“We all know that investments are crucial for economic development. For investment, we need to win the trust of foreign investors. In order to win their trust, political stability is imperative. Now, after a long time, we are displaying strong political stability thanks to the mandate we received.” Professor Peiris added.
Professor Peiris hence requested the opposition to accept the mandate given by the people and assist the government to cooperate with the government to secure a bright future for the young generation in the country.
“The opposition should give a chance to the government to get on with its work without pulling it by the leg and laying unnecessary hurdles in its path. We want to do something useful in the next four years and then you can take stock of our performance,” Prof Peiris said while participating in the debate on the Vote on Account to obtain funds for the next four months of the year.
Prof Peiris said that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has amalgamated five different ministries to create the Education Ministry and there is a lot of work to be done in the sphere.
“The Education Ministry has got Rs 70 Billion in the vote on account. There are many challenges ahead for this sector. Whatever political affiliation we have this is one sector that is essential to all. Accordingly, we are trying to increase the university entrants from 15,000 heads. In addition, we are also looking for opportunities to increase the number of students facilitated by the Open University. Hopefully, we could increase the number to 15,000. Right now what we lack is infrastructure such as computers and lecturers. We have started to discuss with the World Bank on getting financial aid worth USD 300 MN for this project. When it comes to education, we all know that it is crucial that we give priority to vocational education. At present, there are about 65,000 who do not get the opportunity to receive vocational education. It is not their problem, but a problem where we cannot provide the necessary facilities. Recently when I met United Nations resident coordinator for Sri Lanka Hanaa Singer I requested UN facilitation to expand our territory education limits.`` Professor Peiris said.
