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Education Reforms: Academics, activists condemn personal attacks on PM

The Island

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January 16, 2026

"Reform process must expand and protect the right to free education

A group of academics, professionals, and social activists yesterday issued a joint statement backing the government’s education reforms and condemning attacks on Prime Minister and Minister of Education Dr. Harini Amarasuriya by sections of the Opposition.

The statement described the attacks as hateful and indecent, warning that such conduct promotes misogyny, undermines women’s political leadership, and restricts space for constructive debate on urgently needed reforms.

Full text of the statement titled 'Calling on the Government to Preserve the Credibility of Ongoing Education Reforms Amidst Vulgar and Hateful Propaganda': We, the undersigned, are closely monitoring the educational reforms currently being rolled out by the government with the aim of designing a system of education to suit the future of the country, as well as the public discourse being created within society about those reforms by various parties. The attacks being directed at the Prime Minister and Minister of Education Dr. Harini Amarasuriya by certain opposition groups and individuals are not only hateful, indecent, and a disgrace to the moral values of any civilized society, they also normalise misogynistic attitudes that belittle progressive women's political leadership and shrink the space needed for constructive engagement and a meaningful discourse on urgently needed education reforms.

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