SRI LANKA: New students to get leadership training

The Ministry of Higher Education has made arrangements to provide three weeks of training in 'leadership and positive attitude development' to all the 2,200 students who have qualified to enter universities this year, writes AAM Nizam for the Asian Tribune.

They will be given training in two batches, with 1,000 students in the first batch and the balance of 1,200 students in the second batch.

Minister of Higher Education SB Dissanayake, addressing a media conference held at the University Grants Commission, said that the objective of providing the training was to ensure that students who pass out from the universities in the future are disciplined, physically fit, knowledgeable about the society and the world, aware of modern technologies, capable of conflict resolution by themselves, find solutions and face the challenges facing the country, steer the development of the country and are exemplary to the future generation.
Full report on the Asian Tribune site

Comment:
This is not a military training. It is a leadership skill development training. Unfortunately, to accommodate such a large number of students, a defence establishment is the only place that has the necessary facilities.

The trainees will be given three weeks' residential training with costumes, food and lodgings.

This training programme is essential for the top 5% of the 400,000 students who take the GCE Advanced Level exam and gain admittance to Sri Lanka's national universities, so that they can receive the necessary training to face future challenges by themselves and dedicate themselves for the future development of the country.

Several countries including Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Cyprus, Bermuda, Brazil, China, Colombia, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Greece, Germany, Iran, Israel, Myanmar, Norway, Russia, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey and Ukraine have mandatory military service.

Conscription is enshrined in Article 55 of the Constitution of China. Israel has mandatory military service for both men and women. In Singapore, all able-bodied male citizens of 18-21 years of age were required to serve 24 months of compulsory national service in the Singapore Armed Forces, the Singapore Police Force, or the Singapore Civil Defence Force. Military service for Swiss men is obligatory and includes 18 or 21 weeks of basic training as well as annual three-week-refresher courses.

Nalliah Thayabharan