The Hon. Hesha Withanage Ankumbura Arachchi

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, I move:

¶ 02 “That this Parliament resolves that the Government shall establish the necessary school and higher-education frameworks to enable any sportsperson who represents any national sports team of Sri Lanka or holds a national-level record to pursue any degree programme related to the field of sports, based not merely on basic educational qualifications or Z-score, but also on their demonstrated sporting competencies.”

¶ 03 Hon. Deputy Speaker, I am very pleased to have, after a long time, an opportunity to move a Private Member’s Motion. I bring this motion due to a pressing need. For a long time, both in school sports and within our sports associations, there has been a serious problem: the shortage of qualified sports coaches.

¶ 04 In schools, we all know there is a severe lack of sports coaches. Around 2017–2018, Hon. Akila Viraj Kariyawasam recruited about 3,000 sports coaches for Government schools. However, even among those 3,000, many are no longer serving as school coaches. They have left those jobs because they were recruited as non-academic staff; their placements were not regularized through proper regulations; there was no job security; and they had very low pay despite long hours, often having to work early mornings and late afternoons, sometimes far from home. As a result, schoolchildren are losing valuable opportunities to develop sporting skills. Therefore, similar to the teaching profession, we should create opportunities for those with proper qualifications and strong knowledge in this field, and also allow those with proven sporting competence to access relevant degree programmes even if they lack certain traditional academic thresholds.

¶ 05 It is an unfortunate reality that even our Olympic medalist, athlete Susanthika, now lives in Australia because successive administrations failed to properly utilize her abilities and experience for our country’s sports. Through this motion, I believe we can create real opportunities for sportsmen and women.

¶ 06 In a sport like cricket, children under 13 often neglect their studies due to the competitiveness of the sport. Even if they cannot advance academically, they should be allowed to read for suitable university degree programmes based on their national-level competencies. I hope the Hon. Prime Minister, as Minister of Higher Education, together with the Minister of Sports, will engage in discussion on this. If we take this forward with commitment, we can address the shortage at school level. Without protecting the lifeblood of sport, mere cosmetic fixes will not help.

¶ 07 The Cricket Committee has now been entrusted to Mr. Eran Wickramaratne. I welcome this step. Both he and I have previously raised in this House the issue of corruption in Sri Lanka Cricket. We urged swift action. Although the Minister then did not contemplate such action, he has now had to act. However, I believe this was done more to answer Government embarrassments than solely to help cricket. Nevertheless, I respect those who have taken steps. Sri Lanka Cricket should operate as an independent body and uplift the sport. Cricket brought world glory to our nation. Many have sacrificed for its advancement; we need a proper system.

¶ 08 There was recent opposition to appointing Mr. Sanath Jayasuriya as Head Coach. While we respect him as a former player, what matters is that he obtains the requisite coaching qualifications and a proper process is followed to make him an international-level coach. National teams need protection and proper order, for which responsible authorities must be mindful.

¶ 09 Finally, I urge that this motion, though brought by an Opposition MP, not be cast aside. I ask the Hon. Prime Minister and all on the Government side to give it attention and take next steps.

¶ 10 Thank you.