence at a young age. This makes them merely go through lessons and gain minimum qualification marks to earn promotions to move to the next grade or a foreign university. So when this opportunity to excel at sport while at school is disrupted we are made to believe that youth have little or no option, but to leave their academic institutions prematurely and go abroad in search of greener pastures. 

This is the same scenario with some sections of the youth in Sri Lanka who got highlighted for their skills in art. We remember how youth were invited to draw on the walls before the last presidential elections. But those youth have gone abroad because the regime which came to power had no programme for them. 

Unlike in the good old days youth tend to move out of their motherland at the sight of a first opportunity to explore what the outside world holds for them. This is a ‘me’ era and youth will always the question ‘what’s in it for me’ before getting involved in a project; even if it is done with the solid intention of helping the larger section of the society. 

As much as the government concentrates on servicing existing loans and steadying a rocking economy it must spare time for the youth and establish a system where there is stability and hope. 
Central Bank records show that every year there are 320,000 students making themselves available for skills training. Out of this number a large percentage represents school dropouts. 

One of the problems with the present day youth is that they are so self-centred. We often see that the limited skills they possess don’t match their lofty ambitions. There is also this issue where these youth are not very loyal to the institutes which put them on a payroll. They are only loyal to themselves!

Youth also have to deal with the issue of the courses available to them not reflecting the real demands of the labour market. Some undergraduates have to receive extensive training during a probation period before reaching a state of being able to make a worthwhile contribution to the company or institute which employs them. 

Sometimes companies and state institutes are in a mighty hurry to get rid of the old hands because replacing them with trainees brings some form of financial saving. But what the recruitment officers don’t understand is that youth need to learn the trade from the existing and experienced staff and also learn from them solid values that label an individual as a good worker. No one is indispensable in any organisation and youth need to learn this from ageing workers who are often teary-eyed when they are present on their last day at work. 

Most youth in this country have received a free or in other words state sponsored education from grade 1 up to university. In other words they were educated at the expense of the government. Hence they have a duty towards serving the country by finding employment in some state sector establishment. Mostly its the teachers and doctors who give back something to the country for the education they received for free. 

So when we hear of the news of youth making a quick exit from this country given its shaky economic situation we must also ask the question whether they have made a worthwhile return to the country which once invested on their education?