The Hon. Kins Nelson

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson, I begin with a quote from former South African leader Nelson Mandela: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

¶ 02 I was pleased when our current Education Minister—the Hon. Prime Minister—spoke passionately about education when seated on this side in the previous Parliament and pledged to allocate 6% of GDP to education. Now she has the opportunity to make those words a reality as both Prime Minister and Education Minister, with the President granting maximum support to her ministry. I wish her well and trust the 2026 Budget targets will become reality.

¶ 03 On schools: There are 10,076 schools; among them 396 National Schools. Of these, 48 National Schools have no principals. That affects administration and learning outcomes. About 36,000 teacher vacancies exist across these schools. By 31.12.2025, around 8,000 teachers will retire, making the shortfall about 44,000. In 2023–2024, we have data that about 25,000 children dropped out of school. Except in Uva and Eastern Provinces, 101 schools in other provinces were closed in 2025. Is the allocation sufficient to reopen these schools? Is funding sufficient to recruit and train the necessary teacher cadre? I ask the Education Minister.

¶ 04 In my Polonnaruwa District: 256 schools; 9 National Schools; 121 principal vacancies; 1,126 teacher vacancies. There are 93 schools without drinking water, 131 without adequate sanitation, 27 without science laboratories, 144 without computer libraries, and 69 without sports grounds. These are long-standing deficits affecting innocent children. Now that you lead the ministry, you can rectify these and serve these children.

¶ 05 I trust the allocations will be used fairly across the North Central Province including Polonnaruwa—for teachers, and for children.

¶ 06 A root cause for teacher retention issues is the lack of official quarters. In Anuradhapura there are 548 principal quarters, of which only 41 are functional; Polonnaruwa has 240 principal quarters, only 33 functional. Anuradhapura has 263 teacher quarters, 154 functional; Polonnaruwa 218, only 130 functional. With such conditions, teachers do not stay. In districts like Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Ampara, Trincomalee, teachers lack adequate housing. I propose allocating funds in this Budget to rapidly repair/build these quarters to retain teachers.

¶ 07 There are 20 National Colleges of Education with 263 lecturer vacancies and 602 other staff vacancies. With such shortages, training suffers. Minister, you once proposed 6% of GDP for education, but in reality, it is only about 1% for the education vote itself, not counting other agencies that push it to 2%. Please address pay anomalies for lecturers: those with 10–15 years’ service receive the same as new recruits. Also, promotions take 17 years for some long-serving staff while new recruits get promoted in 12 years. This disparity must be corrected.

¶ 08 On hostels at Colleges of Education: 215 hostels exist, only 110 are functional. At Pulathisipura National College of Education in Polonnaruwa there is no boys’ hostel, forcing students to rent at LKR 30,000–40,000 per month.

¶ 09 On Polonnaruwa’s Aralaganwila Wilayaya National School: It is trilingual (Sinhala, Tamil, English), but there is no English-medium teacher; no sports ground; no drinking water; inadequate teachers. Similarly, Medirigiriya National School with 3,263 students has excelled nationally but lacks a playground. Many schools were “declared” National but only the name and gate changed; core facilities are missing. Please address these.

¶ 10 The President pledged 30,000 jobs for graduates. Next year, with retirements, we face 44,000 teacher vacancies. Please fill a significant portion with graduates as pledged, helping the education system.

¶ 11 Pre-schools: We all began our learning there. Pre-school teachers currently receive only LKR 2,500 from the ministry—insufficient. Please increase it to at least LKR 6,000, pay on a fixed monthly date, and provide a pension scheme. In 2025, LKR 80 million was allocated for pre-school maintenance, but not a cent reached Polonnaruwa—why is North Central forgotten? In Polonnaruwa there are 8,660 pre-school children. Only 3,112 receive a meal; 5,548 do not. Polonnaruwa records the highest levels of stunting and undernutrition in the province—this is shameful for the district that feeds the nation. While the day-meal allowance was raised from LKR 60 to 110, which is good, please ensure all pre-schoolers receive a morning meal.

¶ 12 Finally, during the presidential campaign, a moving advertisement said: “Education is like wings; with wings you can fly anywhere.” People voted based on that. Today, parents are weeping because VAT of 18% is charged on school supplies and books. Please remove VAT on school supplies. You too spoke against it when in Opposition. Now is the time to correct it. Thank you for the opportunity.