World Youth Day – was a forgotten event

Almost every day in the year is some kind of anniversary or day that is earmarked for some commemoration. I presume this is so that we will use the occasion to highlight what it is and remind people of why this day has been designated for that purpose. There are also International Days like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and even Valentine’s Day that are universal, mostly for commercial purposes, but also which have some underlying theme to it.

In that context World Youth Day was a week ago, and nothing special was done, other than some events courtesy of the Ministry of Youth Affairs, who I believe has a duty to use it for the benefit of some activity that pertains to young people.

Perhaps in future we must make a greater effort to remember this day and galvanize the community to remember the importance of youth and the speed with which the period of youth passes for everyone before adulthood and family responsibility takes over.

This critical period of a life requires direction, especially in Sri Lanka, and empowerment where they are able to take control of their lives, and set goals that they can achieve and go about accomplishing what it is they have set for themselves. This kind of empowerment is totally lacking in Sri Lanka and the country stands out by the lack of maturity of young people, especially males in how to conduct, behave, show respect, learn self discipline, time management and above all a focus on their life goals, the achievement of which is a lifetime of effort coupled with reward.

I advocate a gathering of all the 350 organizations that represent youth interests and give each of them a project to plan for the next year’s World Youth Day. It needs a whole years planning and preparation for the execution, which can even be some permanent construction, but nevertheless an opportunity for those who purport to help youth, to actually think about a positive youth friendly and youth empowering project. It will also bring together these organizations, many which are duplicating efforts to work smart at achieving the goals, by reducing duplication and helping each other in areas that expertise already exists, without some groups having to re invent the wheel, when a resource already exists and is well established.  

If you get the marks to get into University but do not get the course you want to follow – don’t take it! It will be the best decision you will make

It is important that we empower ourselves at an early age and learn to take control of over our lives and not let others dictate terms. The worst form of dictatorial edicts is the University entrance system. It is solely guided by the Z score. If we get into university, the next question is what university and what course of study. WE MUST NOT just take what it is we get, we must choose what it is we want, and ONLY take that.

So many get into Medical College, who do not want to be doctors, but are pressured into following the course and passing out, as they are those with the highest marks and are usually able to get through medical college and qualify. Then what!! MANY leave medicine within 5 years of qualification and do not practice. It is estimated that 20% fall into this category. What a waste of resources to train a doctor. About Rs7M at today’s money.

So if you, on the other end of the spectrum do not get the grades to do the course you want, or have not been chosen for the university and course of your choice my advice is to OPT OUT. DO NOT join the majority of students in the Sri Lanka state education system, who follow the course JUST to get the degree, and not because they have any interest in the subject or pursuing a career related to the subject courses they follow. You are less likely to find employment going to university, than dropping out and following a course in the private sector.

Do not be fooled by thinking University education is free. It is hugely costly, especially in time. When we are young we do not value our time. If you put a value on your time (opportunity cost of the time you sacrifice to go to University) you will discover you have sacrificed hundreds of thousands for NOTHING. Most graduates graduate at 25, which is sometimes 7 years after leaving school. That is a huge waste of the most productive years of your life.

DO NO FORGET that in foreign countries people graduate at age21 except for Medicine, so they have a head start. Try and understand the time value of money. With no family commitments, the young age is the most productive, and you can achieve the most in education only then.

I am 17 and am a school dropout – I don’t know what to do!

I dropped out of school after O levels and did not do well enough to go to the A level class. My school has few facilities and the teachers always left after a few terms because they did not like the conditions they found to live there and always applied for transfers. So there was NO consistent teaching and as we do not have tuition classes nearby and my parents are not able to send me to the nearest town about 2hours bus ride away for tuition on Saturdays and Sundays, I was not able to handle the exams.

In my village there is not a lot I can do, though I can get daily work every day if I want which will pay me about Rs500, so I can save enough for clothes, my mobile phone and reloads, and DVD’s of hindi and tamil movies, if I live at home and my parents provide me with food.

I realize that is not a future for me, to be able to find a good steady income, so I can get married build a house and raise a family, which I believe is the basic ambition of every one on earth. I know my country is beautiful. I wish to live here, I do not even wish to go overseas, but I would like to fulfill my goals in this country.

I am prepared to go away to learn a skill and if I must live permanently away from my home village where my parents and many family members live, After all this is the only place I know, and so going away to the a town to get a training or job is OK, but I would like to return home to live one day if that is possible.

My parents are not of a sufficient knowledge to know what possibilities are available for me, but I have been told that first before I go into training, I must see what it is they lead to and what kind of employment I can get from that. I should then see if that is something I really would like to do and then go to that training with a desire to excel to get the job I want. I know people who are better off now in their 20’s who have never had a job, but have qualifications filling up books, because their parents have been able to afford the courses, but they do not have jobs!

So with all those qualifications if they are at home, what hope do I have with no qualifications to get a job? So what do you advise me to do?

