In order to develop an effective education system for Sri Lanka there should be a clear focus on the improvement areas. The key to this is an outside approach where more focus is on the outside demand for job markets and recent changes. Considering this demand-focused approach, below are a few suggestions for the different levels of education platforms.
1. Primary education – More focus should be given to improve language, IT skills, innovative and logical thinking and overall values. That requires, not just infrastructure development, but improvement in the quality of teachers and techniques and values used. Proper facilities along with updated learning and teaching experiences should be given to both teachers and students in rural areas.
2. Higher education – Other than infrastructure development, the focus should be on developing more in demand graduates and enhancing research and development skills to produce more and more entrepreneurs. Opportunities for professional education should be developed. Universities should be linked with public and private recruiters, and more and more partnerships in developing technical skills are required. In general, increasing the competitiveness of the students/ graduates while safeguarding the key values of education is critical.
The positive side is that the education system in Sri Lanka is far better than the majority of the countries in the world. Primary education is compulsory for all the children according to government regulations and that implies the importance that has been given to education in this country. The average knowledge of a student in primary classes is fairly high due to the diversified syllabus coverage in the schools.
The negative side is that the competition is too high from the primary classes and it exceeds the children’s capacity. It is not a good thing as children lose their childhoods. In addition, the government should focus a lot more on English language competency especially in the rural schools.
From time to time, the social weaknesses of the education system in our country become more and more traumatic. It is a frequent accusation that the current student community has been distressed particularly in a traditional framework and an ancillary class culture has surpassed schools.
Consider that 40 minutes of the schooling period are set aside for the maximum amount of attention that the average person can continuously focus. But think of the extent to which students attend tuition classes, which are highly competitive and not only for one subject.
For this reason, the present day community has been forced to immerse themselves in books for 24 hours a day. Therefore, it is not surprising that there are not any active individuals with knowledge in the future generation.
What ails our education system is the requirement for a shift or transformation of traditional learning to one that focuses on self-actualised learning, contrary to the spoonfed culture prevalent in Sri Lanka across the primary, secondary and even local university circuit. Also, gearing graduates for job fit and alignment is another aspect that institutions should bear in mind and develop a curriculum and moreover an etiquette towards the fostering of same.
In my point of view, the local education system is on par with the international standards. Given the fact that it is free education, I believe that we should be more than happy about what is being offered.
However, it could be improved using modern techniques. There are no adequate training programmes for teachers in Sri Lanka. Therefore, they are still using traditional methods of teaching. Furthermore, there should be more opportunities. For example, education should not be limited to children who are academically smart. It should also be imparted to children with learning disabilities. Contemporary methods should be used to handle such circumstances and a wide array of schools, universities, vocational centres should be established to accommodate such issues.
According to my view, education means learning something that you don’t know or learning something more than what you already know about something.
The education system is the mechanism that we use to educate others. Whether we like it or not, we should admit that Sri Lanka still uses an education system which is far behind of the systems adopted by developed countries. We have a free education system in Sri Lanka, but what is in place is not applicable in this modern developed world. Today, computer education and technology are mandatory disciplines which should be introduced to our education system as compulsory subjects in the Ordinary Level and Advance Level exams.
Apart from that I am of the view that we should have a national education policy if we want to get our education system back on track. Political will is a mandatory requirement in this regard. This national policy should be made by highly qualified and educated people in our country.
Finally, I wish that we will get back on track as soon as possible!
Our education system is on par or better than the international system, especially when comparing the local Ordinary or Advanced levels with the London Ordinary or Advanced levels. Our school curriculum has made local students more literate compared to their foreign counterparts. But due credit goes to the teachers and parents rather than the institute or the government, although some can say that the government has provided free education (but this is the case with many countries).
But lately, international schools have grown and are more advanced in comparison to government/public schools in Sri Lanka. Entering a child to a government/public school has become so difficult for parents in spite of living close to one, because schools are commercialised and are focussed on money making from the principal to the bottom of the hierarchy, and the ministry.
Here is where the government can add value to abolish such pains for parents and to come up with good systems to enter children without paying additional amounts.
Compared to the past, our government/public education system has become less effective and more painful for parents. We need to see improvements that are far better than what international schools implement. Our education system is crumbling from what it used to be and the future doesn’t look that prosperous. And it’s high time we change it, since more and more parents are working hard to earn money compared to the past where only the father worked and the mother looked after the family. Now with both parents working, children are being neglected, so we need the government to improve the education system and eradicate all money making businesses to support families in this country.
Also when it comes to university level, it is again the same issue because of ragging, longer periods to complete the degree, too many unions and seniors controlling junior students for their advantages. Also, many of these students criticise private sector degrees which actually carry out far better systems to complete education on time to allow students to enter the work force sooner and work more efficiently. This is why we see more international schools’ students leaving the country and becoming better entrepreneurs since they find it hard to progress in this country.
It is sad to see this happening and I hope this changes soon in future.
This is a very important issue which is only to be handled by the real patriots of this country. There is a famous saying in English which goes, “before you go to teach Latin (a dead language in English) to student Paul, you must study who is Paul and what is his standard is”. I believe same theory can be applied to Sri Lanka. Before we decide the manner in which the Sri Lankan education system should be formed, I suggest some of the main factors that we can take in to consideration,
1. Country background
2. Resources
3. Population
4. Economy
5. Political stability
6. Attitudes of the nation.
If we take a blend of all the categories that I have mentioned above and make a long story short, Sri Lanka’s present situation can be equalled to that of a new-born child.
There have been many ups and downs in the country. Terrorism prevailed for about 32 years. There was corruption during the rule of many regimes – from time to time, since independence. The country had been handed over to different types of political leaders – some of whom didn’t consider the progress of the generation but planned to develop the country as one of their ‘personal business properties’. Such leaders only cared about the wellbeing of their families. Then there were other political leaders who adopted a completely different method to previous regimes and turned the education system of the country into an utter mess.
