Prime Minister Dr Harini Amarasuriya will inaugurate Sri Lanka’s first National Research Conference on Youth Development on Wednesday, Hiru News reported.
The conference opens at 9:00 a.m. on 16 September at the National Water Supply and Drainage Board auditorium in Ratmalana, and runs for two days to 17 September, with academic panels and discussion forums scheduled across both.
Who is running it
The conference is organised jointly by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and the Open University of Sri Lanka. Its stated aims are to identify the potential of the country’s young people, involve them in sustainable national development, and gather data for youth development programmes.
The keynote will be delivered by Professor P.M.C. Thilakaratne, Vice-Chancellor of the Open University.
The numbers
- Nearly 200 young researchers submitted abstracts
- 67 research papers were selected for presentation
- 40 researchers each received a research incentive grant of Rs. 25,000 at the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
- More than 500 people have registered to attend
Participation is open to university students, independent researchers, public and private sector professionals, and policymakers.
Why a research conference
The framing is the notable part. Sri Lankan youth policy has generally been delivered through programmes and grants rather than through a published evidence base, and the Ministry states the data-gathering purpose explicitly — the conference is intended to feed findings into future programme design.
That sits alongside the government’s wider education assessment reforms, which the Prime Minister has also led.
Not reported
Hiru does not give the conference theme or the subject areas of the 67 selected papers, does not say who selected them, and does not say whether proceedings will be published. It does not give the total cost of the conference, the source of the Rs. 25,000 grants, or whether the grants continue beyond this year. It does not say whether the event will be repeated annually. No other verified newsroom had filed on the conference at the time of writing.
