Then and now

The news that 64,000 undergraduates are to be given jobs must have brought a relief to so many waiting for employment. In the ‘good old days’, university students were guaranteed employment no sooner they were out of the university. That was the era when there was just the Colombo University with an additional campus in Peradeniya. Today there are 15 universities.

During that era even getting through the Senior School Certificate (SSC) examination would be sufficient to get a decent job. After the SSC, one could go in for the Higher School Certificate (HSC) & the University Entrance examination, which were the same. Those who were not interested in higher studies could stop with the HSC.

Once the university final exam was over one could easily get a job either in the public sector or with a private sector firm. It was generally felt that a job in a Government department was ‘safe’. The pension after 55 years was also a big attraction. It was virtually like being in a job not only until he passed away but even until one’s spouse lived on once the pensioner was no more.

With the increasing population and more and more facilities for higher education, youngsters preferred to continue studies and look for better jobs once they had higher qualifications. There was a time when certain departments like Labour expanded with branch offices in the key towns. That opened up more avenues for government jobs. An additional incentive was the loan given to buy a car for those doing field jobs. The interest they had to pay was minimal. 

I can recall the days when there were vacancies in a government department, graduates clad in white suits (‘full suit’ as we used to say) carrying the graduate certificate in one hand, hovering around government departments where interviews were held. 

I went for a couple myself but soon gave up when I found journalism an interesting job though the start as ‘trainee journalists’ on the ‘Dinamina’ meant being translators. I had worked for a few months before I went to the university when I got selected as a trainee journalist while pending university entrance results. 

When I was taken before Managing Director – Editorial Esmond Wickremasinghe after my second interview, his first question was whether I would not go away once the university results were out. I said: “No Sir, I will never get through. I failed last year too.” I got the job. I travelled by train from my home in Udugampola a little away from Gampaha.

When the results came I had got through. I was called up for an interview in Peradeniya and I got selected. After working for six months I moved out to go to Peradeniya campus and the money I had collected from the monthly pay came in handy to collect a few imported shirts and trousers from Hydramani and Apothecaries.