Sri Lanka is an island in the Indian Ocean and is rich in a myriad of resources, especially it is gifted with a very knowledgeable, trainable, efficient and wise young generation. However, as the country was under the British rule for a long time, the thinking styles and understanding of Sri Lankan citizens are still limited to that of the colonial era; and have not changed rapidly with globalisation. That is the biggest weakness of our country.
The ones who control the ‘knob’ – i.e. the power-hungry uneducated political leaders who cling onto power, mislead innocent citizens – especially those in rural areas. This situation is made worse by some fellows who act and pretend to be ‘Buddhist monks’.
During ancient times, when Sri Lanka was ruled by kings, whenever a competitor attempted to overthrow the king from the throne, he first approached teachers of the prince who is the next heir to the throne, so that he could mislead the prince and create clashed with the king. The same thing applies to the Sri Lankan political leaders who selfishly neglect the country’s progression and only think of their families. That is nepotism.
This is the background of the education system that presently prevails in Sri Lanka. As I mentioned, Sri Lanka needs an education system which focusses on globalisation, but not colonisation.
Take a look at the American education system which is job-oriented. Likewise, we need to change the colonial mindset of the society, which differentiates professions as ‘blue collar’ and ‘white collar’ jobs, and give everyone equal recognition, as all jobs serve the nation. Wages should be made – not to match how they are dressed – but in accordance with the level of labour where hard labour should be paid high wages.
For instance, in the United States of America (USA), a motor mechanic is paid US$ 60 per hour, but a cool room bank teller is paid US$ 13 per hour. Both need to have professional qualifications – either technical or clerical – to be employed in their posts. In the USA, employees are paid according to the labour, not the designation. And the earnings are the measurement of personality value. All rural schools must equipped with computer laboratories and trained teacher, with computer technology added to the curricular as a compulsory subject in the GCE Ordinary Level.
In another two decades, the world will be driven by technology and if we do not evolve with technology, Sri Lanka will be an isolated island in the Indian Ocean. And that is what corrupt politicians and the ‘political waste’ (deshpalana kunugodawal) of Sri Lanka expects for the country, by making the young generation to be ‘frogs in the pond’. Their kith and kin will prosper with the revenues that uneducated villagers’ labour make.
When the country’s youth is exposed to technology, they will open their eyes and look at the world, and gradually start to change their ‘attitudes’ and be on par with the trends of the modern world, and thereby rejecting the old colonial thinking (wansaya kabalgema and hanamity adahas) and line up to make a change in the country.
Sri Lanka needs a ‘forward thinking’ education system instead of the colonial education system which is backward thinking. The latter was introduced by the British rulers mainly to produce ‘paid slaves’ to the British Monarchy. And later after independence some cunning and corrupted politicians came to power just to localise the British System and nationalise it just by changing the language. That was only a new version of the colonial education system which again produced ‘local slaves’ who are to be used by the corrupt political regimes and the chain of politicians who enter politics from father to son and mother to daughter. This is known today as nepotism with bureaucracy.
In brief, my suggestion is that we have to move with the changing world and the increasing demand for educated employees to various fields. Our education system must be updated from time to time to be on par with the trends of the modern world.
More than plus points in the Sri Lankan education system, I see many negative factors, which need to be rectified. Our system is exam oriented, rather than a build-up of knowledge and exposure, to cater to the growing needs of the world. It does not help to build one’s personality. A person may be equipped with a paper qualification, but he/she will be misfit in the business world.
Many bright sparks cannot come forward because of the language barrier. The Sinhala language education system does not help the younger generation to go out to achieve international standards.
The other point I like to make is the changing of the school syllabuses at the whims and fancies of the higher authorities, without a proper plan, sometimes for a financial benefit. This will affect the proper formation of our future generations.
In my view, the children must be educated in mixed schools, where they have an opportunity to interact with their peers of both sexes and have a balanced outlook.
Further, the teachers in our country are not given the due place and are not respected for the important role they play, in the formation of the children. They are not paid a fair salary and sometimes are deprived of their statutory dues, when it comes to the payment of arrears, on a meagre salary increase they receive. This will give rise to a financial crisis, thus compelling the teachers to conduct private classes, in order to make ends meet. In the way forward, I believe the teachers should be equipped with proper training and qualifications and be paid a good salary. This will help to rectify the current situation.
We must also admire our free education system, giving opportunities to our youth to pursue their higher education. However, what is received free is not valued and is being abused by the present generations. Several opportunities are available presently for our youth to pursue their careers in different fields, giving rise to more qualified professionals. However the state must regulate a system with proper controls, in order to ensure that higher standards are maintained by the private universities and educational colleges.
Even though Sri Lanka is home to the best universities coupled with education systems of the highest standards, lately the quality of this system has been taking a downward spiral. This standard is diluted not only because of the crowding of private tertiary educational institutes who have a 360 degree interactive learning system, but because of the academic panel which relies for knowledge solely on text books and lacks practical knowledge. As a student who has had experience in both private and state universities, a huge gap can be sensed in teaching and assessing methods. This difference has become the driving force between employment of undergraduates in the private sector, creating a competitive advantage.
Probably the most standard system of education prevails in Sri Lanka, which prepares a student to become a professional who can cater the demands placed upon him/her by the corporate sector. Any student who completes 13 years of schooling is equipped with the basic skillset to step into a remarkable career. However, university education, which is free, still remains a privilege to students, regardless of their potential. As a result, we lose a fair portion of our very own Lankan talent, provided they have the resources to move out. The rest of them choose private educational institutes – some of them falling victim to unrecognised qualifications; and the remaining are frustrated youth, who have no choice but to take up whatever life throws at them and go with the flow. Hence, there is room for improvement, and a solution for talent retention, provided that the government takes necessary measures to resolve this – ethically.
