COLOMBO (UCAN) -- Thousands of students with faces painted yellow and green took to the streets of Colombo to protest against the war and ethnic disunity plaguing Sri Lanka.

Aquinas College of Higher Studies, in the heart of Colombo, sent nearly all its 7,000 students out on March 18, a Sunday, accompanied by a brass band as well as Catholic priests and nuns. Participants in "Aquinas Walk 2007" marched four kilometers before returning to the college.

Yellow and green are the colors of Aquinas College. The slogans and placards stressed unity and an end to the civil war between the Tamil separatists and the Singhalese-led government in this island state. The walk also reflected the students' personal concerns about the future and their chances of obtaining further education or decent jobs.

Some students dressed as devils representing ethnic division, miscommunication, language differences and religion-based prejudice, chained to the biggest demon, that of war.

Some dressed as wedding couples in different traditional attire representing a wish for happiness among people of diverse ethnic groups.

Others hoisted banners with slogans such as "United we stand, divided we fall," "Peace for a strong nation," and "Empower us to empower the depressed."

The walk of the college's Christian, Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim students has been held annually since 2003 during term break. Despite the carnival atmosphere, this year's walk had a serious message.

Assistant registrar Nevil De Silva told UCA News that the students were "driven out onto the streets" to voice concerns about their future. "Look at how many youths are leaving school in the country," he told UCA News during the march.

"There are millions. There is no employment in a country at war," he said.

Father Placidus de Silva, rector of Aquinas College, told UCA News during the walk that youth "are left with unrealized hopes and frustration and bitterness," with little or no prospect of finding suitable employment in a job market saturated with unskilled labor.

According to the University Grant Commission of Sri Lanka, of the 245,694 students who finished secondary school and are qualified to enter university, less than 10 percent will actually get into universities.

Walking in the procession, Father Saman Maximus, vice rector of Aquinas College, told UCA News that the walk was for the empowerment of youth in nation building. "The main obstacles in their path are unemployment, insufficient opportunity for higher studies, and bitter civil war," he said.

Father Maximus said nothing about one employment option, the military. The media run advertisements to encourage young people to join the military. At the same time, their news stories add up the war's death toll. The war began in 1983 and in spite of the cease-fire negotiated in 2002, hostilities continue.

Although there are Catholic schools in Sri Lanka, Aquinas is the only Catholic college. It was opened by the late Oblate Father Jerome Peterpillai in 1953, as a Christian commitment to good education for the nation, with what was termed "a sacred perspective." There are language classes in Tamil and Sinhala, even as the medium of instruction is English.

Aquinas provides degrees and diplomas in agriculture, arts, information technology, journalism, languages, law, marketing, management, pharmacology, psychology, religious studies and science.

Aquinas, with its high quality education and affordable fees, special awards and scholarships, attracts more and more students. To date, it has formed several hundred thousand students, scholars and prominent figures in various fields. Some students go on for higher education at universities.

The college has a good reputation, as evidenced by the presence of two prominent former students at the march.

Speaking on the college stage at the end of the walk, Hema Kumara Nanayakara, minister of agriculture and a lecturer at the college, said, "This college is the lighthouse for millions of students," noting that, "I am one of them."

Parliamentarian John Amaratunge, a Catholic and a legal studies graduate, meanwhile, told the audience: "I went up the ladder of education. You too should follow me up." The former state government minister is now a well-known lawyer and politician.

During an address at Aquinas College in September, Archbishop Oswald Gomis of Colombo spoke out about the many who fail to get admission to universities, the worst affected being those from poor families.

"This category, which we claim to help, are left high and dry," he told the gathering. "The very rich can go to prestigious universities in affluent countries. Those who are left out are totally frustrated, and easy fodder for revolution and violence," Archbishop Gomis explained.

According to the government, the current level of unemployment is seven percent.

END

(Accompanying photos available at here)