In order to address the youth unemployment problem in Sri Lanka, the Employment Division of the Ministry of Labour Relations and Manpower has initiated a special programme Island wide.

It is noticeable that there are a large number of students after their O/L and A/L examination enter to the labour market, without proper skills, just having paper qualifications. On the other hand, the Labour Market Information Unit of the Ministry observes there are a large number of job opportunities created by the private sector in various disciplines for immediate hire. In recruiting for such job private sector expects some special skills such as team work, good communication, self motivation, work place co operation etc. which most of the job seekers do not have. Therefore, the Employment Division initiated a programme Island wide to fill this gap by conducting workshops for the selected youth unemployed aiming to enhance their employability skills. To ensure the employment opportunities, those who are being trained will be given practical training for the month in the private sector organizations. As a result they could be able to obtain a job within the organization where he/ she obtains the practical training. In this effort, Development Assistance (Human Resource) of this ministry attached to the Divisional and District Secretariat are working hard.