Chatura Rodrigo, Research Economist, IPS was a member at the panel discussion on ‘Mainstreaming Youth in the Post 2015 Development Agenda with Special Focus on the World Conference on Youth (WCY) 2014’ organized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development, National Youth Services Council, held at the BMICH on 4th January 2014. Mr Rodrigo made a presentation on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Young People in Sri Lanka. The panel included Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Sri Lanka. Young professionals, youth activists, public and private sector officials and the Youth Led Task Force of the WCY also participated at this event.
Chatura Rodrigo, Research Economist, IPS was a member at the panel discussion on ‘Mainstreaming Youth in the Post 2015 Development Agenda with Special Focus on the World Conference on Youth (WCY) 2014’ organized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development, National Youth Services Council, held at the BMICH on 4th January 2014. Mr Rodrigo made a presentation on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Young People in Sri Lanka. The panel included Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Sri Lanka. Young professionals, youth activists, public and private sector officials and the Youth Led Task Force of the WCY also participated at this event.
Chatura Rodrigo, Research Economist, IPS was a member at the panel discussion on ‘Mainstreaming Youth in the Post 2015 Development Agenda with Special Focus on the World Conference on Youth (WCY) 2014’ organized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development, National Youth Services Council, held at the BMICH on 4th January 2014. Mr Rodrigo made a presentation on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Young People in Sri Lanka. The panel included Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Sri Lanka. Young professionals, youth activists, public and private sector officials and the Youth Led Task Force of the WCY also participated at this event.
Chatura Rodrigo, Research Economist, IPS Outline Background Millennium Development Goals for youth Institutional setup and policy context Achievement of youth MDGs Productive employment for youth Education for youth Healthy youth for development Gender equality and empowering young women Youth and environment Infrastructure and ICT for youth Challenges and way forward Background Youth are an important asset in realizing a countrys development aspirations Youth demand better and quality employments, better education and skills training, better health, better living conditions, improved infrastructures and ICT facilities A monitoring and evaluation framework is essential to have youth development efforts on track and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is one of the best frameworks Millennium Development Goals for youth Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger Achieve Universal Primary Education Promote Gender Equity and Empower Women Reduce Child Mortality Improve Maternal Health Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases Ensure Environmental Sustainability Develop a Global Partnership for Development Conventional MDGs Productive employment for youth Education for youth Healthy youth for development Gender equality and empowering young women Youth and environment Infrastructure and ICT for youth Youth MDGs Customizing to Sri Lankan youth Institutional setup and policy context: some important milestones A National Youth Services Council (NYSC) has been in existence since 1969and was strengthened through the National Youth Services Act 69 of 1979. A Ministry of Youth was also established in 1979, and a Presidential Commission on Youth was appointed in 1989 The government also launched the Tharuna Aruna programme in 1997 to provide subsidy to private sector to hire graduate among other things. A National Youth Corps was established in 2003. Today, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development (MYASD) is leading the youth development initiatives with the support of 17 affiliated institutions. MYASD was successful in initiating the second term of the Sri Lanka youth parliament and the Sri Lanka Youth policy passed the draft stage and waiting to be approved by the cabinet Achievement of youth MDGs: Productive employment for youth 14% 15% 11% 15% 12% 18% 13% 17% 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% Urban Rural Estate National 2006 2010 Youth unemployment rates Source: State of the Economy, Institute of Policy Studies, 2013 Achievement of youth MDGs: Productive employment for youth Youth labour force participation rates 41% 44% 53% 44% 47% 51% 64% 51% 0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0% Urban Rural Estate National 2006 2010 Source: State of the Economy, Institute of Policy Studies, 2013 Achievement of youth MDGs: Productive employment for youth 5.13% 9.49% 10.74% 8.92% 6.73% 15.09% 29.41% 14.63% 0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00% 30.00% 35.00% Urban Rural Estate National 2006 2010 Youth below official poverty line Source: State of the Economy, Institute of Policy Studies, 2013 Achievement of youth MDGs: Education for youth 2003 2010 NumbersittingforO/L 434,131 433,673 PercentagequalifyingforA/L (%ofO/Lcandidates) 43 58 NumbersittingforA/L 213,201 233,354 Numberqualifyingtoenteruniversity 93,292 142,415 Percentagequalifyingtoenteruniversity (%ofA/Lcandidates) 44 61 Numberadmittedtouniversity 12,736 21,547 Percentageadmittedtouniversity (%ofA/Lqualified) 14 17 O/L, A/L and university entrance Source: State of the Economy, Institute of Policy Studies, 2013 The Countrys tertiary enrolment rate is low. Many students discontinue school education or do not qualify for university education due to poor performance at the national level examinations Achievement of youth MDGs: Education for youth 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 DentalScience Fasiondesign/Transport&logistic VeterinaryMedicine Architecture&QuantitySurveying Law Indegeniousmedicine Paramedicalstudies Agriculture ComputerScience/IT Medicine Engineering Management&commerce Science Arts Subject streams ay University levels Source: Youth and development, Institute of Policy Studies, 2013 Those who do attend university are mostly studying in the arts stream thus limiting the social capital on science and technology, this also constrains the youths ability to innovate Achievement of youth MDGs: Education for youth There is a wide gap between school and the world of work. The quality of the general education system, mainly provided by the public sector is very high standard, yet sometimes, does not transmit much productive