When it comes to higher education, there is a considerable amount of foreign education institutes operating here. Economically, it saves many outflows that would otherwise have been incurred, if students went out of the country to study same.
The concern here is quality and standard of education delivered and received. In a Sunday paper, one can see how these foreign off shore universities operate in our country. In how the classified claim, the foreign education franchisees seem to be mushrooming and a lucrative business to be. There are number of foreign universities who operate with their high standards.
In many courses such as postgraduate and master’s degree, foreign lecturers from the respective universities conduct limited lecture hours. It is not commercially viable to equip and run libraries that also require a range of journals. In most instances, the dealings with the student and lecturer are not face to face encounters, but video conferencing mode. Even assessments such as presentations are not performed in a real class room and examination setting in front of the lecturer and audience, but recorded and submitted as soft copies.
Making of a mature student is not just what lands one on a certificate. Rather it is where a student is able to manage toughness and tenacity, and endure uncertainties in a real life environment setting. Simply, reinforcing more value to his or her commercial experience.
An effective education system should cater to all strata of society. In Sri Lanka, although the mechanism is in place, it is disintegrated with no proper co-ordination. Sri Lankan authorities at the helm have been implementing education policies haphazardly, causing much damage to the future generations. In my view, the Sri Lankan education system is highly politicised, with ad hoc policies being implemented.
One cannot see a smooth flowing link in the current education system, from the primary to secondary, and moving on to the tertiary education level.
The priceless gift of free education which we enjoy is taken for granted and is being abused. The value of free education should be instilled in the minds of our youth.
Therefore Sri Lanka should relook at the existing system and adopt a long-term education policy, with a more practical approach, to cater to the future generations.
There is a segment of students who are citizens of this country who (are made to) virtually lose their identity and language.
Sri Lanka had a high toll on its society and people, when English was not made the official language. Perhaps to avoid history repeating and to move towards a better solution, parents are now eager that their children study in English. This is acceptable as long as the child converses in his/her mother tongue along with the international language.
It is said that children are good at picking up multiple languages when they are young. However, benefits can be enjoyed only if conversing in one language is not done at the expense of another. Parents do not seem to feel the gravity of being weak in writing and speaking one’s mother tongue.
The other reason is that when a local student studies a foreign syllabus in an international school, how can he/she be expected to realise his/her roots, and be aware of one’s identity, where one belongs and gets a hang of his/her culture? Without knowing our past how can we move on to the future?
An effective education system is one which has no winners and losers and no rifts leaving room for discrimination.
Education systems are not limited for the intelligent and average students, but should also serve the purpose of serving the differently-abled and fulfil vocational training requirements of those who drop out of school.
Changes to the education system should be proposed considering the status of schools in Sri Lanka, access to resources, availability of teachers for all subjects and etc. Nevertheless, it seems that there is controversy and ad hoc changes, as to how the revisions are proposed and made to education methods, subjects and assessments.
There are certain schools, even in the Colombo District, that do not have at least the basic facilities. Needless to say that apart from schools in major towns, many schools lack resources from classrooms, equipment, laboratory and sanitation facilities. It has been found out that there is a direct connection between the lack of proper sanitation facilities and absence rate. No qualified teachers are available in rural schools, for subjects such as English, Mathematics and Science. Many teachers are reluctant to serve in schools that are located in remote areas which lack average living conditions.
On top of this, there is poverty where many students have no electricity, a place, desk or chair to study at home and face socioeconomic issues such as problems at the home front. These circumstances do not encourage a child for schooling.
Unless the situation can be improved from these three ends – from the point of view of students, teachers and schools – the proposed amendments will not be beneficial to the majority of children. In other words, an education system is what can be made acceptable to the majority.
A hobby enables better synchronisation of left and right sides of the brain.
It can make you a genius, in your own special way and lift your enthusiasm. A hobby should also be constructive and therefore should not harm living beings and the environment.
With a hobby of your choice, your life can never be boring and monotonous.
Education systems here are qualification driven. In many developed countries, the level of education of a person or student is not solely ranked based on credentials.
Hence assessing the value of a person’s education level is not credit driven. In many countries the personal quality of a student is taken into account. As such, it is a mandatory criteria that will be looked into, and given a considerable weight as much as a student’s credits and distinctions. This personal quality aspect covers how the student has contributed to the society and country, the extent the student has volunteered for a worthy cause and extended support for those who are needy, in his or her capacity. It is assumed that such students are higher in personal capacity, stronger with a broad outlook, and have empathy and flexibility.
It is more of a duty-concerned approach as opposed to the right-concerned approach that we observe here in Sri Lanka with all the protests and strikes with aggressive demands that are raised.
It is this personal quality that continues when a student becomes a mature corporate citizen contributing to the business sector of a given country.
So if the roots and the essentials are weak – the products, i.e. the education and the person too may lack repute.
In the local secondary school education, the subjects seems to be of a compressed nature. In social studies there seems to be more than one subject, with history, geography and political science all compressed to one. The composition of subjects makes students get a hang of a little bit of everything.
On the other hand, within such compressed subjects, curricula /syllabuses seem to contain more trivial facts and information. For example, the subject of Sri Lankan history, has a considerable amount of historical information about kings. A syllabus should not just be a repository but should direct the focus of a student to historical events and kings who made many milestones in local history – facts of which can be taught in detail, while other facts can be of limited nature.
An average student would simply not know what is important and what is not. Inevitably, there would be some amount of disorientation.
The education system should direct students to acquire knowledge for application, to know about the environment and the country in which he or she is based. Yet this is the very purpose that is lost in our education system.
Reading along the two comments that had been already posted I wish to point out something which is quite different to what has been already discussed in this platform. As a teen who has lived through the Sri Lankan primary and secondary education systems, I strongly believe that it craves and demands a change and renovation due to many reasons that can be pointed out.
