Are Graduates Unemployable? The Answer Is ‘No’
By Milton Rajaratne -October 27, 2013 |
Prof. Milton Rajaratne
Many including Minister of Higher Education and his officials such as the Secretary and the UGC Chairman, many Vice-Chancellors, lecturers and politicians are puzzled with an issue coined as ‘graduate unemployability’. Research data published in the UGC bulletins show that the ‘graduate unemployability’ prevails across all the disciplines taught at the universities that fall within the UGC purview.
‘Ceylonese Bulldozers’ at work: Marcus Fernando Hall site, Peradeniya, University of Ceylon (1954)
The Ministry of Higher Education has shouldered the burden of joblessness of graduates for which otherwise the Ministries of Economic Development and Finance & Planning should have been blamed. Instead of producing learned graduates and elevating the quality and meaning of higher education, the Ministry of Higher Education is devoted to resolving the ‘graduate unemployability’ problem. Thus at every workshop, seminar and conference organized by the Ministry, the higher ranking officials spend much of their time to work out remedies for the ‘graduate unemployability’. The frequently prescribed medicine for the ‘unemployability ailment’ is production of graduates in new vocational fields such as management, beauty culture, tourism etc.
By Milton Rajaratne -October 27, 2013 |
Prof. Milton Rajaratne
Many including Minister of Higher Education and his officials such as the Secretary and the UGC Chairman, many Vice-Chancellors, lecturers and politicians are puzzled with an issue coined as ‘graduate unemployability’. Research data published in the UGC bulletins show that the ‘graduate unemployability’ prevails across all the disciplines taught at the universities that fall within the UGC purview.
‘Ceylonese Bulldozers’ at work: Marcus Fernando Hall site, Peradeniya, University of Ceylon (1954)
The Ministry of Higher Education has shouldered the burden of joblessness of graduates for which otherwise the Ministries of Economic Development and Finance & Planning should have been blamed. Instead of producing learned graduates and elevating the quality and meaning of higher education, the Ministry of Higher Education is devoted to resolving the ‘graduate unemployability’ problem. Thus at every workshop, seminar and conference organized by the Ministry, the higher ranking officials spend much of their time to work out remedies for the ‘graduate unemployability’. The frequently prescribed medicine for the ‘unemployability ailment’ is production of graduates in new vocational fields such as management, beauty culture, tourism etc.
Way Forward For Sustained Growth
Dr. W.A. Wijewardena
Way forward for sustained growth: Challenging but can be tackled with correct policies
SLEA Annual Sessions 2013
The Sri Lanka Economic Association or SLEA in its 2013 Annual Sessions held last week had a very important topic as its theme: ‘The Way Forward for Sustained Growth’. At the inaugural sessions, two eminent economists, Professor A.D.V. de S. Indraratna and Dr. G. Usvattearatchi, made a microscopic dissection of the current state of the economy and came up with some important suggestions which the Sri Lankan authorities may consider if they are interested in a sustained economic growth.
Growth driven by borrowings
Professor Indraratna delivering the Presidential Address noted that Sri Lanka was able to reverse the low economic growth which the country had had prior to 2009 after the third quarter of the same year. But that growth had come not by using the domestic savings and thereby investing the domestic savings but by borrowing and allowing the trade deficit to deteriorate with increasing pressure on the exchange rate.
What Indraratna meant by this is the setting up of a vicious circle of economic malady through deliberate policy action. This can be explained as follows: When the exchange rate is under pressure for depreciation due to the domestic inflation rising significantly above that of competitor countries, the rate has to be depreciated to maintain the country’s competitiveness, promote exports and discourage imports. If the rate is not depreciated, it gets overvalued bringing about the opposite results. Thus, the trade deficit becomes bigger, leading to a similarly big current account deficit of the balance of payments reducing the country’s domestic savings. Read More
Dr. W.A. Wijewardena
Way forward for sustained growth: Challenging but can be tackled with correct policies
SLEA Annual Sessions 2013
The Sri Lanka Economic Association or SLEA in its 2013 Annual Sessions held last week had a very important topic as its theme: ‘The Way Forward for Sustained Growth’. At the inaugural sessions, two eminent economists, Professor A.D.V. de S. Indraratna and Dr. G. Usvattearatchi, made a microscopic dissection of the current state of the economy and came up with some important suggestions which the Sri Lankan authorities may consider if they are interested in a sustained economic growth.
Growth driven by borrowings
Professor Indraratna delivering the Presidential Address noted that Sri Lanka was able to reverse the low economic growth which the country had had prior to 2009 after the third quarter of the same year. But that growth had come not by using the domestic savings and thereby investing the domestic savings but by borrowing and allowing the trade deficit to deteriorate with increasing pressure on the exchange rate.
What Indraratna meant by this is the setting up of a vicious circle of economic malady through deliberate policy action. This can be explained as follows: When the exchange rate is under pressure for depreciation due to the domestic inflation rising significantly above that of competitor countries, the rate has to be depreciated to maintain the country’s competitiveness, promote exports and discourage imports. If the rate is not depreciated, it gets overvalued bringing about the opposite results. Thus, the trade deficit becomes bigger, leading to a similarly big current account deficit of the balance of payments reducing the country’s domestic savings. Read More
