Reopen Thihagoda VTC plea by residents

P.P.G. Sugathadasa Thihagoda group corr.

There is no Vocational Training Centre in the Divisional Secretariat of Thihagoda. The Chairman, Pradeshiya Sabha, Thihagoda said the only vocational training institute in the area was shut down a long time ago. It has not been reopened, the residents complain.

Unemployed young men and women, aspirants for jobs and those who are seeking training in various vocational trades in the Divisional Secretariat Division of Thihagoda and also in the district of Matara have presently been denied the opportunities, they lament. As the public authorities comment the VTC in Thihagoda was ceremonially inaugurated in the year 1996 by the former Minister of Vocational Training and Labour of the then People’s Alliance administration and also the present President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the invitation of the then Deputy Minister of Religious and Cultural Affairs and the present Minister of Transport Dullas Alahapperuma.

Training authorities state that within the period of operation of this training institute, over 4,000 unemployed men and women underwent training in motor mechanism, Sinhala and English shorthand and typing, Juki machine operation, welding, fitting, fabric painting, screen printing, bridal dressing, motor and housing wiring, repair of pedal bicycles and motorcycles, landscaping and various other trades.

Almost all those who successfully completed vocational training in this centre have been gainfully employed in public and private sectors, non-governmental organisations and self-employment projects as well, they said.

Residents in the division of Divisional Secretariat Thihagoda earnestly appeal to the President and the Government to re-open the Thihagoda VTC.