The Hon. Sajith Premadasa - Leader of the Opposition

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, under Standing Order 27(2), I raise the following.

¶ 02 Education is recognized as a universal right under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and as a fundamental right in many countries. While not a fundamental right under our Constitution, Chapter VI sets out the Directive Principles and Fundamental Duties, and free education is recognized as a core duty of the State. We, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya/Samagi Jana Sandhanaya, support enshrining education, health and other areas as fundamental rights.

¶ 03 Due to issues with the new subject-module reforms, there is a serious threat to the educational rights of schoolchildren. I therefore raise:

¶ 04 1. Does the Government accept that issues arising in the Grade 6 English module and the new subject-reform rollout have violated children’s educational and human rights?

¶ 05 Portions of my submitted question seeking accountability were removed by “the authorities.” I draw your attention to the practice of deleting parts of important questions.

¶ 06 2. What prevented the Government from introducing a correct, quality, scientific syllabus for the benefit of schoolchildren, following due process? What quality and scientific studies were conducted prior to introducing these reforms? Will they be tabled?

¶ 07 Again, parts of this question referring to the use of students as “political tools” have been removed.

¶ 08 3. Under these subject reforms, what criteria are used to include website references in modules? What standards and criteria of the Ministry/Department governed the selection of those sites? How was transparency and accountability ensured? Was a procurement process followed?

¶ 09 4. Do any economic benefits accrue to the Ministry or to private entities from using various private websites in modules? If so, will full details of such financial transactions be tabled?

¶ 10 5. Have all teachers nationwide been fully trained to implement these reforms? Have they been provided with necessary ICT training and facilities (devices, internet, etc.)? How many teachers remain untrained?

¶ 11 6. Do all schools (over 10,126) have the required facilities (computers, internet, electricity, technical infrastructure) to implement these reforms? If not, how many schools lack such facilities, and how will teaching be managed under the reforms in those schools?

¶ 12 Further, funds were reportedly allocated for the first term of modules. Have funds been allocated for the second and third terms? A primary framework for website inclusion has been announced; it should be tabled for transparency. Also, will module pages be removed or added as the reforms proceed? Since the Deputy Minister is present, I expect a response.