The Hon. (Dr.) V.S. Radhakrishnan

¶ 01 Hon. Chairman, many speak about education in general; few speak for the Malaiyaha community. We are about eight in number here to do so. I will speak in Sinhala and Tamil and ask that you understand, Hon. Chairman. Hon. Minister, please pay special attention to our issues.

¶ 02 Dr. C.W.W. Kannangara introduced free education; but the plantation people did not benefit then because the British still administered the estates and did not establish schools—children were kept for tea-plucking. After independence in 1948, that situation persisted in the plantations. Only in 1978 did “education for the plantation sector” begin—under President J.R. Jayewardene. There is thus a 30-year gap between national free education and effective access for the plantation sector, leaving us behind. We need special attention to close that gap—build infrastructure, appoint teachers, especially science and mathematics teachers.

¶ 03 Sri Lanka has 10,76,000 students (figures as cited), 396 national schools and about 9,700 provincial schools; the plantation has 864 schools. Only about 100 of those have A/L. If we upgrade those A/L schools, we can produce our own teachers. Historically, because of a shortage of qualified teachers, the Government assigned “teaching assistants” to plantation schools—this was not given to other communities. Many were appointed only because graduates were unavailable. I request the current Government to continue appointing such teaching assistants for the plantation schools.

¶ 04 Government gradually took over plantation schools from the 1970s. From 1977–1994, many schools were started and taken over; 14 in 1970; by 1977 there were 304; 1978–1990 another 417—721 in total. Large-scale funding did not come from the Sri Lankan Government then; it came from Sweden—Rs. 928 million—with Rs. 100 million for equipment; and from GTZ/Germany—Rs. 1,055 million. The State mainly maintained them. In my district, the Sripada National College of Education was built by GTZ. Today only about 100–150 trained teachers are available; the rest are largely teaching assistants. We proposed recruiting 3,000 teacher assistants last year; court cases (filed by a Muslim brother) have stalled recruitment. Please resolve this, Minister. Otherwise we cannot staff these schools. From 2015–2019 we tried to upgrade 25 schools per province with science and maths, and provided furniture and equipment—but we lacked graduate teachers. We tried to recruit from the North and East; still none. We suggested training or recruiting from India if necessary. Without decisive steps, the problem will worsen.

¶ 05 From 2015–2018, Rs. 2,550 million was allocated for plantation education development; Rs. 162 million for furniture and equipment; Rs. 140 million for technical equipment; and Rs. 250 million to upgrade 25 selected plantation schools—but the lack of teachers blocked progress. Under “Nearest School the Best School,” 580 schools were selected; many works have been completed and more remain—we request continuation.

¶ 06 We appreciate the Rs. 2,500 increase to Mahapola scholarships (Rs. 2,750 million allocated) and the Rs. 1,000 million to increase difficult-area allowances for principals and teachers in hardship areas.

¶ 07 In the last Budget, Rs. 105 million was allocated to renovate plantation school buildings; and under “Nearest School the Best School,” abandoned schools were revived—thank you. In this Budget, about Rs. 1,065 million is allocated to renovate teacher quarters and construct school buildings in plantation areas. If these are completed next year, it would be welcome.

¶ 08 There are 864 plantation schools; we hear some may be closed. Minister, are you closing schools with 100 students? With 50?