The Hon. Chanaka Madugoda

¶ 01 Thank you for the opportunity, Hon. Presiding Member.

¶ 02 We have listened since morning to the debate on the Government’s support for our beloved schoolchildren’s education. I consider this a very good proposal: providing Rs. 6,000 to schoolchildren from low-income families to purchase educational materials. We welcome this relief for parents striving to build lives with limited means.

¶ 03 However, since morning we heard much about Members’ professional qualifications—lawyers, doctors, and the dignity of those professions. We respect professions, but the public has entrusted us with responsibilities beyond talking about titles. As policymakers we must bring forward the real issues of people in villages and propose solutions.

¶ 04 Many speeches today focused only on the Rs. 6,000 grant for educational supplies. Yet after Free Education, every government has fulfilled many special duties in education. Our literacy once hovered around 65%; today it is 93.5%, and educational levels have risen because successive governments did their part. We must acknowledge those contributions. In our schooldays, rice ration books were issued; later came the milk bottle and bun; then the uniform for every child; more recently, the “Suraksha” insurance scheme. These were excellent initiatives by different governments. While we discuss education today, we should value those, not belittle them, and not speak only of the Rs. 6,000 grant.

¶ 05 I have one request. There is a problem in the criteria used to identify low-income households. Both my parents were public servants; they struggled to provide my education because rigid criteria excluded us from some assistance simply because they were state employees. Often, a family may have only one government employee but four or five school-going children. Because the parent is a state worker, the children lose benefits. Please relax the low-income criteria and look at the actual household condition, not merely employment category, so that all needy children receive support.

¶ 06 We know the cost of a child’s education today. After O/Ls, a child doing A/Ls may require around Rs. 40,000 for tuition alone. Rs. 6,000 will not suffice. This government, as an opposition then, demanded increased allocations for education. Children spend far more than Rs. 6,000 on supplies and tuition. Therefore, you have a responsibility to implement the progressive programme you promised when you were in opposition. Allocate more than Rs. 6,000 for needy children’s educational needs.

¶ 07 Thank you.