VOTEC exhibition at district level soon

Raja Waidyasekera, Tissamaharama special corr.

TISSA: The VOTEC 2006 Exhibition inaugurated at the Beliatta Technical College will be held at district level islandwide to educate the youth and parents on the value of vocational and technical training said Vocational and Technical Training Minister Piyasena Gamage.

The minister was addressing a meeting that followed the opening of the VOTEC 2006 Technical and Trade exhibition at Beliatta Technical College on June 12.

He said the President at a meeting at Richmond College Galle told him to expedite the construction of the playground and stadium and swimming pool at Beliatta. The Minister said he had allocated funds for it. The construction work will commence during this month, he said.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the then minister established Vocational Training Authority and rendered yeomen service towards the youth in the country.

The vocational and technical training would prove to be a boon to the school leavers and unemployed in the Hambantota district. They will be able to lead self-reliant lives by engaging in employment in State and private sector and also engage themselves in self-employment.

Steps have been taken to conduct courses at the technical colleges to enable the youth to become a diploma holder or graduate in vocational and technical training.

Agriculture Development Minister Chamal Rajapaksa said an agriculture exhibition was being held at the Agriculture College at Angunakolapelessa. I made a request to the Minister of Vocational and Technical Training to amalgamate this exhibition with the agriculture exhibition. The youth of today are eager only to engage in jobs based on IT as such there is an acute shortage of masons and carpenters in the island. The youth must engage in such jobs that bring sound incomes.

A large extent of lands in the Hambantota district will be brought under rubber cultivation in future as such there would be a scarcity of rubber tappers. We must train them on rubber tapping to engage themselves in that job with dignity. The Minister of Railways Development, Mahinda Amaraweera said the vocational and technical training would be a boon to graduates.

Deputy Minister of Rural Development and Social Service Jagath Pushpakumara said the Hambantota district has been identified as the 6th poverty stricken district. It was the vocational and technical training that would alleviate poverty.

Vocational and Technical Training Ministry Secretary Thilak Hapangama and Hambantota district Secretary M. A. Piyasena also spoke.