Evolution demands change. Be it in education or elsewhere it does the same. The use of standardized tests designed to test a narrow arena of the human intelligence should be converted and transformed into evaluations based on practical approach-ability of students of the theoretical knowledge that they possess. The founder of standardised tests Henry Misel himself once said “Exams are too cruel to judge the intelligence of a human being.” It is high time that we move on to a much more stress free, practical evaluation system which would be productive in many diverse manners.
Furthermore, the pathetic mentality of the General Public of Sri Lanka should be eradicated for it is the core of many problems that follows with the current educational system and its flow. Sri Lankans do possess this pathetic and unfortunate mindset that children who would not go on to become either a doctor, engineer, accountant or lawyer would be doomed and their future ruined. The faith on inventions, entrepreneurship, innovative businesses, agriculture and art has been lost by the prejudice mentality that labels the above mentioned as avenues that would not allow children to sustain in the longer run. The judgmental attitude that certain people possess has created the cultural norm which moves on to say that whoever doesn’t perform at the G.C.E Advanced Level exams and live up to their expectations would never be successful in an alternative endeavour. This needs to change and this needs to change fast.
The above mentioned attitude and psychological application of the same leads to the high discrimination among the Advanced Level streams too. The psychological application of this disastrous social and cultural norm leads to the prejudice mentality where the science stream is painted with a specific superiority followed by the commerce and at last, the arts stream. Ignorance and prejudice mentality has allowed these norms to sustain over time. Ironic as it may sound, the present pathetic condition is that a good number of the professionals and academics believe in the same as well. The value of the vast subject areas explored under arts such as history, geography and political science may reveal to you the deepest of this earth’s treasures that no other subject may let you experience. In a world that enthusiastically tries to invent ways to let the planet live over the technological advances, I would leave you to think on the importance and necessity of the knowledge acquired through these subjects.
Knowledge is priceless, despite which stream or subject it originates from. The day we can eradicate this mentality and respect all means of education for the immense value they carry and believe in the fact there is a world out there which exists with people other than engineers, doctors, lawyers and accountants, the Sri Lankan educational system would bloom profoundly.
To be frank, Sri Lanka’s education system has to catch up with the education systems of the developed world, that is, sooner rather than later. Nevertheless, I’d be a hypocrite if I were to conveniently ignore or simply take for granted the priceless gift of free education which, with all its glaring flaws and shortcomings, helped the majority of us including myself become who we’re today. Had it not been for the country’s free education system, I know for a fact that I wouldn’t have been able to read for my degree. But, it’s regrettable that most Sri Lankans today tend to take our education system for granted simply because it’s offered to us for free at the expense of the state coffers.
Some parents have even come to the obtuse conclusion that the tuition masters are more dependable than the teachers from government schools and, therefore, they seem to take little interest in urging their children to attend school regularly. Worse still, because it comes without a hefty price tag, some regard it as inherently inferior to the paid education they receive from tuition classes, international schools and professional education bodies. But, even as the facts are staring them in the face, they’re none the wiser. It goes without saying that the educators in the private sector thrive on their blissful ignorance.
I can’t honestly say that I made the most of the most opportunities of the free education system, metaphorically speaking, on a platter both at school and at the university. But I know how some of my batch mates from disadvantaged backgrounds with hardly any knowledge in English literally slogged at the university never giving up before the mountainous language barrier and graduated with second class honours. Unfortunately, I also know those from more privileged backgrounds who just squandered their time and the government’s money. It’s ironic that two people I remember from both extremes happened to share the same room in the same hostel.
Speaking about the current status of the education system, I believe that, first and foremost, the Government should honour our children’s right to free education, whether they’re from Cinnamon Gardens or Tissamaharama or Mullaitivu, in line with the noble vision of Mr. C. W. W. Kannangara, a former education minister who is hailed as the father of free education in Sri Lanka. In other words, each child should be able to enjoy equal opportunities of education. I know this is easier said than done. But, if the Government implements viable policy measures to root out systemic inequalities, this is an achievable goal to a great extent. Once we’ve reached this goal, we can start improving our education system.
In my view, it’s only through sound investments in the country’s education system for generations, can Sri Lanka achieve real and lasting economic development.
It is not the wish of the parents to send their children to tuition classes, but it is competition driven. The best schools do not have teachers capable of guaranteeing good results for the smartest pupil. Out of 200,000 who sit for the Advance Level examinations each year, only 20,000 are accepted into universities. Also, the competition has eroded the mentality of parents. Also, there are parents who want their children to be coached by a tutor when the child is still in Grade 4 to ensure that she/he passes the Grade 5 scholarship. This is driven by the desire to send the child to a good school, as there is a large gap between the village school and the city school.
When we look at the education system of Sri Lanka, we have to be proud since our adult literacy rate is over 92 percent and that of youth is over 97 percent. This is mainly because of the constitution of Sri Lanka which provides education as a fundamental right. In order to maintain this, education is state funded and offered free of charge.
Since all university studies are conducted in English, students are given a fair chance to meet the challenges of the modern world. Comparatively, we were far better than our neighbouring countries like India, Bangladesh and Maldives till now.
But, unfortunately, the expected results have not been met, and almost all the best professionals and students are leaving our country and moving to European countries for better remuneration.
What I see is that we do not have a National Policy of education in our country.Whenever the Government changes, the new Minister of Education is trying to introduce something new to the system, resulting in total confusion among students.
In addition, we have experienced the cut-off points of admission to universities being adjusted once or twice according to the requirements of politicians. But no one wanted to talk or comment on this unethical behaviour.
In order to develop an effective education system for Sri Lanka there should be a clear focus on the improvement areas. The key to this is an outside approach where more focus is on the outside demand for job markets and recent changes. Considering this demand-focused approach, below are a few suggestions for the different levels of education platforms.
