The dependent mentality of the country's youth should be changed to contribute to the country's national development ambitions and entrepreneurship objectives, Small and Medium Enterprises Development State Minister Prasanna Ranaweera said.
The State Minister mentioned this while addressing the Western Province Ceylon craft workshop operated under the National Craft Council yesterday.
As a country with a proud history, we must stand up. There are over two million people in our country. There are 3.5 million children between the ages of 10 and 20 out of the 20 million people in the country.
"Every year, between 300,000 and 400,000 people visit the market. 86% of the national income of our country goes to make payments, such as for the wages of the public service. After paying other allowances, such as elderly and development allowances, the country's national income becomes insufficient to run the country.
"We all try to make our children engineers and doctors. But many don't reach those goals. This education system also needs to be changed. We lost our children's creativity, knowledge and skills to become creative citizens as a result of this system.
"We need creative people and entrepreneurs. After getting a degree, most of them prefer to work in state sector for a salary of Rs. 35,000 to Rs. 40,000. Some people have a dependency mentality, that must change.
"50 years ago, we talked about the development of the world. Then we talked about the economy. Along with economic development, environmental damage was also occurred. Now we are talking about environment- friendly development. All of our designs and investments should be focused on that angle. Through that only we can conquer the hurdles that are ahead," the State Minister said. (Daily Mirror)