Sri Lanka boasts of an illustrious history of education, which is highlighted as a long-term solution to empowering the nation to overcome the prevailing crises and reach its true potential.

However, when it comes to grooming tomorrow’s labour force through higher education, there is much to be done, according to the Director of the Career Guidance Unit at General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University Dr. Namali Sirisoma.

“We have a very good history of education; and we’ve been trying to transform this country into an education hub for the region. But we have to see whether we’ve made enough efforts to reach our targets in terms of allocating finances, and developing technologies, facilities and resources persons,” she noted, in a recent LMDtv interview.

Sirisoma shed light on the skills mismatch of graduates who join the labour force: “We always say that the higher education sector prepares people to be the labour force of the country. Yet, there are complaints from the corporate sector on the attitude of young graduates, and their knowledge and skills – especially communication and IT skills.”

Appreciating the efforts of industry in providing career guidance programmes and other support to undergraduates, she emphasised that students must be ready to accept help, adding that in addition to skills and knowledge, having the proper attitude is crucial.

“Fixing this attitude must start from [childhood], so parents have some responsibility to nurture a child with positive education,” she asserted.

The Director of the Career Guidance Unit at General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University drew attention to the damage caused by tuition classes: “In tuition classes, students pay more attention to the listening part of their education; but listening will give you only three percent of the learning.”

“In school, we have 40-45 minute periods because the brain needs a break to refresh. So listening to one teacher for four or five hours will not help students so much,” she added.

Sirisoma also stressed how traditional education goals – such as becoming a doctor or an engineer by attending university – need to be revisited: “Now there are so many jobs where you enjoy more benefits than doctors and engineers, and there are many paths you can take to groom yourself.”

She continued: “We have to teach kids to have a positive attitude. If they’re not groomed enough in their school time, when they enter university we cannot groom them because it’s too late…”

“If you want to destroy a country, the first thing you have to do is destroy its education system,” she stated. Sirisoma also spoke about the waning quality of student performance due to malpractices like plagiarism and cheating, using software and other online sources.

She explained that “there are firms that will do your assignments and they advertise in public; but no one has prohibited these businesses.”

“If you don’t have the right attitude – and if you think it’s okay to cheat and gain a degree – you won’t become a proper graduate or leader,” she said, stressing that the main challenge for the education sector is to develop the right attitude among students and ensure they understand the value of education.

Sirisoma commended LMD’s ‘Refresh Sri Lanka’ campaign, highlighting the need for civic-mindedness in society.

“People should not be selfish; they should learn how to respect others – this is a big social problem in Sri Lanka, and we have to overcome this and ensure that people understand their social responsibilities,” she posited, zooming in on people in decision making positions.

And she noted: “We are in a very difficult period; we are in the midst of a financial crisis, an economic crisis and a foreign exchange crisis, so if we need to get out of this [situation]. We have to become one team.”

She concluded by urging the younger generation to “stand up as one to help the country [come] out of the crises.”