Hon. R.M. Samantha Ranasinghe

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, many of us rose because of free education. Yet for decades, modernization lagged, burdening students, teachers, principals and parents. We are committed to transformative change aligning education with the economy and modern technology.

¶ 02 Claims that reforms increase inequity ignore reality: for years, poor schools survived on parent funds for desks, computers and classrooms. We aim to professionalize the entire human resource — teachers, principals, teacher educators, counsellors, and administrators — through mechanisms like the Teacher Council, now about 80% complete.

¶ 03 We are reassessing the 10,000 schools — especially those with low enrolment, inadequate facilities, or disaster impact — and investing accordingly. The current Education Minister is highly capable and knowledgeable. We have not halted reforms; we are correcting shortcomings and proceeding, because national revival requires educational renewal.