Dirty hands or smart life. Employment in Polonnaruwa's automotive sector
Summary
This study looks into employment in the automotive sector of Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka. It explores it's capacity to be a sector of decent employment, with special attention paid towards vocational education, youth aspirations, migrational patterns and the local economic conjuncture. Towards this end, 31 employers and employees of the local automotive business were interviewed, as well as 20 youths from local fishing and agricultural communities. The theme surged through the recent push for vocational education as a means to improve (depressed) local economies, and counter outmigration. Polonnaruwa is especially interesting since there is a big development program in place.