Awakening a Generation: Mentoring Sri Lanka’s Youth for Purpose and Progress

O: of my students, who is very close to the age of 25, met me and asked about how he could expand his online clothing business in terms of different marketing strategies.

- BY PROFESSOR NALIN ABEYSEKERA

With his expertise, inspiration, and interest, I have seen an enamors potential in him to become one of the successful entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka, bringing pride to the nation. In the same discussion, I inquired about a few of his friends of the same age, who were my students in the recent past and whom I could mentor in the future for entrepreneurship, given their potential. He mentioned that most of them are currently not engaged in any employment and are still dependent on their parents’ income. I always think there is a need for proper mentoring for our young people in Sri Lanka. We have many talents in this nation, and, unfortunately, this has not been properly tapped by the country. Additionally, we have also seen many problems that need to be avoided in the long run. Over the last few years, we have witnessed an uprising of many young people across different countries worldwide. The same can be seen in Sri Lanka . Many reasons can be highlighted as causes for those movements, such as corruption, nepotism, etc. People always believe in having a better life with equity. Anyway, the genuine causes for the movements can be seen to have been converted to violence, which needs to be carefully analysed.

social media harms them, especially those spending 2+ hours daily. According to a report by