1. Primary education – More focus should be given to improve language, IT skills, innovative and logical thinking and overall values. That requires, not just infrastructure development, but improvement in the quality of teachers and techniques and values used. Proper facilities along with updated learning and teaching experiences should be given to both teachers and students in rural areas.
2. Higher education – Other than infrastructure development, the focus should be on developing more in demand graduates and enhancing research and development skills to produce more and more entrepreneurs. Opportunities for professional education should be developed. Universities should be linked with public and private recruiters, and more and more partnerships in developing technical skills are required. In general, increasing the competitiveness of the students/ graduates while safeguarding the key values of education is critical.
The positive side is that the education system in Sri Lanka is far better than the majority of the countries in the world. Primary education is compulsory for all the children according to government regulations and that implies the importance that has been given to education in this country. The average knowledge of a student in primary classes is fairly high due to the diversified syllabus coverage in the schools.
The negative side is that the competition is too high from the primary classes and it exceeds the children’s capacity. It is not a good thing as children lose their childhoods. In addition, the government should focus a lot more on English language competency especially in the rural schools.
From time to time, the social weaknesses of the education system in our country become more and more traumatic. It is a frequent accusation that the current student community has been distressed particularly in a traditional framework and an ancillary class culture has surpassed schools.
Consider that 40 minutes of the schooling period are set aside for the maximum amount of attention that the average person can continuously focus. But think of the extent to which students attend tuition classes, which are highly competitive and not only for one subject.
For this reason, the present day community has been forced to immerse themselves in books for 24 hours a day. Therefore, it is not surprising that there are not any active individuals with knowledge in the future generation.
In my point of view, the quality of education has deteriorated to a large extent due to the lack of quality private schools.
What ails our education system is the requirement for a shift or transformation of traditional learning to one that focuses on self-actualised learning, contrary to the spoonfed culture prevalent in Sri Lanka across the primary, secondary and even local university circuit. Also, gearing graduates for job fit and alignment is another aspect that institutions should bear in mind and develop a curriculum and moreover an etiquette towards the fostering of same.
In my point of view, the local education system is on par with the international standards. Given the fact that it is free education, I believe that we should be more than happy about what is being offered.
However, it could be improved using modern techniques. There are no adequate training programmes for teachers in Sri Lanka. Therefore, they are still using traditional methods of teaching. Furthermore, there should be more opportunities. For example, education should not be limited to children who are academically smart. It should also be imparted to children with learning disabilities. Contemporary methods should be used to handle such circumstances and a wide array of schools, universities, vocational centres should be established to accommodate such issues.
How do you view Sri Lanka’s education system?
According to my view, education means learning something that you don’t know or learning something more than what you already know about something.
The education system is the mechanism that we use to educate others. Whether we like it or not, we should admit that Sri Lanka still uses an education system which is far behind of the systems adopted by developed countries. We have a free education system in Sri Lanka, but what is in place is not applicable in this modern developed world. Today, computer education and technology are mandatory disciplines which should be introduced to our education system as compulsory subjects in the Ordinary Level and Advance Level exams.
Apart from that I am of the view that we should have a national education policy if we want to get our education system back on track. Political will is a mandatory requirement in this regard. This national policy should be made by highly qualified and educated people in our country.
Finally, I wish that we will get back on track as soon as possible!
Our education system is on par or better than the international system, especially when comparing the local Ordinary or Advanced levels with the London Ordinary or Advanced levels. Our school curriculum has made local students more literate compared to their foreign counterparts. But due credit goes to the teachers and parents rather than the institute or the government, although some can say that the government has provided free education (but this is the case with many countries).
But lately, international schools have grown and are more advanced in comparison to government/public schools in Sri Lanka. Entering a child to a government/public school has become so difficult for parents in spite of living close to one, because schools are commercialised and are focussed on money making from the principal to the bottom of the hierarchy, and the ministry.
Here is where the government can add value to abolish such pains for parents and to come up with good systems to enter children without paying additional amounts.
Compared to the past, our government/public education system has become less effective and more painful for parents. We need to see improvements that are far better than what international schools implement. Our education system is crumbling from what it used to be and the future doesn’t look that prosperous. And it’s high time we change it, since more and more parents are working hard to earn money compared to the past where only the father worked and the mother looked after the family. Now with both parents working, children are being neglected, so we need the government to improve the education system and eradicate all money making businesses to support families in this country.
Also when it comes to university level, it is again the same issue because of ragging, longer periods to complete the degree, too many unions and seniors controlling junior students for their advantages. Also, many of these students criticise private sector degrees which actually carry out far better systems to complete education on time to allow students to enter the work force sooner and work more efficiently. This is why we see more international schools’ students leaving the country and becoming better entrepreneurs since they find it hard to progress in this country.
It is sad to see this happening and I hope this changes soon in future.
This is a very important issue which is only to be handled by the real patriots of this country. There is a famous saying in English which goes, “before you go to teach Latin (a dead language in English) to student Paul, you must study who is Paul and what is his standard is”. I believe same theory can be applied to Sri Lanka. Before we decide the manner in which the Sri Lankan education system should be formed, I suggest some of the main factors that we can take in to consideration,
1. Country background
2. Resources
3. Population
4. Economy
5. Political stability
6. Attitudes of the nation.
If we take a blend of all the categories that I have mentioned above and make a long story short, Sri Lanka’s present situation can be equalled to that of a new-born child.
There have been many ups and downs in the country. Terrorism prevailed for about 32 years. There was corruption during the rule of many regimes – from time to time, since independence. The country had been handed over to different types of political leaders – some of whom didn’t consider the progress of the generation but planned to develop the country as one of their ‘personal business properties’. Such leaders only cared about the wellbeing of their families. Then there were other political leaders who adopted a completely different method to previous regimes and turned the education system of the country into an utter mess.
