The Minister of Education Dr. Susil Premajayantha says that even if there are 10 main educational competencies that help for the future developments of the children in primary and pre-primary educations stages, only 3 out of 10 remain when they reach the grade 5 scholarship level engaging the children in a competitive education system. The competencies related to aesthetic subjects like music gradually deviate during this period and it causes to reduce the creative domain of the brain of the children and this existing education system must be changed which makes the children sick, says the minister.
The Minister of Education further stated at this occasion that in any developed country in the world the graduates are not trained for the relevant subject after obtaining a degree for that subject but in this country the graduate teachers have to be trained. This shows the necessity of a transformative change of the education system to overcome those challenges. The attitudinal changes even at the social level is necessary in order to create a new education system consisted of the constructive attitudinal changes that builds up a better student-teacher relationship in the classrooms. Many steps have been taken to solve the use of intoxicating drugs in school premises that has been a recent topic in the society and further steps are also being taken to overcome this problem, the minister said.
While pointing out the importance of extra-curricular activities like classroom meetings, the minster further stated that in line with the ongoing successful program to improve the mindfulness which started with 10 minutes period in some schools, at least one period for physical exercises and sports must be activated continuously together with the transformative educational process. The minister expressed these ideas while participating in the function for awarding presents and certificates of “Good Habits” lyrical drama competition held in Colombo.
