– The Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education Dr. Harini Amarasuriya.
The Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education Dr. Harini Amarasuriya said that a better quality reform will be implemented while listening to the views of suggestions and complaints in the dialogues happening with regard to education reforms and these reforms are not an activity of one party or a group but it is a national endeavor.
The Prime Minister expressed these views while participating in an awareness program held for the educational authorities of the Central Province about new education reforms at Kandy District Secretariat today (31).
Expressing further ideas at this occasion, The Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated like this,
A survey conducted by the Ministry of Education in the year 2024 revealed that when 20,000 students left the school, there is no information about what happened to them. And also 80,000 children attending schools did not come to schools regularly. Three hundred thousand children are admitted to schools annually. Out of them about one hundred and fifty thousand children leave school education in different stages and directed to vocational education or private education. About 40,000 are admitted to government universities. But nobody’s attention has been drawn to what happens to the remaining children and their future. The actions have been taken to change this situation through the new education reforms.
Within our school education system, the children leaving schools after having 13 years of education are not able to enter the world of employment easily. The education obtained from a school has not been sufficient to go for an employment. Specially this situation has affected our girls. Although the girls have shown better competencies in the schools, the female participation in the job market is 50% less than males.
Even if they have educational skills, children find it difficult to enter the vocational world. Not only education, there are some more reasons for it. In the same way, the social problems we are facing today are also affecting it. It is also an objective of this education reforms to create a generation who are responsible for the society, law abiding and having empathy, patience and general knowledge for entering an employment within the entire social process.
We must create a child who can interact and transact specially within the modern technological world and within the fast-changing society. The information is reaching us in an unthinkable speed. But the children must be created to be persons who have the ability to analyze that information and to take a correct idea about the truth or false about them. The future world needs the children with an exploring mind.
We expect to introduce a system where new selections can be done without restraining to exam results. This is the seventh dialogue we are having at the provincial level, and very important suggestions we received from all those discussions regarding how to improve reforms further. In addition to the officers in the field of education, we are having discussions with the members of parliament, professionals and trade unions. All those suggestions received through those dialogues are very important for us. This is not a responsibility of one political party or a group. This is a national program; therefore, a national consultation must happen. We are ready to listen to the suggestions, complaints and ideas emerging from those discussions and to do positive changes.
It is not possible to do this only having discussions; it must be started from somewhere. Therefore, we start new education reforms from next year in grade 1 and grade 6, said The Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education Dr. Harini Amarasuriya.
The Deputy Minister of Education Dr. Madhura Senevirathna, The Deputy Minister of Buddhist, Religious and Cultural Affairs Gamagedara Dissanayaka, The Governor of Central Province Sarath Abeykoon, Members of Parliament, educational authorities including the Secretary of Ministry of Education Nalaka Kaluwewa and officers of the Central Province attended in this event.
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