Sri Lanka is an island in the Indian Ocean and is rich in a myriad of resources, especially it is gifted with a very knowledgeable, trainable, efficient and wise young generation. However, as the country was under the British rule for a long time, the thinking styles and understanding of Sri Lankan citizens are still limited to that of the colonial era; and have not changed rapidly with globalisation. That is the biggest weakness of our country.
The ones who control the ‘knob’ – i.e. the power-hungry uneducated political leaders who cling onto power, mislead innocent citizens – especially those in rural areas. This situation is made worse by some fellows who act and pretend to be ‘Buddhist monks’.
During ancient times, when Sri Lanka was ruled by kings, whenever a competitor attempted to overthrow the king from the throne, he first approached teachers of the prince who is the next heir to the throne, so that he could mislead the prince and create clashed with the king. The same thing applies to the Sri Lankan political leaders who selfishly neglect the country’s progression and only think of their families. That is nepotism.
This is the background of the education system that presently prevails in Sri Lanka. As I mentioned, Sri Lanka needs an education system which focusses on globalisation, but not colonisation.
Take a look at the American education system which is job-oriented. Likewise, we need to change the colonial mindset of the society, which differentiates professions as ‘blue collar’ and ‘white collar’ jobs, and give everyone equal recognition, as all jobs serve the nation. Wages should be made – not to match how they are dressed – but in accordance with the level of labour where hard labour should be paid high wages.
For instance, in the United States of America (USA), a motor mechanic is paid US$ 60 per hour, but a cool room bank teller is paid US$ 13 per hour. Both need to have professional qualifications – either technical or clerical – to be employed in their posts. In the USA, employees are paid according to the labour, not the designation. And the earnings are the measurement of personality value. All rural schools must equipped with computer laboratories and trained teacher, with computer technology added to the curricular as a compulsory subject in the GCE Ordinary Level.
In another two decades, the world will be driven by technology and if we do not evolve with technology, Sri Lanka will be an isolated island in the Indian Ocean. And that is what corrupt politicians and the ‘political waste’ (deshpalana kunugodawal) of Sri Lanka expects for the country, by making the young generation to be ‘frogs in the pond’. Their kith and kin will prosper with the revenues that uneducated villagers’ labour make.
When the country’s youth is exposed to technology, they will open their eyes and look at the world, and gradually start to change their ‘attitudes’ and be on par with the trends of the modern world, and thereby rejecting the old colonial thinking (wansaya kabalgema and hanamity adahas) and line up to make a change in the country.
Sri Lanka needs a ‘forward thinking’ education system instead of the colonial education system which is backward thinking. The latter was introduced by the British rulers mainly to produce ‘paid slaves’ to the British Monarchy. And later after independence some cunning and corrupted politicians came to power just to localise the British System and nationalise it just by changing the language. That was only a new version of the colonial education system which again produced ‘local slaves’ who are to be used by the corrupt political regimes and the chain of politicians who enter politics from father to son and mother to daughter. This is known today as nepotism with bureaucracy.
In brief, my suggestion is that we have to move with the changing world and the increasing demand for educated employees to various fields. Our education system must be updated from time to time to be on par with the trends of the modern world.
More than plus points in the Sri Lankan education system, I see many negative factors, which need to be rectified. Our system is exam oriented, rather than a build-up of knowledge and exposure, to cater to the growing needs of the world. It does not help to build one’s personality. A person may be equipped with a paper qualification, but he/she will be misfit in the business world.
Many bright sparks cannot come forward because of the language barrier. The Sinhala language education system does not help the younger generation to go out to achieve international standards.
The other point I like to make is the changing of the school syllabuses at the whims and fancies of the higher authorities, without a proper plan, sometimes for a financial benefit. This will affect the proper formation of our future generations.
In my view, the children must be educated in mixed schools, where they have an opportunity to interact with their peers of both sexes and have a balanced outlook.
Further, the teachers in our country are not given the due place and are not respected for the important role they play, in the formation of the children. They are not paid a fair salary and sometimes are deprived of their statutory dues, when it comes to the payment of arrears, on a meagre salary increase they receive. This will give rise to a financial crisis, thus compelling the teachers to conduct private classes, in order to make ends meet. In the way forward, I believe the teachers should be equipped with proper training and qualifications and be paid a good salary. This will help to rectify the current situation.
We must also admire our free education system, giving opportunities to our youth to pursue their higher education. However, what is received free is not valued and is being abused by the present generations. Several opportunities are available presently for our youth to pursue their careers in different fields, giving rise to more qualified professionals. However the state must regulate a system with proper controls, in order to ensure that higher standards are maintained by the private universities and educational colleges.
I hope to see a positive change in the future…
Even though Sri Lanka is home to the best universities coupled with education systems of the highest standards, lately the quality of this system has been taking a downward spiral. This standard is diluted not only because of the crowding of private tertiary educational institutes who have a 360 degree interactive learning system, but because of the academic panel which relies for knowledge solely on text books and lacks practical knowledge. As a student who has had experience in both private and state universities, a huge gap can be sensed in teaching and assessing methods. This difference has become the driving force between employment of undergraduates in the private sector, creating a competitive advantage.
Probably the most standard system of education prevails in Sri Lanka, which prepares a student to become a professional who can cater the demands placed upon him/her by the corporate sector. Any student who completes 13 years of schooling is equipped with the basic skillset to step into a remarkable career. However, university education, which is free, still remains a privilege to students, regardless of their potential. As a result, we lose a fair portion of our very own Lankan talent, provided they have the resources to move out. The rest of them choose private educational institutes – some of them falling victim to unrecognised qualifications; and the remaining are frustrated youth, who have no choice but to take up whatever life throws at them and go with the flow. Hence, there is room for improvement, and a solution for talent retention, provided that the government takes necessary measures to resolve this – ethically.
