The education sector should be streamlined and updated promptly to produce professionals who are capable of taking the country forward, Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said.
The Minister was speaking to a group of 123 newly recruited teachers at the Education Ministry auditorium yesterday.
The teachers have been recruited to teach professional subjects in the Advanced Level classes.
He said although the country is blessed with abundant human resources, it lacks professionals.
The Minister said that having identified the skills of students, various professional subjects have been introduced to the education sector so as to enable students to master their talents.
Under the professional stream, students can benefit by becoming professionals by mastering their preferred fields.
The results obtained at the Ordinary Levels will not be considered to follow a professional stream.
He added that fields including tourism, agriculture, fisheries, food technology, fashion designing and many others have been introduced for students to become professionals and progress in life.
Minister Kariyawasam said the teachers who received appointments are duty bound to mould the future generation through the professional fields.
He added that most countries tend to seek foreign exchange through professionals such as doctors, nurses, information technology experts, engineers, and software engineers. But we are lagging behind in this regard.
It is regrettable that Sri Lanka earns the biggest amount of foreign exchange from housemaids serving abroad.
The Minister added that 1,150 teachers have been recruited so far to teach professional subjects in schools.
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