Help young entrepreneurs program - YESL President

Ramani KANGARAARACHCHI

An exporter and former President of the Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sri Lanka and Chairman Young Entrepreneurs (YESL) Patrick Amarasinghe has called upon private sector entrepreneurs to contribute towards the YESL project on behalf of the future generation of the country.

Patrick Amarasinghe

He told Daily News Business that adding value to the country's human capital is one of the biggest challenges and it is the responsibility of social entrepreneurs to provide appropriate education to the younger generation to meet today's world demand. Having acquainted himself with the Junior Achievement (JA) program in USA Amarasinghe introduced the YESL Program and obtained the franchise as a member nation of JA.In 1996 he introduced it to Government schools with the approval of the Ministry of Education.

He said this is an ideal opportunity for children to groom themselves for a better tomorrow. The project was sponsored by USAID for ten years but it was stopped from this year following the global recession and this was a huge loss for the country, he said.

However, it is extremely important to continue this entrepreneur education program for socio economic development of the country. He proposed that all local entrepreneurs should make a contribution, even in a small way as the cost of the program is Rs. 5,000 per student, he said.

The YESL program launched with nine national and provincial schools with 1,600 children has now spread to over 460 schools and 42,500 children in the urban and rural areas. They are called 'Growing up CEOs' of the world. The objective is to train students to be employable after their education at various levels.

Today, many youngsters complain that there are no jobs but organizations complain that there are jobs but people do not have the talent or required skills for jobs. The YESL program could bridge this gap, he said. "We want our children to cultivate the savings habits; how to make and manage money properly where they could become job creators and not job seekers," Amarasinghe said.