The National Center for Leadership Development is located on a beautiful piece of land in the Yodhagama Village Office Division of the Embilipitiya Divisional Secretariat in the Ratnapura District.

The area of the Gamuda Exhibition held on 23 June 1985, with permanent products prepared according to the country’s unique demonstration models (Parliament, Temple Trees) has been built as a “Yodagama Village”. After the exhibition, on the instructions of the Hon. Prime Minister R. Premadasa, this land, which was under the Ministry of Local Government until then, has been established as a training center spread over an area of 35 acres by the Local Government Training and Research Institute since 15.09.1985.

Training activities have been initiated with the aim of training the officers of the Gramodaya Mandals that have been started at the village level at that time and this institution has been appropriately named as the “International Center for Training Rural Leaders”. Later, various training programs have been implemented under various ministries as follows.

• Training of small groups in the Janasaviya program.

• Training of Gramodaya Mandal chairpersons.

• Training of representatives of local government institutions.

• Training of leaders of community-based mandals.

• Entrepreneurship training for Samurdhi managers, small groups, and Jana Pubudu beneficiaries.

• Samurdhi Beneficiary Women’s Support Programs

Subsequently, in 2013, this institution came under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development, and by that time, in addition to training rural leaders, the role of the center had changed to developing the leadership skills of various parties, so through a special cabinet paper, the “International Center for Training Rural Leaders” that existed until then was renamed the “National Center for Leadership Development” and its scope was also changed. From 2020, this training center came under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and is currently managed under that ministry. At present, this center consists of a staff of 62 people, including staff officers such as Director, Assistant Director, Accountant and Administrative Officer.

The main function of this institution is to conduct leadership development training programs for school students, youth, public and private sector officials, and rural leaders. In addition, it provides accommodation, food, lecture halls, etc. for training programs organized by external parties.

The capacity of the residential facilities of the institution was about 265 and in 2023, the above-mentioned buildings were renovated to increase the capacity to 400. Also, due to the use as a Covid treatment center and the lack of timely funds due to the economic crisis, it was difficult to conduct training programs free of charge. As a solution to this, the leadership training programs, which had been conducted without any charge for about 38 years, were started to be conducted on a fee basis from September 2023, and only the costs of providing accommodation, lecture halls, etc. are provided free of charge for programs attended by school students and only the costs of providing food are charged. Also, with the aim of providing leadership development training according to the current demand, the necessary training items for Adventure Based Training were prepared.

As a solution to this, the leadership training programs, which had been conducted free of charge for about 38 years, were started to be conducted on a fee basis from September 2023, and only the expenses for providing food, lectures, lecture halls, etc. are provided free of charge for programs in which school students participate. Similarly, by renovating the above-mentioned buildings in 2023, it was possible to increase the residential facilities to 400, and with the aim of providing leadership development according to the current demand, the necessary training items for adventure-based training were prepared.

Accordingly, at present, this center has 13 hostels (including 11 air-conditioned rooms) that can accommodate about 400 trainees at a time, an air-conditioned conference hall that can seat 400 at a time, 04 more lecture halls and a fully equipped dining hall that can accommodate 150 at a time, 16 official residences and 47 buildings including the head office and a beautiful free area. The center also has a training ground related to adventure activities (Adventure Based Training).

As a result of all these modernizations, there is a satisfactory demand for training programs and it was possible to earn more than 31 million rupees as income for the year 2024.