Youth Unemployment Crisis in Sri Lanka

Youth unemployment is a major issue in Sri Lanka in which many qualified youth have the ‘technical skills’ or appropriate academic qualification for a job but lack the soft skills to convert knowledge into a profession, according to a top ILO (International Labour Organization) official.

Donglin Li, Country Director, ILO Office for Sri Lanka and Maldives, says English is often taught as a subject rather than as a skill for the world of work. In a statement on youth unemployment, he said:

“Alongside the crisis in the Eurozone, youth unemployment has been the hot topic of the news in these final weeks of 2011. The BBC’s ‘The World Speaks’ survey named unemployment as the world’s fastest rising concern. And they’re right to be concerned, as the figures are as alarming as they are depressing. 

 File pic of Sri Lankans queuing up for Korean jobs

 In Asia young people account for around 20 % of the population yet make up almost half of the region’s jobless. They are at least three times more likely than adults to be out of a job, and if they are unlucky enough to be in South-East Asia and the Pacific the ratio is nearly five times. 

In Indonesia the youth unemployment rate is close to 25 %, in Sri Lanka over 19 % and similarly in the Philippines almost 19 %. As much as youth unemployment rates in Sri Lanka are imperceptibly decreasing as recorded in the Labour Force Surveys of the past three years, youth unemployment is still over four times higher than overall unemployment which rests at 4.9 % (2010 LFS Annual Report). Unemployment for youth between the ages of 15-24 years rose from 18.8 in 2008 to 21.3 in 2009 and has dropped since to 19.4 whilst youth in the age-group of 25 – 29 years improved marginally from a rate of 9.5 % in 2008 to an increased level of 10.3 the next year followed by a reduced level of 9.2 % in the last year. The youth unemployment challenge in Sri Lanka is compounded in terms of gender asymmetry where female youth unemployment is almost double that of male youth unemployment. Sri Lanka also records the 20th largest gender gap in employment. (ILO: Key Indicators of the Labour Market, 6th Edition, Geneva 2009).

  From here to where?

  Police officers cordon off a road to block a protest march of university students in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012. The students were trying to march to the residence of the president Mahinda Rajapaksa demanding him to stop politicizing the country’s university system. (AP)

 Globally, the adolescents of today face a unique set of collective challenges, including an uncertain economic outlook, high levels of youth unemployment, an escalating number of humanitarian crises, climate change and rapid urbanisation. 

 

Sri Lanka has an adolescent population of more than three million. Steady investments in health, education and water and sanitation services have resulted in improving and high survival rates, better literacy levels and improved access to safe water and sanitation. However, greater levels of investment in education and youth training are needed, especially for higher levels of skills and knowledge. Such efforts can contribute towards breaking the root causes of poverty and discrimination and significantly contribute to the growth of Sri Lanka’s economy. The energy, creativity and free-spirit of young people can be channeled to make a positive impact in society.

Solutions are many if intentions are pure. In Sri Lanka there are many good institutions and organizations which are serving positive role. In such conditions what we need to do is to build trust, and it cannot be built by what one says but by what one does. Therefore doing more and saying less may prove to be successful recipe for socio-economic uplift of the country in bringing about constructive youth employment.

 

Besides, people here do not want further laws; they want existing ones improved in letter and spirit. Sadly, over the years we have witnessed that government has pursued such policies that have benefited the only already well-off people. In this regard, government must formulate pro-poor policies, as they are the ones who are in the majority. Once government succeeds in winning hearts and minds of common people, there are sure chances of development and consequent youth development. When we seek the solution leading to enough youth employment, we end up saying that we do not need to bring the whole country to literacy level. Rather Sri Lanka government first place emphasis on first educating the educated people. To say this kind of stark opinion, which is contrary to generally held theory, there underlie some solid reasons behind it. In Sri Lanka the real corruption is done by the educated people not by the unlettered ones. Even traffic rules are flouted by those people who are mostly educated ones. Over and above Sri Lanka is an agriculture oriented country which demands sincere farmers to cultivate and bring the productivity to the flourished proportion. So, it is rather immaterial whether they are well-educated are semi-educated. Therefore focus must be towards educating first the educated people.

Some vital sensibilities and responsibilities rest with the state organs such as ensuring law and order situation, providing merit system, offering peaceful environments for other countries to invest. Law and order situation, peaceful environment, eradication of terrorism and elimination of the forces of extremism are indispensably important, if foreign investment and tourists from the world are to attract in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka enjoys great geo-strategic importance due to enrichment of its Gawader port and its close connectivity with the Central Asian Countries, along with some Gulf States. Sri Lanka richly enjoys many enticing features which characterize it as the most important country in the whole region. Therefore, ensuring feasible environment will surely help bring enough investment which would ultimately afford our youth an opportunity to improve their lot.

      

Government should pursue such policies that equally help promote poor and middle-class people. History of the world bears witness to the reality that the nations which promoted its poor and middle-class people have gained unexampled development and brighter future for their youth. One of the holistic solutions lies in dedicating the heed to the promotion of agriculture and industry. These both can help improve the efficiency of the country in multiple ways. If our country makes some successful strides in reaping the advantages of agriculture and industry, there would surely be more employment than our youth are unemployed today.

 

State should help the youth to be self-employed by providing them with micro and macro level loans. Loans should be provided with accessible conditions. Such conditions should be easier to comply with by the aspirant youth.

    

Youth too need to keep the political leader and other establishment organs under watchful vigilance. There should be proper checks and balances. Law should be equal before everyone.

Youth must make sure that the influence of media and westernization is positive and learning-oriented. They also must make sure that they make a line of difference between what is acceptable and what is unacceptable. More than anything else youth should develop indomitable courage, spirit, determination, patience, persistence, perseverance and tenacity to face the challenges of the competitive globalization.

Youth must make their best endeavor to learning in a true sense instead of cramming the pages. Love for learning would help the youth considerably to seek their desirable employment.

It would be no exaggeration to say that Sri Lanka has been blessed with almost all the natural bounties which lead a country to the road of development and prosperity. Sri Lanka is blessed with 80 million people below the age of twenty. Today we have free media and free judiciary. Today general masses seem to be far more aware than they were in the past. We have some good factories and industries. Besides, Sri Lanka, mainly its major city Karachi, is the hub of investment which has attracted the world investment. We have Arabian Sea and Gawadar port. There are some good government and NGOs organization working for the betterment of people. Women seem to be exercising more rights than ever before. We have dams, strong army and agencies. Over and above, Sri Lanka is an atomic power country. Common masses today appear to be comparatively civilized, socialize, modernized and enlightened. We have some good educational institutions which are even recognized by the world. Our youth have won many laurels in the foreign countries in such field as in English, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics and in debates. In fact Sri Lanka is a resilient nation which is justified by its past sixty-two years of history.

Nonetheless, there lie some vacuums and lacunas which, if filled and, then, tackled adequately, we, more than sure, can become a developed, prosperous and civilized country in the comity of nations, which consequently will bring more than enough employment. No one can go back and change the bad beginning. We can start now and create a successful ending. In the conclusion famous quoted saying of Elbert Herbert deserves a special mention which says: the best preparation of good work tomorrow is to do good work today. To give the final words, we need to adhere to the message of Mother Teresa, who once aptly remarked that: yesterday has gone, tomorrow has not come. We have only today let us begin today.