The Hon. Sajith Premadasa - Leader of the Opposition

¶ 01 Hon. Minister, this is an issue you know well. This is not something that happened yesterday. For a long time, preschool education in our country has operated informally, without a proper regulatory system or a proper national policy. Commercialization and other shortcomings have seriously violated children’s right to education. Informal fee charging has also burdened parents. Moreover, teachers and caretakers receive minimal stipends, undermining their economic security.

¶ 02 Looking at this, we see multiple issues: the professional dignity and job security of teachers, the safety of children, and the ability of parents. I must clearly state this is not new. Therefore, I believe a national policy on preschools is needed, with some centralized intervention by the national Government to prevent disparate statutes by each Provincial Council.

¶ 03 Hon. Minister, paediatricians state that brain development and cognitive development reach 70 per cent from a period before birth up to age five. Mr. Speaker, as a medical professional, you would know this better than me. Yet, in Sri Lanka, early childhood education effectively starts between ages three to five, and during this time we do not provide free, universal, formal education. Thus, during the period when about 70 per cent of brain development occurs, we have an unregulated, non-free system. Attention should be paid to this.

¶ 04 We also believe there should be a national programme on preschool child nutrition, collaborating with the MOH and other health sectors, to assess and address malnutrition at preschool level.

¶ 05 I have raised several points. I request you to consider them and provide a national preschool policy that includes all these aspects, offering free, equitable education within the preschool system.