PSA CALLS UPON GOVT. TO PRESENT CLEAR DOCUMENT ON NEW EDUCATIONAL REFORMS

In a letter addressed to Education Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, the National Executive Committee of the People's Struggle Alliance (PSA) requested the subject minister to present a clear official document to the public on new educational reforms.

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The letter states as follows:

“A controversial debate is currently underway about a serious reform that is going to be implemented in the school education system in Sri Lanka. The debate about these new reforms has arisen in a backdrop where the current NPP government has not presented a proper clear official document on the matter. Such reforms have been presented from time to time over the past few decades, and no matter how regressive they were, there was always a document that could be led to a clear constructive debate.

The 1981Education White Paper, the 1988 - Kingsley Report, the 1993 - School Development Bill, the 1997 - Jayathilaka Committee Report, the 1999 - School Review Proposal (plan to close 3000 schools), the 2005Tara Harold Report, the 2007 University Status Review Commission etc. were all proposals that have been widely debated but, have not been implemented. However, in each of the above cases, no matter how much public protest the reforms were subject to, there was a specific official document presented that could be discussed.

The current NPP administration is going to carry out these reforms based on a PowerPoint presentation prepared only in English. It has already been seen that this will cause serious injustice and mislead all concerned parties who are willing to comment on this. Despite all these facts, such a document has not been presented to Parliament, however, a parliamentary debate has already been held on these reforms, with the President himself participating in it.