Sudarshini, you sound like a member of the political elite. The education in the country is in shambles and needs a total makeover.
When it comes to higher education, there is a considerable amount of foreign education institutes operating here. Economically, it saves many outflows that would otherwise have been incurred, if students went out of the country to study same.
The concern here is quality and standard of education delivered and received. In a Sunday paper, one can see how these foreign off shore universities operate in our country. In how the classified claim, the foreign education franchisees seem to be mushrooming and a lucrative business to be. There are number of foreign universities who operate with their high standards.
In many courses such as postgraduate and master’s degree, foreign lecturers from the respective universities conduct limited lecture hours. It is not commercially viable to equip and run libraries that also require a range of journals. In most instances, the dealings with the student and lecturer are not face to face encounters, but video conferencing mode. Even assessments such as presentations are not performed in a real class room and examination setting in front of the lecturer and audience, but recorded and submitted as soft copies.
Making of a mature student is not just what lands one on a certificate. Rather it is where a student is able to manage toughness and tenacity, and endure uncertainties in a real life environment setting. Simply, reinforcing more value to his or her commercial experience.
An effective education system should cater to all strata of society. In Sri Lanka, although the mechanism is in place, it is disintegrated with no proper co-ordination. Sri Lankan authorities at the helm have been implementing education policies haphazardly, causing much damage to the future generations. In my view, the Sri Lankan education system is highly politicised, with ad hoc policies being implemented.
One cannot see a smooth flowing link in the current education system, from the primary to secondary, and moving on to the tertiary education level.
The priceless gift of free education which we enjoy is taken for granted and is being abused. The value of free education should be instilled in the minds of our youth.
Therefore Sri Lanka should relook at the existing system and adopt a long-term education policy, with a more practical approach, to cater to the future generations.
There is a segment of students who are citizens of this country who (are made to) virtually lose their identity and language.
Sri Lanka had a high toll on its society and people, when English was not made the official language. Perhaps to avoid history repeating and to move towards a better solution, parents are now eager that their children study in English. This is acceptable as long as the child converses in his/her mother tongue along with the international language.
It is said that children are good at picking up multiple languages when they are young. However, benefits can be enjoyed only if conversing in one language is not done at the expense of another. Parents do not seem to feel the gravity of being weak in writing and speaking one’s mother tongue.
The other reason is that when a local student studies a foreign syllabus in an international school, how can he/she be expected to realise his/her roots, and be aware of one’s identity, where one belongs and gets a hang of his/her culture? Without knowing our past how can we move on to the future?
An effective education system is one which has no winners and losers and no rifts leaving room for discrimination.
Education systems are not limited for the intelligent and average students, but should also serve the purpose of serving the differently-abled and fulfil vocational training requirements of those who drop out of school.
Changes to the education system should be proposed considering the status of schools in Sri Lanka, access to resources, availability of teachers for all subjects and etc. Nevertheless, it seems that there is controversy and ad hoc changes, as to how the revisions are proposed and made to education methods, subjects and assessments.
There are certain schools, even in the Colombo District, that do not have at least the basic facilities. Needless to say that apart from schools in major towns, many schools lack resources from classrooms, equipment, laboratory and sanitation facilities. It has been found out that there is a direct connection between the lack of proper sanitation facilities and absence rate. No qualified teachers are available in rural schools, for subjects such as English, Mathematics and Science. Many teachers are reluctant to serve in schools that are located in remote areas which lack average living conditions.
On top of this, there is poverty where many students have no electricity, a place, desk or chair to study at home and face socioeconomic issues such as problems at the home front. These circumstances do not encourage a child for schooling.
Unless the situation can be improved from these three ends – from the point of view of students, teachers and schools – the proposed amendments will not be beneficial to the majority of children. In other words, an education system is what can be made acceptable to the majority.
A hobby enables better synchronisation of left and right sides of the brain.
It can make you a genius, in your own special way and lift your enthusiasm. A hobby should also be constructive and therefore should not harm living beings and the environment.
With a hobby of your choice, your life can never be boring and monotonous.
Education systems here are qualification driven. In many developed countries, the level of education of a person or student is not solely ranked based on credentials.
Hence assessing the value of a person’s education level is not credit driven. In many countries the personal quality of a student is taken into account. As such, it is a mandatory criteria that will be looked into, and given a considerable weight as much as a student’s credits and distinctions. This personal quality aspect covers how the student has contributed to the society and country, the extent the student has volunteered for a worthy cause and extended support for those who are needy, in his or her capacity. It is assumed that such students are higher in personal capacity, stronger with a broad outlook, and have empathy and flexibility.
It is more of a duty-concerned approach as opposed to the right-concerned approach that we observe here in Sri Lanka with all the protests and strikes with aggressive demands that are raised.
It is this personal quality that continues when a student becomes a mature corporate citizen contributing to the business sector of a given country.
So if the roots and the essentials are weak – the products, i.e. the education and the person too may lack repute.
In the local secondary school education, the subjects seems to be of a compressed nature. In social studies there seems to be more than one subject, with history, geography and political science all compressed to one. The composition of subjects makes students get a hang of a little bit of everything.
On the other hand, within such compressed subjects, curricula /syllabuses seem to contain more trivial facts and information. For example, the subject of Sri Lankan history, has a considerable amount of historical information about kings. A syllabus should not just be a repository but should direct the focus of a student to historical events and kings who made many milestones in local history – facts of which can be taught in detail, while other facts can be of limited nature.
An average student would simply not know what is important and what is not. Inevitably, there would be some amount of disorientation.
The education system should direct students to acquire knowledge for application, to know about the environment and the country in which he or she is based. Yet this is the very purpose that is lost in our education system.
