The Hon. Amila Prasad

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, I had 20 minutes; time was wasted on needless talk. As someone engaged in education who fully benefitted from free education, I consider it a privilege to be invited to this debate.

¶ 02 Order, please! The Hon. Speaker will now take the Chair.

¶ 03 Whereupon THE HON. (PROF.) SENA NANAYAKKARA left the Chair, and THE HON. SPEAKER took the Chair.

¶ 04 Hon. Speaker, what is education? It is to shape persons for the modern world and equip them to live in the future world—determine employment, ways of living, and life cycles. Has our system delivered this? If Sri Lanka is to develop, everyone must receive suitable education. Education is not only university or textbook learning; how people will live in the coming decades is determined by today’s education.

¶ 05 We missed the agricultural-industrial era as a nation—due to lack of capital, technology inflows, and human resource development. The information technology era also passed many by due to poor internet access and affordable power. We must now ask: how do we align our people with emerging educational modes and future eras? This hinges on economic management—what share of the economy is invested in education. Outcomes depend on investment.

¶ 06 Historically, revolutionary changes in education in Sri Lanka were led by right-of-centre governments. Free education and the Central Colleges were created by them—producing people like us. Free textbooks, school uniforms (by President Ranasinghe Premadasa), and in 2015 the Suraksha student insurance scheme—all by right-of-centre administrations. Leftist governments complained and delayed.

¶ 07 I saw a Minister deriding the Opposition Leader’s “Sakwala” program. For the first time, an Opposition Leader used party funds to implement “Sakwala” and “Husma,” provided buses to schools, spending Rs. 1.6 billion. This made us choose to sit on this side of the aisle today—because party funds were used for children’s education, ICT access, and smart classrooms, not for politics. Accusing this of being vote-seeking is unfair—Sakwala began in 2021 when there was no election. Ministers should at least acknowledge this good initiative.

¶ 08 As a government, you must undertake forward-looking reforms. In 1956, left-nationalists destroyed English-medium education by insisting on Sinhala-only, leading to generations unable to read key global literature or use the internet. It was in 2002 that English was reintroduced to schools—again by a right-of-centre government.

¶ 09 Instead of recounting past spending, tell us: How will today’s Grade 1 child, who enters the job market in 2045, be prepared? What jobs will exist or vanish? Reforms should target the 2045–2075 labour market—align curricula with global pace and employability, not simply shuffle subjects.

¶ 10 Everyone should re-read the 1982 Education White Paper. If implemented, education today would be far ahead. It sought to grant freedom to education: enable private education, integrate vocational education into schools, allow private universities, including private medical faculties—while safeguarding free education through public funding, and enabling parents who wish to pay to do so. That was our party’s second great leap for freedom in education.

¶ 11 At school level, here are numbers from my electorate. Thilinagama Primary School: 54 students, six teachers; about Rs. 540,000 monthly costs—Rs. 10,000 per child. Balabowa Kanishta Vidyalaya: 200 students; monthly cost Rs. 1.68 million—Rs. 8,000 per child. Veyangoda Bandaranaike Central College: total costs over Rs. 13 million; about Rs. 4,000 per child, with 3,500 students. Yet the smallest schools often lack pride, sports, competitions, identity, and facilities, while large schools provide an enabling environment even for those who don’t enter university. Reforms should ensure funds are used more effectively, not merely more.

¶ 12 On teacher salaries: a crisis is weakening science and mathematics A/L classes due to lack of teachers, who can get better pay elsewhere. Without a new model to attract science teachers with competitive pay, the science stream will collapse in public schools, and the private sector will fill the gap. There are also concerns about fraudulent doctoral degrees by some figures on political platforms. I urge the Prime Minister to stop non-academic and bogus PhD practices, protect academic integrity, and support genuine scholars.

¶ 13 Higher education faces many challenges. Modern, globally-aligned institutions are lacking. Private institutions are advancing rapidly, and, increasingly, the job market accepts their graduates—owing not to lack of ability in public graduates, but outdated curricula in public universities. Your party promised to allocate 6% of GDP to education; this Budget does not reflect that. Please present a plan to reach 6% within the next five years.

¶ 14 Facilitate private universities to admit more students by providing student loans repayable in 5–6 years—whether for IT, medicine, or engineering. After 2029, when we are in government, we will ensure loan recovery mechanisms are in place.

¶ 15 One minute more, Hon. Chairman.

¶ 16 University academics informed me: you spoke of converting Institutes of Science into universities, but this Budget has not allocated funds. Research allowances and study allowances have been reduced, and non-academic staff salaries and allowances cut by 29%. This intensifies problems instead of solving them. If you are ready for a bold step, make Sri Lanka a regional educational hub—sell education to the world while keeping free education at home, and use those earnings to strengthen our system. I wish you the strength to take such transformative steps. Thank you.