(An approximate translation of a conversation in Sinhala to make the point on the dilemma this young man is facing in 2012 Sri Lanka)

No one can take a leadership role – why is that?

I was at a seminar yesterday where there were intelligent young undergraduates. They were asked to form a committee, so that they could get together and discuss a project and write a series of reports after consultation that takes the project from incubation all the way to the end.

None of the students had the common sense to suggest a practical and simple procedure to organize this with responsibilities given to all in the committee to complete the initial stage which was the identification of the project and obtaining the necessary information before tackling the next step, which is to draw a bill of quantities and a costing of the project, which would lead to a further stage and so on.

This kind swimming or more like drowning in muddy waters is what defines many in our universities today. They are not taught to take the initiative. They do not realize that the organization of an inter faculty cricket match is just as much a demonstration of leadership skills as that of finding an internship to show that you can learn a skill at an organization using the basic tools learned at university.

Grab the moment, take all the chances you are given, and offer to take charge. If it is your first challenge it will not be easy, but once you undertake it and complete the project, I cannot measure how much that will do to your self confidence and the next task will be completed with even more panache, and you will be on your way to be a natural leader in anything you do.

It is that ‘can do’ spirit, for fear of failure, that alludes our youth. Failure is part of the learning skills process. Do not fear failure as all world leaders have failed at least once in their lives and many a zillion times before they taste success. It is only then that success tastes so sweet, and all the failures become worthwhile. Trust your instincts, they will NOT let you down. It is the beginning and the end of the journey through life, the start of which we give you confidence in grabbing.

So good luck with whatever you do. Go about it carefully and with a purpose, and do everything with a goal in mind, do not fail to know where you have to get to, only then will you know how to go there. Once you do this once, the second time will only get easier.

The first job is the hardest to get

There is this boy about 25 who has never worked. Now his father is going around asking all his contacts to give his son a job. When I met him I spent over an hour with him, trying to ascertain what he could do, what he wanted to do and what he would like to do if he did not have his father breathing down his neck.

My impression is that he has a very domineering father who thinks he knows what is best for the son, without even spending ten minutes to talk to the guy. As a result the father and son do not have any relationship at all and when I told the father that after my chat with him, I think he would like to be apprenticed to a motor repair shop, it threw him out!

The father must realize that it is hard when one is looking for his first job at the age of 25 to place him in any good job. He has to first prove that he can hold any job even as a cleaner for one year before people can have confidence in his ability to turn up for work on time and then be able to work throughout the day. This basic is lost on the father. I pity the son and I told him to walk ten minutes out of his house and go to the 100 or so companies dotted all around his home and ask them if there are jobs he can do rather than be reliant on his father to get a job. After all if he has to leave that job within a few weeks, who will help find him a job? If I found him a job by asking someone I know, then next time how can I ask for another job, because my recommendation proved futile!! Sadly this father cannot comprehend this fact, that we can only help those who can help themselves, something I cannot guarantee for him.

If this is an indication to our youth, I would caution the following: please try and get any job, even working in the counter of a shop in your local area from time to time and give relief to the mudalali. It will improve your skills at interacting with people, a skill our school system does not teach. It is sad to see so many young people have no idea of how to start their search for a job, and rely on others to get them one that is most unsuitable for them anyway, with a troublesome employer!!

So please take my advice and learn your life skills in any type of work, even volunteering. It is important that first you know how to interact with people in society. You can then communicate with them with confidence, which leads to your being able to find the right job that suits you. Do it!

The National Cadet Corps Training Camp in Rantambe

A 15yr old boy dies whilst undergoing Cadet Training at the NCC Training Camp in Rantambe. The actual circumstances of this accident or death have not been made public as yet, but it gives rise to matters that Youth must concern themselves with.

In this blog I refer especially to the issues that affect young people in Sri Lanka between the ages of 15 and 35, which I do not see covered in any detail either in the Sri Lankan blogosphere or in the Media to a degree that is needed in our society today.

I show here the link to the newspaper article in the Island of May 26^th 2012, referring to the death above, which brings to the forefront some issue that we must consider in the interests of these young people. 

The Island article reference

The article talks about over 2000 young people undergoing cadet training. I would like the input of any young person who has recently undergone this training to comment or send me a note of where and when he attended this and what was included in it and his personal thoughts.

All email addresses from which the notes come will remain confidential and if any of your names are required to be confidential, that will also be honored as it is not the name of the person that matters, but the circumstance of the event that matters to the readers for them to make up their own minds about that particular issue.

We do not have any idea if this camp was for individual schools cadet corps that get together from time to time for training at this center, and any points you may have whether a 15yr old is too young to attend a camp will also be appreciated. Do you also think if girls should attend such camps, and if so from what age, and what minimum standards must be met, such as the number of female instructors and the female only lodging or dormitories that respect the privacy of the girls.

There are many issues of interest such as these that do not get an airing anywhere and I sincerely hope this forum will be of benefit to the writer and the reader and so I wish this venture every success. Thank You.