The Hon. Chanaka Madugoda

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chair, we are discussing a very important Budget Head. Education is an enduring human enterprise, a river that must keep flowing—constantly adapting to new frontiers.

¶ 02 Successive governments and leaders have rendered notable services to education. We cannot forget that the emphasis and investments of past governments helped bring literacy near 98% today. They expanded facilities such as laboratories, libraries, computer labs, and proper classrooms; increased university intakes—notably during President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s tenure when more A/L qualifiers were admitted.

¶ 03 Successive administrations provided significant welfare: textbooks, uniforms, midday meals, scholarships, transport passes, Mahapola, hostels, etc. Your Government too granted a Rs. 6,000 allowance this year to students from low-income families, and has allocated it for next year—this is commendable.

¶ 04 However, education must also produce a workforce rich in practical skills. This Budget does not, at the Ministry level, make the necessary investments to build such a skills-based cohort for the world of work. Education funding is an investment and should be outcome-oriented. Compared with the previous Budget’s momentum, we do not see similar progress this time.

¶ 05 Your policy document (p.13) promised an early childhood development centre within 2 km of every home or workplace. Neither the 2025 nor 2026 Budgets speak meaningfully to this. Early childhood development deserves far greater weight in reforms.

¶ 06 Pre-school teachers carry out invaluable foundational work. They should be upskilled for the modern world and given confidence through appropriate remuneration.

¶ 07 You also promised a quality primary school within 3 km of every home or workplace. We see no concrete steps. In contrast, the past “cluster schools” concept created strong primary networks—one main school nurturing 4–5 satellites—producing robust primary clusters. Reviving and expanding such models would be valuable.

¶ 08 In the 2025 Budget, Rs. 500 million was allocated to develop a National Education Plan, yet only 20% progress has been reported while Rs. 300 million has been spent; we see no continuation in this Budget. This raises doubts about your commitment. In opposition, you fought hard for education; now, with responsibility, you seem to be shrinking from it.

¶ 09 We remember the current Prime Minister—then a leader of university academics—undertaking an indefinite strike in 2012, risking educational disruption, and entering politics through that struggle, demanding 6% of GDP for education. Today, as Prime Minister and Education Minister, is she still speaking of 6%? You have tabled two Budgets for two years; we still do not see clarity or commitment to 6%.

¶ 10 You also pledged to remove VAT from school supplies to support children’s education. There is silence now. Sports equipment prices have soared; rural children are deprived of sports opportunities; no relief appears.

¶ 11 Granting Rs. 6,000 vouchers to low-income students in schools with fewer than 300 students is a good initiative. However, as we noted in the last Budget debate, the targeting of “low-income” households is questionable. In some families, the mother or father might be a public servant while the other is unemployed; the current enumeration does not always reflect real need. We ask for a more accurate targeting mechanism so that assistance reaches the truly needy.