The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, to clarify: At yesterday’s Business Committee we discussed this. There is a national need to inform MPs and the public on the proposed education reforms. Accordingly, many awareness activities are being conducted, and the Hon. Prime Minister has already presented in Parliament on two occasions. As a further step, we have provided an opportunity tomorrow for both Government and Opposition MPs to discuss the proposed reforms in Parliament. On the Opposition’s request, we informed you yesterday that we are ready for a continuous dialogue in Parliament on these reforms, allocating days as needed, and even month by month if required, since reforms should not proceed without full public engagement and transparency.

¶ 02 White Papers are a practice from the UK Parliament, originating when printing technology was limited. We are now in a digital era; PowerPoint or other technological media do not suppress debate. Since there is no final document, the Ministry has not produced one yet; it should come after broad public dialogue. Education reforms must be built through discussion, engaging educationists, teachers and officials, as well as public and professional views. The Prime Minister’s presentation is not a final document. If there were one, we would not need extended dialogue; we would bring a Bill. Our aim is to prepare a final document suitable for our children through these consultations. While I cannot specify an exact month, we will present it to Parliament before 01 January next year. We are developing the document and roadmap through dialogue.