The Hon. (Dr.) Harini Amarasuriya - Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education

¶ 01 First, Hon. Chairman, I thank the Secretary to the Ministry and all our officials who, without regard to day or night or leave, have worked tirelessly to prepare for this debate and the reforms we aim to deliver.

¶ 02 We are a team—our government is a team. While responsibilities are divided by subject, our objective is one, and we work collaboratively. Though I am the Minister of Education, I rely on and value the support of other Ministers, Deputy Ministers, and our Parliamentary group. That collective trust and cooperation give us confidence that what we have planned, written, and fought for can be realized.

¶ 03 We are proceeding methodically, with a clear destination. If we could erase the past 76 years and start from point zero, the journey would be easier. But we cannot. We must clean up abandoned projects, unfinished work, corruption, fraud, and weakened institutions while moving forward. That is the challenge we have accepted: to resolve existing problems as we advance.

¶ 04 Many Opposition MPs presented constructive, evidence-based contributions, especially district-specific issues; we value and will fairly consider them. However, some presented incorrect information. I must correct a key one by the Leader of the Opposition: he said education allocation is 0.84% of GDP. That is entirely wrong. For the remaining eight months of this year, we have allocated 1.9% of GDP to education. Our target is to reach 6%—not overnight, but progressively, building system capacity alongside funding. We never claimed we would allocate 6% immediately; we have always said we will move towards and sustain that standard.

¶ 05 We have implemented a basic salary increase across the entire public service—not merely addressing sector-specific issues. We know profession-specific concerns remain; this pay rise is not the final solution. But from April, all in the education sector and the wider public service will see a significant, satisfactory increase. We will simultaneously work to improve quality in education—through an Education Council, and via the University Grants Commission—so that as the economy develops, we advance towards our desired standard. Again, this is not the final word; more steps will follow.

¶ 06 On appointing Vice-Chancellors: we know how it was done before. I thank the UGC for approaching this scientifically—analysing processes and marks, and submitting recommendations to the President rather than merely forwarding names from Councils. We will further reduce political interference and improve transparency. But this does not depend only on government: universities, senates, deans, and representatives in Convocations/Senates must all act to raise standards. The President’s formal power to appoint is not sufficient without robust processes throughout.

¶ 07 On English-medium education: the demand is high. But if we rush without teacher readiness, we harm students—ending up with neither proper science learning nor English proficiency. Teacher quality must be upgraded to teach both content and language. Ironically, previous governments that now demand English medium cut funds to the Postgraduate Institute of English and suggested such institutions become profit centres, undermining teacher training. We will proceed, but systematically, with proper preparation.

¶ 08 On the Grade 5 Scholarship Exam: it arose from disparities between schools, giving talented students a route to “good” schools. Until we reduce school quality disparities, we cannot make a drastic change. We will continue the exam for now but reduce psychological pressure. Next year, we will appoint an expert committee to design a less stressful exam format, aiming to implement it by 2028. Ultimately, the enduring solution is to level school quality, which is in our medium-term plan.

¶ 09 On early childhood education: in addition to 13 years of schooling, we are planning two years of early childhood education, in coordination with the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs, as Minister Powlraj noted.

¶ 10 On inclusive education: we are committed to ensuring no one is left behind—building infrastructure and teacher training accordingly.

¶ 11 Hon. Ponnambalam said, “Education must be seen as the heart and soul of a country.” I fully agree. We are reforming a long-broken system. This first Budget lays a foundation; more steps will follow, with resolve and confidence. I invite Opposition Members who offered constructive ideas to join us in this journey—for the nation and our future generations. Beyond politics, Sri Lanka needs a good education system, guided by a vision of the society we want: not merely a hyper-competitive, money-driven one, but a more compassionate, communal one. We will strengthen and advance the steps already taken. I thank all who participated and our officials for their support, and I thank you, Hon. Chairman, for the time.