Hon. Sunil Rajapaksha

¶ 01 Support for comprehensive educational transformation process.

¶ 02 Education is a cultural process of acquiring knowledge created by all social phases in historical evolution, producing new knowledge and sharing it. A responsible, cultured citizenry depends on the quality of the educational process and equitable access to it. To align with dynamic national, social and economic needs, education must be periodically updated.

¶ 03 Sri Lanka’s education has remained outdated for years and is widely criticized as misaligned with national, social and economic needs. Exam-centric education burdens children; many do not complete 13 years of schooling; disparities in human and physical resources among schools worsen social critique.

¶ 04 Considering all this, the Ministry of Education has presented a programme for a transformative change in general education in Sri Lanka to be implemented from 2026. Society presents views and critiques; some are due to misunderstandings and a few are driven by personal agendas. Therefore, all sides in Parliament should correct misinformation and extend support.

¶ 05 Education is one subsystem within the larger social system. Changes or mismatches in education profoundly affect other systems’ efficiency and resilience. As other sectors evolve, education too must change accordingly. Reform means reorganizing the existing to be time-appropriate. No country can import a single model wholesale; we improve by introducing necessary changes to current practices.

¶ 06 Reforms should: - Develop curricula by revising learning and teaching content - Modernize pedagogy and education technology - Strengthen human resources (teachers, teacher educators, principals, educationalists, administrators) - Improve physical resources in schools - Update management practices - Address resource distribution and school system design to maximize equitable returns on investment - Reconfigure education administration - Foster participation of parents, communities and organizations - Revamp assessment away from child-punitive methods toward growth-oriented, competency-based evaluation, including institutional and system performance appraisal

¶ 07 Our vision is to transform education to nurture lifelong learners oriented to innovation, with ethical social responsibility, inclusion, peace, prosperity, justice, sustainability and global citizenship. I invite all to unite behind this vision.