Reading along the two comments that had been already posted I wish to point out something which is quite different to what has been already discussed in this platform. As a teen who has lived through the Sri Lankan primary and secondary education systems, I strongly believe that it craves and demands a change and renovation due to many reasons that can be pointed out.
Evolution demands change. Be it in education or elsewhere it does the same. The use of standardized tests designed to test a narrow arena of the human intelligence should be converted and transformed into evaluations based on practical approach-ability of students of the theoretical knowledge that they possess. The founder of standardised tests Henry Misel himself once said “Exams are too cruel to judge the intelligence of a human being.” It is high time that we move on to a much more stress free, practical evaluation system which would be productive in many diverse manners.
Furthermore, the pathetic mentality of the General Public of Sri Lanka should be eradicated for it is the core of many problems that follows with the current educational system and its flow. Sri Lankans do possess this pathetic and unfortunate mindset that children who would not go on to become either a doctor, engineer, accountant or lawyer would be doomed and their future ruined. The faith on inventions, entrepreneurship, innovative businesses, agriculture and art has been lost by the prejudice mentality that labels the above mentioned as avenues that would not allow children to sustain in the longer run. The judgmental attitude that certain people possess has created the cultural norm which moves on to say that whoever doesn’t perform at the G.C.E Advanced Level exams and live up to their expectations would never be successful in an alternative endeavour. This needs to change and this needs to change fast.
The above mentioned attitude and psychological application of the same leads to the high discrimination among the Advanced Level streams too. The psychological application of this disastrous social and cultural norm leads to the prejudice mentality where the science stream is painted with a specific superiority followed by the commerce and at last, the arts stream. Ignorance and prejudice mentality has allowed these norms to sustain over time. Ironic as it may sound, the present pathetic condition is that a good number of the professionals and academics believe in the same as well. The value of the vast subject areas explored under arts such as history, geography and political science may reveal to you the deepest of this earth’s treasures that no other subject may let you experience. In a world that enthusiastically tries to invent ways to let the planet live over the technological advances, I would leave you to think on the importance and necessity of the knowledge acquired through these subjects.
Knowledge is priceless, despite which stream or subject it originates from. The day we can eradicate this mentality and respect all means of education for the immense value they carry and believe in the fact there is a world out there which exists with people other than engineers, doctors, lawyers and accountants, the Sri Lankan educational system would bloom profoundly.
To be frank, Sri Lanka’s education system has to catch up with the education systems of the developed world, that is, sooner rather than later. Nevertheless, I’d be a hypocrite if I were to conveniently ignore or simply take for granted the priceless gift of free education which, with all its glaring flaws and shortcomings, helped the majority of us including myself become who we’re today. Had it not been for the country’s free education system, I know for a fact that I wouldn’t have been able to read for my degree. But, it’s regrettable that most Sri Lankans today tend to take our education system for granted simply because it’s offered to us for free at the expense of the state coffers.
Some parents have even come to the obtuse conclusion that the tuition masters are more dependable than the teachers from government schools and, therefore, they seem to take little interest in urging their children to attend school regularly. Worse still, because it comes without a hefty price tag, some regard it as inherently inferior to the paid education they receive from tuition classes, international schools and professional education bodies. But, even as the facts are staring them in the face, they’re none the wiser. It goes without saying that the educators in the private sector thrive on their blissful ignorance.
I can’t honestly say that I made the most of the most opportunities of the free education system, metaphorically speaking, on a platter both at school and at the university. But I know how some of my batch mates from disadvantaged backgrounds with hardly any knowledge in English literally slogged at the university never giving up before the mountainous language barrier and graduated with second class honours. Unfortunately, I also know those from more privileged backgrounds who just squandered their time and the government’s money. It’s ironic that two people I remember from both extremes happened to share the same room in the same hostel.
Speaking about the current status of the education system, I believe that, first and foremost, the Government should honour our children’s right to free education, whether they’re from Cinnamon Gardens or Tissamaharama or Mullaitivu, in line with the noble vision of Mr. C. W. W. Kannangara, a former education minister who is hailed as the father of free education in Sri Lanka. In other words, each child should be able to enjoy equal opportunities of education. I know this is easier said than done. But, if the Government implements viable policy measures to root out systemic inequalities, this is an achievable goal to a great extent. Once we’ve reached this goal, we can start improving our education system.
In my view, it’s only through sound investments in the country’s education system for generations, can Sri Lanka achieve real and lasting economic development.
It is not the wish of the parents to send their children to tuition classes, but it is competition driven. The best schools do not have teachers capable of guaranteeing good results for the smartest pupil. Out of 200,000 who sit for the Advance Level examinations each year, only 20,000 are accepted into universities. Also, the competition has eroded the mentality of parents. Also, there are parents who want their children to be coached by a tutor when the child is still in Grade 4 to ensure that she/he passes the Grade 5 scholarship. This is driven by the desire to send the child to a good school, as there is a large gap between the village school and the city school.
When we look at the education system of Sri Lanka, we have to be proud since our adult literacy rate is over 92 percent and that of youth is over 97 percent. This is mainly because of the constitution of Sri Lanka which provides education as a fundamental right. In order to maintain this, education is state funded and offered free of charge.
Since all university studies are conducted in English, students are given a fair chance to meet the challenges of the modern world. Comparatively, we were far better than our neighbouring countries like India, Bangladesh and Maldives till now.
But, unfortunately, the expected results have not been met, and almost all the best professionals and students are leaving our country and moving to European countries for better remuneration.
What I see is that we do not have a National Policy of education in our country.Whenever the Government changes, the new Minister of Education is trying to introduce something new to the system, resulting in total confusion among students.
In addition, we have experienced the cut-off points of admission to universities being adjusted once or twice according to the requirements of politicians. But no one wanted to talk or comment on this unethical behaviour.