Hon. Anura Karunathilaka - Minister of Ports and Civil Aviation

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, before speaking on the Ministry of Education, I wish to clarify something mentioned today about Ragama Medical Faculty. With due respect to the Hon. Member who spoke, the North Colombo Private Medical College was not shut down; it was integrated into the state university system. Today’s Ragama Medical Faculty is the fifth medical faculty of the state universities — a result of a people’s struggle. Now hundreds of students study medicine there.

¶ 02 In discussing Education, what matters is how much of the Budget is allocated to achieve sectoral goals and how feasible the proposals are. I want to focus on education reform: when transformational education codes are being discussed, how we will operationalize them and how the 2026 Budget supports that is critical.

¶ 03 For decades, people who drove the system — and those outside it — have criticized our education system. A common criticism is that education is not aligned to human development or employment. I do not say education is a job factory, but it must show some alignment to employability and to human development. There is criticism that our system does not sufficiently foster sustainability and innovation. Though we speak of free education, parents bear heavy burdens. There is also criticism about preparing our children for lifelong learning.

¶ 04 Our education is exam-centric, privileging content acquisition to pass exams over inquiry-based learning. The curriculum is overloaded with theoretical content. Instead of nurturing children’s skills and talents, we force them into moulds. Thus, authentic, realistic assessment of children is weak. Designed to deliver theoretical content, the system fails to provide accurate assessments of children’s performance.

¶ 05 Competition in this system imposes a heavy burden. Only about 28% of schools have classes beyond Grade 11, and only about 36% are Grade 1AB schools with A/L science/commerce/arts/technology streams. Limited access to science streams is a systemic problem. Only about 27% access higher education in STEM/engineering/architecture, while other fields see about 47%. Performance in science subjects is relatively lower: for non-science A/L streams, pass rate is 66.7%; in Biology 58.15%; in Physics 57.8%.

¶ 06 Resource imbalances between schools persist, especially limited STEM facilities in rural schools, pushing students towards humanities and social sciences. Though 13 years of schooling is our benchmark, only about 52% who enter Grade 1 reach that opportunity. Only about 13% access university education. Our need for transformational change must be understood in this context.

¶ 07 The tuition “mafia” is a by-product of our education process. You cannot end tuition in a night by law without changing the underlying system that invites it. The proposed reforms aim to reposition our education properly, addressing the issues I outlined.

¶ 08 Some think transformation equals only curriculum revision, hence the criticism. But curriculum is only one pillar. Delivering it requires human resource development, professionalization, infrastructure, and administrative reforms. Accurate assessment up to Grade 10 and beyond — continuous, reliable performance evaluation — is essential. Public awareness alongside these pillars is vital. Only if all these operate together can we achieve transformation.

¶ 09 Time is short; briefly: in junior secondary (Grades 6–9), some say there are still 14 subjects, but a new element is Entrepreneurship and Financial Literacy. Importantly, transversal skills modules are introduced — aesthetic appreciation, literature, study skills, and exposure to the world of work. At the end of Grade 9, we plan a proficiency assessment in scientific, mathematical and information literacy, and communication.

¶ 10 Grades 10–11 (senior secondary): we provide five core foundational subjects while offering advanced modules to give students early exposure to prospective pathways — Science & Technology; Humanities & Social Sciences; Management, Entrepreneurship & Business Studies; or Vocational Education.

¶ 11 A criticism is that Aesthetics and History have been removed. Anyone who studies the framework will see that regardless of chosen pathway, there are opportunities to study Aesthetics and History within the designed subject structures.

¶ 12 Different stakeholders will view reforms from their angles: Opposition through political lenses; unions through impact on them; teachers noting more school hours and individual attention to students; tuition masters worrying about reduced exam weight in their subjects; administrators seeing increased duties. But if we fail to implement this transformation, our children will continue to drop out midstream and end up in low-skilled work. We need transformative change in school and higher education, with deep dialogue.

¶ 13 I also thank the Prime Minister for securing Cabinet approval to amend the Universities Act; it has been gazetted. Through these reforms we expect a more democratic environment for appointing Vice Chancellors. After the historic 2012 trade union struggle, a University of Colombo workshop highlighted the need for good governance in universities; the proposed amendments are based on those recommendations and will be brought to Parliament.

¶ 14 These reforms should have been done decades ago. We must ask whether we will block them for small personal reasons, or unite for this worthy cause. External challenges we can face; the internal challenge is whether, as a Ministry and Government, we will intervene with strength and resolve to realize this change. I wish strength and courage to the Minister and her team.

¶ 15 Thank you.