Determination of Wage Rate in the Labour Market in Sri Lanka

Wage/ Salary is the main income source of a majority of employed population inSri Lanka. However their wage is a function of a number of inputs such as age, sex,education and experience.Literature reveals that human capital accumulation is animportant determinant of individual‟s earnings capacity and employment prospects, andtherefore, plays an important role in determining the travel and distribution of income insociety. Hence, it is important to identify how far the education of employees hasdetermined wage rate. Labor market experience also plays a significant role in wagedetermination of employees.Labor force in Sri Lanka is employed in different professions or occupations invarious sectors or industries. Salaries or wages of these employees differ vertically aswell as horizontally. The causes for different ials are explained under the theoryof wage determination. However, in order to understand this problem in the contextof a country, an empirical study is needed. Therefore, this study focused oninvestigating how the wage rate of employees is determined in the Sri Lanka labormarket. The internationally recognized classical human capital earning function whichwas introduced by Jacob Mincer highlights the significance of education and experiencein wage determination.In order to study the wage determination, a sample was selected from the SriLanka labor force survey conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics. Thedispersion of conditional wage rate of the total sample, and the sub-samples areinvestigated by running quintile regressions of Mincerian wage equation with a view toaddressing the link between schooling and rate of return to education and wageinequality.In the Sri Lanka labor market, level of education is the most significant factorfor wage determination and the substitutability of experience for education is low. Inaddition, the rate of return to education increases over the wage distribution in anoverwhelming majority of wage groups.Key words: Wage Determination, Human capital, Level of education, Experience,Mincer mode

An Empirical Study of Selected Challenges in Online Education; A Special Focus on G.C.E. (Advanced Level) Students in the Colombo District of Sri Lanka

The 21st century can be known as an era in which the universe has become one village with the rapid advancement in internet-based information and communication technology. Consequently, online methods were used to develop education opportunities widely in the distance learning process. Though many researchers have paid attention to the challenges and opportunities of online education in schools and universities, researchers have paid less attention to online education in the Sri Lankan school system. However, Sri Lankan schools were trending towards online education due to the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. As a result, this study aims to identify the factors affecting online education usage and the challenges of online education by advanced-level students in the Colombo district. The advanced-level students in the Colombo district were the target population of this study. The sample was selected from Padukka, Hanwella, and Homagama Secretarial divisions under multistage cluster sampling, and the data was collected from 312 students using a questionnaire. Further, the independent sample t-test, Analysis of Variance and Structural Equation Model, was used to identify the self-determining factors. Consequently, social, communication, technical, demographic, and economic factors identified online education usage variables. Finally, this study suggested implementing Learning Management Systems and providing teachers and students with sufficient knowledge about online education. Overall, this study provided an opportunity to identify the challenges teachers and students face in online education and reduce time consumption and cost of the teaching and learning process. DOI: http://doi.org/10.31357/fhss/vjhss.v08i02.0

Nanoscale Tweezers for Single Cell Biopsies

Much of the functionality of multi-cellular systems arises from the spatial organisation and dynamic behaviours, both within and between cells. Current single-cell genomic methods only provide a transcriptional “snapshot” of individual cells. The real-time analysis and perturbation of living cells would generate a step-change in the way single-cell analysis is approached. To address this challenge, we report on the development of minimally invasive nanotweezers that can be spatially controlled to extract and manipulate samples from living cells with single-molecule precision. These nanotweezers consists of two closely spaced electrodes with gaps as small as 10-20 nm, which can be used for the dielectrophoretic trapping of DNA and proteins under physiological conditions. This is in part due to the high electric field gradients being generated and the low operating voltages. Aside from trapping single molecules, we show that it is possible to extract nucleic acids from living cells including the nucleus and cytoplasm for gene expression analysis without affecting cell viability. We also report on the trapping, manipulation and extraction of a single mitochondrion. This work bridges the gap between single-molecule/organelle manipulation and cell biology and can ultimately enable a better understanding of living cells