News
OPA laments graduates of passing out without required skills demanded by job market
The Organization of Professional Associations says that every year around 60,000 graduates without employable skills join the growing number of unemployed persons.Addressing a press conference at the OPA headquarters in Colombo last week, OPA President Dulitha Perera said the country’s unemployment rate increased to 5.70 percent in March 2021, from the previously reported 5.20 percent in Dec 2020.
Sri Lanka Unemployment Rate is updated quarterly, available from Jun 2012 to Mar 2021, with an average rate of 4.50 %. Currently around 100,000 join the unemployed number annually. They are composed of around 300,000 youth passing out of schools after A/L examination and 30,000 graduates passing out from state universities. In addition there are about 5,000 graduates passing out from private and international universities, technically qualified diplomats and other qualifications, tertiary and vocational training institutions join the unemployed lot annually.Perera predicted that these numbers may increase during next two to three years due to the advancement of technology.
Past OPA President, Dr. Lalith Wijetunge said the latest statistics from the Department of Census and Statistics reveal that the country’s unemployed population rose by 100,000 during the first quarter of 2020, coinciding with the start of the lockdowns. It also indicates more job losses in the coming months, while those who are unemployed will be desperate to find new jobs to survive in this time of uncertainty.
Dr. Wijetunge said that majority of graduates do not have adequate skills as the industry expected. “There is no generally accepted definition of graduate employability. Researchers have critically reviewed the graduates’ unemployment in Sri Lanka. There are skills mismatch, education mismatch. The lack of coordination and cooperation among the various stakeholders of universities become a root cause for unemployment of graduates,” he said.
Dr. Wijetunge said that unemployment rate among the Sri Lankan graduates passing out from the state Universities is high, compared to other countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. The average overall employability ratio of Universities in Sri Lanka is 54 percent. The Faculties of Arts and Management have higher rates of unemployment in the country and accounted for 76% and 36% of unemployed graduates respectively, whereas Medicine and Engineering accounted for 10% and 7% respectively in 2012.
“These statistics clearly indicates the waste of time and energy of the educated youths as well as the skilled youths. The rulers should take immediate action to solve the crisis. Now the private sector organizations have expressed their willingness to help solve this issue by providing jobs on a part time basis for a considerable portion of the unemployed youth. That solution has no burden on Government, employer or the employee. Many other countries have used this solution. It would suit Lanka only if the Government can administer the solution in a proper way,” he said.
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Implementing the programme to provide concession for pepper, coffee and cardamom plantations affected by the disaster
The instructions required for granting relief to farmers for the short term crops devastated due to the extreme weather have been issued through Budget Circular No. 08/2025 and 08/2025 (i).
Considering the economic importance of the export agriculture sector, the requirement of re planting long term export agricultural crops that were destroyed by the floods and landslides, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the
resolution furnished by the President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to pay the cultivators engaged in pepper, coffee and cardamom an
allowance subject to a maximum of rupees 425,000/- per hectare for replanting as well as to provide seedlings free of charge from the Department of Export Agriculture.
The demand for obtaining higher-level services to diagnose diseases has been increasing within the public health system in Sri Lanka due to the growth of non-communicable diseases and
comprehensive services at all levels of care.
However, when obtaining reports from key equipment such as CT scanners, MRI scanners, DSA, cardiac catheterization units, and automated hematology and biochemistry analyzers, it has been observed that such patients have encountered immense difficulties due to a lack of equal opportunities for them.
Especially concerning the limited resources available for obtaining the respective reports in government hospitals, it has
been observed that there have been delays in clinical management due to such patients having to be on long waiting lists. Further, taking into consideration the financial limitations existing for purchasing such equipment and the complex procurement procedures that must be followed for the purchase and maintenance of such equipment, the need to resort to alternative methods for obtaining such reports has been identified.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Health and Mass Media to take necessary steps to obtain such services and equipment to diagnose relevant diseases, following the prescribed
procurement procedure under the suitable public-private partnership subject to a performance-based payment scheme.
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Cabinet approves implementation of National Strategic Action tion Plan to Combat and Prevent Trafficking in Human Beings – 2026- 2030
Sri Lanka has signed and ratified the United Nations Convention against Organized Crime (UNTOC) and the Palermo Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Combat Trafficking in Persons, especially against Women and Children, which is a treaty for the enforcement of its provisions.
Accordingly, the National Task Force on Trafficking in Persons was established in 2010 for the coordination of institutions that are interested and actively involved in the prevention of
trafficking in persons. The aforementioned task force has been operating in terms of the action plan prepared for a definite period, and the period of the final national strategic action plan for the period 2021-2025 has ended on 31-12-2025.
Therefore, having reviewed the progress of the aforementioned action plan. The national strategic action plan for the period 2026-2030 has been prepared with the consensus and knowledge of all relevant parties, consisting of four approaches:
protection, litigation (complaints), and partnership.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the President, in his capacity as the Minister
of Defense, to implement the aforementioned national strategic action plan.
Implementing the programme to provide concession for pepper, coffee and cardamom plantations affected by the disaster
Cabinet nod to obtain diagnostic reports under public-private partnership
Cabinet approves implementation of National Strategic Action tion Plan to Combat and Prevent Trafficking in Human Beings – 2026- 2030
21,514 persons remain at 225 safety centers as at 10AM today [06]
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