Letters & Speeches
Ambassador Blake's remarks at the opening of of the new vocational training center in Tangalle
Venerable Bhikku, Your Excellency President Mahinda Rajapakse, Minister Amaraweera, Minister Rajapakse, Minister Gamage, Major General Ponnamperuma, other distinguished invitees, staff and future students of this wonderful school, and residents of Tangalle – I am so pleased to join you all today to inaugurate this new vocational education school.
I am here to represent the American Government and the American people who provided the funds to build this lovely facility.
A Chinese proverb says: “If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people”.
We agree. As part of the United States Government’s $135 million tsunami reconstruction program, USAID is building nine vocational schools in Sri Lanka - five here in the South and four in the East. These schools will help young Sri Lankans acquire the skills they need to lead rewarding careers in sectors of the economy that are hungry for skilled workers. This morning, we are opening the seventh of these nine schools here in Tangalle.
Mr. President, I am certain that you agree with me when I say that: of all the initiatives by the United States to help Sri Lanka recover from the tsunami, promoting vocational training is in many ways our most important project. I know that you share my enthusiasm for helping young people get the training and education they need. This is evidenced by your leadership with The President’s Fund, where you focus on developing the education sector.
Through education, young people gain skills that will provide them with good paying jobs, which will help boost both their family income and the economic opportunities available to them for many years to come.
The Tangalle Vocational Training Center will graduate 180 students each year who will become masons, plumbers, electricians, mechanics, appliance repair technicians, electronic repair technicians, and IT specialists. All these trades are in high demand in Sri Lanka’s economy, meaning graduates will be well positioned to find good jobs.
Now that the construction of this building is completed and the doors to the school are being opened, it is important to remember that today we are marking another significant milestone: the beginning of academic training.
To ensure that the skills acquired by the students here at Tangalle are in tune with the needs of the growing economy, we consulted the private sector when we worked to develop the vocational skills curricula. It is, after all, the private sector that will employ most of the graduates from the vocational training centers.
The U.S. Government sees the importance of working with the private sector, and seeks their involvement in everything we do – whether it is to support infrastructure development, stabilization, or promote economic prosperity for the people of Sri Lanka.
Here in Tangalle, we have worked with private donors, such as the Chevron Corporation, Prudential and the Mellon Foundation. Thanks to their generous funding, this vocational education center is now complete and fitted with modern equipment for the practical use of its students.
With the school completed and equipped, it is now the task of the bright young men and women of Tangalle to make the best use of what this school can offer to realize their own potential. I am reminded of Buddha’s words of encouragement: “Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart, to give yourself to it.”
If you work hard, the practical education you gain here at Tangalle will help you become productive members of society. You will learn trades that will lead to good-paying jobs. In this way, you will help yourself, the Southern Province and Sri Lanka as a whole to become more prosperous.
I want to thank and congratulate the U.S. Agency for International Development (or USAID) for its vision in prioritizing vocational education in its tsunami reconstruction program, and our Government of Sri Lanka partners for your excellent collaboration on this project. I also want to commend our contractors Access International and CH2MHill. Thanks to all of our efforts, we can all take pride in the completion of this impressive school.
Your Excellency President Rajapakse, Minister Amaraweera, Minister Rajapakse, Minister Gamage, Major General Ponnamperuma, distinguished guests, staff and future students – I wish you every success in making the Tangalle Vocational Training Center a center of excellence and a place that offers new opportunities to the young generation of Sri Lanka’s Southern Province.
Thank you.