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Saturday, 28 October 2017 00:08 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Charumini de Silva
Despite the Government’s challenges with SAITM, State Minister of Finance Eran Wickramaratne believes private tertiary education has a vital role to play in educating Sri Lanka’s youth, as it provides a variety of qualifications that would otherwise be unavailable to many students.
“Higher education is no longer optional for young people, and meeting its growing demand is a challenge,” he said, congratulating 270 young men and women conferred with qualifications from Australia’s Swinburne University for Nawaloka College of Higher Studies (NCHS), which held its third graduation ceremony recently.
Pointing out that Sri Lanka’s future is in educating the next generation, he said the role of young professionals therefore is critical for sustainable development in the country.
“The younger generation must be the vanguard of the change in this country. We are an ancient society. Although there are many things to be proud of in our history in terms of culture, ethnicities, religions; the older generation has become more resistant to change towards a new society and a country. Therefore, you are all going to be the agents of change as it is critical for development,” Wickramaratne added.
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The Minister urged the young graduates to consider personal success for a better society, noting that bringing about equity is more important that equality. “Competition and opportunity has not been equal. You are all going to join this competitive race. The world doesn’t provide equal opportunity for all, but if we can bring about equity rather than equality, we can make a better society,” he said.
Noting that the country’s systemic corruption and lack of transparency hinders growth and prosperity, Wickramaratne stressed ethical conduct is absolutely important in going forward.
He commended NCHS for making good quality education available to more young people, remarking that it was a great service to this country.
