Education as system change: Transforming DNA of Sri Lanka's future

WE see numerous discussion forums, experts, and other interested parties actively talking about our education system.

- By Prof. Nalin Abeysekera

Still, it’s sadly common to witness a child weighing just 24 kilograms struggling under the burden of a 10-kilogram schoolbag. I consider this as one measurement to indicate the disaster of our education system. Most of the children coming under the category of grade six to 10 have around eight subjects per day questioning whether Sri Lankan educationists have done justice for our next generation.

In India, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) prescribed a weight limit for school bags for each class last year. Accordingly, the weight of school bags for students of classes one and two should not exceed 1.5 kg, while the school bags for students of classes three to five should weigh between 2 kg to 3 kg. The school bags of students of classes six and seven should not be more than 4 kg, while the weight of school bags of classes eight and nine students should not be above 4.5 kg. The school bag of a class 10 student should not weigh above 5 kg.

The school bag problem can be considered as only part of the real problem in education in Sri Lanka. There is a grave need for a major reform in the education system in Sri Lanka in many aspects. But up to now, Sri Lanka has failed to have a proper comprehensive situational analysis of school education and university education. Experts need to take many equations in this context such as:

1.Government and private schools/universities and curriculum and quality

2.Equity and inclusion: Analyse disparities in educational opportunities among various socioeconomic, ethnic, and gender groups.

3.Infrastructure and resources

4.Governance and policy framework

5.Teacher training and deployment

6.Labour market alignment

7.Access and enrolment

Also, we can see from time to time that different topics such as “SAITM” are coming into action, but only temporary solutions are being given without understanding the root cause.

Proper situational analysis