The Hon. Ruwan Mapalagama

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, I move:

¶ 02 “Recognizing that the main reason for many day-to-day issues faced by the public is a lack of basic legal awareness necessary for everyday life, and that ignorance of the law is not an excuse before the law, this Parliament resolves that the Government should, while avoiding over-complication of the curriculum, integrate basic legal education into the Civic Education syllabus for students from Grade 6 to Grade 11.”

¶ 03 I propose introducing the subject of Law into the school curriculum from Grade 6. Courts operate on the principle that ignorance of the law is no excuse, and expect every citizen to have some understanding of basic law. Yet, our students do not learn Law as a formal subject. Some elements appear scattered: parts within Civic Education (Grades 6–11); a small component in Logic and Scientific Method (A/L Arts); environmental law in Geography; business and commercial law in Commerce; patents in A/L Technology; and some forensics within A/L Biology. None provides structured legal education.

¶ 04 Other countries do better: Finland makes Civic and Legal Education compulsory from Grade 5; the UK has Citizenship and Law at GCSE; many US states have compulsory Civics and Government; India teaches Political Science and Legal Literacy from Grade 8.

¶ 05 I do not propose adding a brand-new subject immediately. Education reforms commence for Grade 6 in 2026. I propose renaming “Civic Education” to “Law and Civic Education,” and strengthening the legal modules—National Institute of Education officials informed me modules are already being drafted for Grade 6, Term 3. A name change and prioritization would give the subject proper weight.

¶ 06 The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) wrote on 19.08.2025 to the Hon. Prime Minister, supporting inclusion of Law in the school curriculum. We do not need to produce only lawyers; we need informed citizens. As Prof. Neel Dias said: “Our education must not only produce workers, but responsible citizens who understand the rule of law.”