skills to pupils. Hence leads to the issue of skills mismatch. Transition from school to vocational training is sometimes not smooth due to lack of information flow. However, Vocational Training Authority (VTA) is now has launched a island wide awareness programme Earlier the acceptance of the TEVT sector was low. Government recently introduced TVET education in to general education system making it a populat choice of students Source: Youth and development, Institute of Policy Studies, 2013 Achievement of youth MDGs: Healthy youth for development Highest proportion of malnourished women was observed in the youngest age group of 15-19 years (40 per cent), followed by the second lowest age group of 20-29 (22 per cent). Nearly one-third of female youth were anaemic. On average, 39 per cent of reproductive aged women (15-49 years) were identified as anemic. There were 6.4 per cent teenage pregnancies in Sri Lanka. Teenage pregnancies were highest in the estate sector (9.6 per cent) when compared to urban and rural sectors. Highest prevalence of tobacco and alcohol use was in the age category of 25-39 years. Of current smokers and alcohol users in the age 15-24 year group. Deaths due to suicides was highest among females in the 21-30 year age group Source: Youth and development, Institute of Policy Studies, 2013 Achievement of youth MDGs: gender equality and empowering young women Equal education A/L Stream (M, S and Arts) Admission to university (2010: 605, 2006: 54%) Admission to vocational training (Increased , majority male) Female labour force Labour force participation (Female: 30%, high estate) Women at wage employment (35%, 1% increase) Women in managerial positions (1.5%, doubled from 2006) Women leadership Women entrepreneurships (<10%) Political participation (<6%) Source: Youth and development, Institute of Policy Studies, 2013 Achievement of youth MDGs: youth and environment 93 92 85 92 92 92 77 91 7 8 15 8 8 8 23 9 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Urban Rural Estate National Urban Rural Estate National 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 6 Securedhouses Unsecuredhouses Youth living under secure housing Source: Youth and development, Institute of Policy Studies, 2013 Safe housing Change from 2006- 2010 National: 91 to 92% Urban: 92 to 93% Rural: 92% Estate: 77 to 85% Achievement of youth MDGs: youth and environment 97 94 97 93 91 93 96 93 3 6 3 7 9 7 4 7 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Urban Rural Estate National Urban Rural Estate National 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 6 Securesanitation Unsecuresanitation Youth having access to secure sanitation Source: Youth and development, Institute of Policy Studies, 2013 Secure sanitation Change from 2006- 2010 National: 93% Urban: 91 to 97% Rural: 93 to 94% Estate: 96 to 97% Achievement of youth MDGs: youth and environment Youth having access to safe drinking water 92 95 73 94 87 84 68 83 8 5 27 6 13 16 32 17 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Urban Rural Estate National Urban Rural Estate National 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 6 Protected Unprotected Safe drinking water Change from 2006- 2010 National: 83 to 94% Urban: 87 to 92% Rural: 84 to 95% Estate: 68 to 73% Source: Youth and development, Institute of Policy Studies, 2013 Achievement of youth MDGs: Infrastructure and ICT for youth 94 94 90 94 94 88 90 89 6 6 10 6 6 12 10 11 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Urban Rural Estate National Urban Rural Estate National 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 6 Yes No Electricity provision for youth Electricity Change from 2006- 2010 National: 89 to 94% Urban: 94% Rural: 88 to 94% Estate: 90% Source: Youth and development, Institute of Policy Studies, 2013 Achievement of youth MDGs: Infrastructure and ICT for youth Mobile phones for youth 65 61 63 61 33 26 19 27 35 39 37 39 67 74 81 73 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Urban Rural Estate National Urban Rural Estate National 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 6 Have Havenot Mobile phone Change from 2006-2010 National: 27 to 61% Urban: 33 to 65% Rural: 26 to 61% Estate: 19 to 63% Source: Youth and development, Institute of Policy Studies, 2013 Achievement of youth MDGs: Infrastructure and ICT for youth 11 9 16 10 7 5 3 5 89 91 84 90 93 95 97 95 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Urban Rural Estate National Urban Rural Estate National 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 6 Have Havenot Desktop computers for youth Source: Youth and development, Institute of Policy Studies, 2013 Computers Change from 2006-2010 National: 5 to10% Urban: 7 to11% Rural: 5 to 9% Estate: 3 to 16% Challenges and way forward There are issues of skill mismatch, youth foregoing available private sector employment for public sector employment, and more youth staying on in education till late stages of their youth life. Youth need to focus on making better decisions in selecting their educational paths and they needed to be guided by teachers and parents Spending more years studying lowers the youth labor force participation rate. Youth have to be certain of what they are acquiring as educational qualifications, and whether that is what employers are demanding in todays job market. Inability to secure finances, lack of financial management capabilities, and most importantly, the inability to assess and understand business viability, has constrained youth entrepreneurs. Therefore guidance , financial support as well as training on business management is very essential Challenges and way forward Poor and vulnerable households lack the capacity to spend on education and health, aggravating the physical abilities of poor youth to be work force ready. Therefore, poverty alleviation programme should focus on financial assistance, as well as on eradicating educational and heath barriers faced by the youth. Vocational education will only address the issue of youth unemployment and low labour force participation only if the vocational education system is linked with the industries that can absorb these students. Therefore, public-private partnerships and schemes of recruitments through vocational education and training institutes directly to the industry, are essential. Teenage pregnancy, especially in the estate sector, is a serious issue to be considered. One of the main reasons is a lack of awareness on reproductive health. Not only this, youth need to be aware on HIV/AIDS and STDs, and also use of tobacco and alcohol. They needed to be guided on handling pressure and making better and informed decisions on their lives and day to day activities. Thank You