Meritocracy – A silver lining for Sri Lanka

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake

It is with great pleasure that we observe the recent appointments made by President Anura Kumara Dissanayaka. The appointments made so far to the Government are on merit and of qualified, educated persons. This is indeed a positive sign to us Sri Lankan citizens.

Starting from the appointment of the lady prime minister. A lady who fights for women empowerment and benefits and welfare of the common man, whatever her family background is. In other words, she is for peoplism. We hope she will use her education to the betterment of Sri Lanka and bring about a positive change that we all need and look forward to.

English and digitalization are pivotal for the future growth of Sri Lanka. The Prime Minister should come up with a plan to give the children in the villages an opportunity to go forward with modern education methods. Universities should be more job and industry oriented and also be research-based. Curricula that help undergraduates join the workforce must be introduced. We should be on par with international universities in the curriculum as well as the teaching methods. University students must be able to follow combinations such as arts and science together, similar to foreign universities.

This is a country where 92% of the population read and write. Thus, the changes in education will bring about a crucial change in our attitudes and behaviour. Children should be taught at a very young age to keep the country clean and protect our heritage. We can learn a lesson from Japan to implement this concept.

Even though the President is supposed to be a follower of socialism, we should be able to mix socialism with positive characteristics of capitalism for the development of our motherland. Singapore follows a similar concept. Singapore is also a fine example for meritocracy used in a very productive way to run the country.

It is also of paramount importance to include differently abled citizens in the development process. Some of these citizens are very clever and skilful so that they too can give back to the society.

Senior citizens should be respected, and their welfare should be looked after.

If we implement the above, we are not far away from becoming a developed country. That is my dream and the dream of the citizens of this beloved country.

(The writer is a PR consultant and a graduate of the University of Kelaniya.)