The President advised the relevant authorities to appoint the eligible graduates in accordance with their field of study. He also said priority should be given to the poorest among the poor in every Grama Niladhari division when selecting candidates for the programme to employ 100,000 low-income persons.

The President made these remarks during a discussion held at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday (17) to discuss future modalities of the employment programme.

The President emphasized the necessity of providing on the job training as a measure to address shortcomings and deficiencies in the public sector. Qualified persons will be employed in the private sector too. During the one-year training programme, more attention should be paid to nurture qualities such as leadership, meeting targets and building confidence.

The President also pointed out the importance of offering jobs for selected graduate employees at new State Ministries to achieve set goals of those ministries.

Many people apprised the President of the issue of shortage of teachers in schools when he visited several districts during the election campaign. It was also decided to appoint new job recipients to overcome this problem. Low-income recipients selected for employment under the 100,000 jobs scheme will be directed to fill vacancies at 24 different trades. They will be trained by the National Apprentice Board.

Secretary to the President Dr P.B.Jayasundera, Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Retired Major General Kamal Gunaratne, Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government J.J. Ratnasiri and other officials were present at the discussion.