Youth Aspirations and Expectations in Sri Lanka following Economic Liberalisation. Location Study 6: Padeniya

Abstract

This is one of a series of reports examining shifts in the aspirations of youth for livelihoods, education and qualifications following the policies of economic liberalisation introduced from 1978. It examines shifts over time through comparisons of youth aspirations with the recollected aspirations of the youth’s parents. The study of aspirations is based exclusively on interviews with household members from different class groups. This report focuses on households in Padeniya, a Sinhala Buddhist village in the North Western Province.Results are disaggregated by gender, age and current activity, and key findings include: the rate of farming decreases with increasing educational attainment the rate of unemployment increases with increasing educational attainment more females than males aspired to university the value attached to education has decreased compared to the period before economic liberalisation nearly 70% of youth aspire to government sector employment, 13% to locally organised private sector employment, and 10% to the foreign/joint venture organised private sector