Parliament

Budget 2012:

‘Rural schools won’t be closed, but 325 schools will be upgraded’

Sandasen Marasinghe, Irangika Range and Disna Mudalige

Deputy Speaker Chandima Weerakkody, presided when Parliament met at 9.30 a.m. yesterday. After the presentation of papers and oral questions, the House took up the Financial Heads of Education and Higher Education for debate during the committee stage of the Appropriation Bill 2012.

Akila Viraj Kariyawasam (UNP): Education should be adapted to suit the 21st century and the current labour market. Then only can the education system in the country be accepted and recognized by the International Community.

The minister himself says that there were a number of schools with less than 50 students. So measures should be taken to avoid closure of these 1,590 schools.

I must note that we should not wait until the compilation of a national policy on education to rectify the existing problems in the field of education. There must be proper supervision of schools through zonal education offices. There must be on the spot investigations into schools. Political interventions into education should be stopped.

Education Deputy Minister Vijith Vijithamuni Zoysa: President Rajapaksa is providing leadership to improve education in the country and Minister Bandula Gunawardena is endeavouring to carry out his task to the best of his ability.

MP Kariyawasam expressed his doubts as to the 1,590 schools with less than 50 students.

I must note that according to the Mahinda Chinthana policy, we have clearly mentioned that we wouldn’t let rural schools be closed down, instead will select 325 schools from each Pradeshiya Sabha and upgrade them with modern facilities.

Even I was brought up in a rural village in Uva-Paranagama. Therefore, even I am aware of the existing shortage and lack of facilities in rural schools. We have been able to provide solutions to some of them.

The President has placed attention on creating a future generation endowed with skills. A proper mechanism to achieve this target has now been implemented. This will give a brighter future to the entire student generation of the country, not only to those who obtain the chance of entering universities.

There is a shortage of 5,000 principals in the country. Now measures are being taken to hold the necessary examinations and interviews for granting permanency to acting principals with the necessary qualifications.

President Rajapaksa has a thorough knowledge concerning student centered education. Now this method is being successfully implemented in schools countrywide, while understanding and rectifying the existing shortcomings during the implementation of this system.

We are now engaged in a move to take computer technology into villages. Ruwanpura centre has been set up to cater to these needs. This is something similar to MIJ in America.

We are also proud that Sri Lanka has got an opportunity to set up the Asian Teacher Training Centre. It will be constructed in Meepe. This is a great opportunity to our country.

We have also paid attention to introduce a new examination system suitable to our country. I wish to remind that we have distributed 100 solar powered computers to rural villages, where schools have not yet obtained electricity.

We have recruited over 7,000 teachers during the past years and moves are in place to recruit more English, IT, Science and Maths teachers.

Deputy Chairman of Committees Murugesu Chandrakumar takes the chair

Kabir Hasheem (UNP): I have observed that the Deputy Minister made a huge endeavour to secure his position by bringing out numerous facts. We also wish that he should continue to hold this position.

There are certain problems with regard to private medical colleges in Sri Lanka. There is no recognition for the Malabe Private Medical College.

No individual can distribute medical degrees according to his will and fancy, in order to obtain profits. There should be standards and proper facilities, since this was is a serious task.

Some medical students who return to Sri Lanka after completing their degree in Russia, have never touches a patient, as informed. There is no necessity for a private medical college in Sri Lanka.

Urban Affairs Senior Minister A H M Fowzie: The nation’s greatest resource is the student generation and the President has placed high priority to mould them into good citizens, who could cater to the current requirement of the country as well as the world.

A considerable sum of money, has been allocated for the education sector in this budget. I believe that every school should be provided with necessary facilities, such as a library and a science lab.

This government has also initiated a programme to upgrade 1,000 selected schools. This will help reduce competition to urban popular schools.

I have also observed that Education Minister and his deputy were carrying out a commendable job to improve the education system in the country, understanding the existing problems in it.

The standards in international schools should be properly investigated. Some of these international schools charge exorbitant fees, but not an adequate service.

S. Shitharan (TNA): Education opportunities should be available to all students in an equal manner. The number of students having education in the Northern and Eastern Provinces should be improved. The government should give priority to jobless graduates. Steps must be taken to recruit unemployed graduates to the public service. There are many acting principals in the North. They must be made permanent in their positions.

Dr Ramesh Pathirana (UPFA): President Mahinda Rajapaksa had ended the war and liberated the country from terrorism. He is now providing educational opportunities to the children living in the North and East. A number of programmes are currently being implemented to provide facilities to all schools by filling teacher vacancies in the North and East.

Steps have been taken to simplify the syllabus without placing any burden on children.

The government is determined to provide quality education to all children in Sri Lanka.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake (DNA): The government must take measures to solve the problems with regard to the unemployed graduates. Nearly 600,000 Sri Lankan students leave the country for higher education each year. According to the government, money spent by students attending foreign universities could be saved, if private universities are to be established.

This is baseless. You cannot prevent Sri Lankan students going to foreign universities by opening private universities here. Our universities lack quality, while the syllabuses are outdated.

A number of students travel to America or Japan for postgraduate qualifications each year, as the country cannot provide them with similar opportunities.

Senior Scientific Affairs Minister Prof Tissa Vitharana: We have to develop Sri Lanka into a knowledge hub. This is the main responsibility of both Education and Higher Education Ministers. We are aware that both ministers are fully committed to achieve this task. The government has commenced rectifying anomalies in the Education sector.

Science, Technology and English subjects have been given top priority under the new education reforms. We have targeted to develop 20,000 new researches and inventors by the end of 2012.

I hope that the Ministry of Higher Education will do the needful to achieve this target.

Mohan Lal Grero (UPFA): President Mahinda Rajapaksa is very much enthusiastic in developing the education system in Sri Lanka.

The government is in the process of developing 1,000 secondary schools. We have identified these 1,000 schools across the country and necessary facilities including sports grounds, laboratories and computer rooms will be provided to them.

The government has realized the importance of developing the education sector. It has aimed at improving the theoretical knowledge as well as spiritual development.

Gamini Jayawickrama Perera (UNP): Presently education comes under the Central Government and Provincial Councils as well. There is a division as Higher Education as well. Now a large number of children leave the country for higher education. If we have quality educational institutions, students would not go abroad, while our money would not flow out of the country. A sum of US dollars 10,000 million flow out of the country for higher education.

We have to set up a national council to plan our future educational policy. They should be given a religion based education.

Higher Education Deputy Minister Nandimithra Ekanayake: Our ministry has planned to reform the Higher Education Policy. Our attempt is to uplift the university education in par with international universities.

By now, we have selected 6 universities for this programme. We have initiated programmes to enhance the life skills and improve the knowledge of English of university entrants, since the beginning of 2011. We have introduced scholarships for those students and programmes to educate them in the English knowledge via internet. We are changing the education in universities to improve the quality of degrees. We will never allow our universities to collapse. