News

OPA laments graduates of passing out without required skills demanded by job market

Published

4 years ago

2022/10/2

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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Foreign News

One dead in US after being struck by taking off Frontier Airlines plane

Published

6 hours ago

2026/05/10

Priyan

A Frontier Airlines jetliner taxis down a runway for take off from Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado [Aljazeera]

A person has died after jumping an airport perimeter fence in the US state of Colorado and being struck by a Frontier Airlines plane, according to authorities.

Denver International Airport said the unusual incident occurred late Friday, after the unidentified individual gained access to the tarmac.

It said the “pedestrian jumped the perimeter fence and was hit just two minutes later while crossing the runway”.

A brief engine fire followed the collision, which was put out by emergency responders, according to the airport.

It said that 12 of the 231 people on board suffered minor injuries, with five hospitalised.

The airport said investigators had examined the fence line where the individual entered and “found it to be intact”.

It added that the struck individual “is not believed to be an employee of the airport”.

“We are extremely saddened by this incident and express our sympathies to those involved,” the airport said.

Both local authorities and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were investigating the incident.

Airport safety in the US came under renewed scrutiny earlier this year amid a prolonged shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which temporarily left both Transportation Security Agents (TSA) and air traffic controllers working without pay.

While instances of people being killed on airport tarmacs are rare, Friday’s incident came a day after a Delta employee was killed after an airport vehicle struck an airbridge at Orlando International Airport.

In March, two pilots were killed after an Air Canada Express plane crashed into a fire-rescue vehicle at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

About 225,000 people travel through Denver International Airport a day.

[Aljazeera]

Latest News

Showers above 100 mm are likely at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Southern, Uva, North-western and Northern provinces and in Anuradhapura district.

Published

6 hours ago

2026/05/10

Priyan

WEATHER FORECAST FOR 10 MAY 2026
Issued at 05.30 a.m. on 10 May 2026 by the Department of Meteorology

The low-level atmospheric disturbance in the vicinity of Sri Lanka is likely to develop into a low-pressure area around 11th of May. Therefore, the prevailing showery conditions over the island are expected to continue during the next few days.

Showers or thundershowers will occur at most places over the island, and cloudy skies are expected over the island. Heavy showers above 100 mm are likely at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Southern, Uva, North-western and Northern provinces and in Anuradhapura district.

The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damage caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.

News

Lanka Port City officials to meet investors in Dubai

Published

7 hours ago

2026/05/10

Thilina Walpola

ECONOMYNEXT –Colombo Port City (CPC) officials will head to Dubai to meet with investors on June 11, as Sri Lanka’s most ambitious economic zone looks for further foreign investments.

“We are meeting people in Dubai and the Middle East in order to demonstrate that Colombo Port City can be a supplementary zone of investment,” Harsha Amarasekara, Chairman, Colombo Port City Economic Commission (CPCEC), told Economynext.

The meeting will be organised by CPCEC, China Harbour Engineering Company, Consulate General of Sri Lanka – Dubai, and the Embassy of Sri Lanka – Abu Dhabi.

Foreign investor meetings have been a consistent factor in marketing CPC, and identifying potential markets has been a priority for CHEC and CPCEC.

“We have shortlisted and identified primary markets and we have combed the globe in that to say have a rationale behind why you would want to do certain things, a road show in a particular country,” Thulci Aluwihare, Deputy Managing Director, CHEC Port City Colombo, told Echelon Media.

“Once we kind of shortlist on that, then we aggressively go and market Port City, first Sri Lanka I should say, then Port City.”

“Sri Lanka is known in the world as a tourist destination, not essentially for a doing business capital. That is the narrative that we are trying to change,” he added.