Graduate trainee officers' passing out parade on April 9

A two-week training course for the first batch of over 15,596 graduates the Economic Development Ministry recruited as Development Officers and assigned to Divisional Secretariats countrywide, commenced on March 28.

Selected from 19 districts, they are being trained in 16 centres.

The passing out parade of the first batch will be held on April 9. The aim of this training course is to provide them a basic knowledge of working as facilitators in implementing rural development programmes to eradicate poverty by strengthening the family and the village, according to Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa.

Inspecting the training camps in the Galle and Kalutara districts, Economic Development Deputy Minister M L A M Hisbulla said recruiting such a large number of educated young people to the public service simultaneously was not a burden on the state but a benefit.

"Therefore, it is the duty of people's representatives and senior state officials to utilize the services of these new recruits for economic progress," he said.

The Economic Development Ministry has made arrangements to conduct two-week residential workshops for these graduates undergoing training as development officers.

The 15,596 graduates - divided into three groups of 5,150 each - will be trained at 16 centres in three stages.The first stage which commenced on March 25 will continue until April 10 and the second will start on April 18 and continue until May 5.

The third will be from May 18 to May 24.

Each workshop will have 150 trainees. Seventy one percent of the total number of trainees are women while 29 percent are men.

Assistance of the armed forces have been obtained to strengthen their personalities so that they can take up challenges when they start working at village level and identify the needs of the rural population.

The trainees will be provided a comprehensive knowledge of the Divineguma National Programme at these workshops. Female trainees who become pregnant or fall ill will not need to attend the training.

The duty of the Development Officers would be to take the lead in eradicating poverty by economically empowering the individual and thereby the family and the village in accordance with the Mahinda Chinthana Manifesto, Deputy Minister Hisbulla said.