MISSED OPPORTUNITY?

Education occupies a special place in the minds of the public in Sri Lanka, thanks to the free education system which benefits the people from all walks of life. No other singular reform agenda evokes such animated interest and vociferous debate as the subject of education.

- Niyanthini Kadirgamar

Proposing drastic changes to the education system without extensive consultation and substantial consensus from interested parties is akin to stirring the hornet's nest.

Predictably, the announcement of the education reforms with the first phase scheduled to begin in January 2026 by Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, who also holds the education ministerial portfolio, has caused quite the stir.

The government's approach of putting the cart before the horse and steaming ahead with the reforms without a White Paper being presented for deliberation has left us groping in the dark, speculating about the full extent of the reforms based on partial and contradictory statements made by government representatives in the media and President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's speech in parliament.

With no known committee or body being explicitly identified as the authors of the reforms, there is a blatant lack of transparency in this undertaking. The fragmented supply of information, lack of accountability and dizzying pace at which changes are being adopted have caused much bewilderment, including among educationists.

Transforming secondary education

Ongoing discussions are based on what was revealed in a bare bones PowerPoint presentation of 33 slides, available only in English, which was leaked via social media channels and thereafter uploaded on the Ministry of Education website is dated July 2025 and titled: "Transform Education: Transform Sri Lanka Education Reforms." the Although presentation indicates the proposed reform has five pillars, it outlines the specific details only under the first pillar Curriculum Development, and does not provide any analysis, evidence or rationale for the proposed changes to the curriculum.

Among the list of curriculum changes, two significant proposals stand out: 1.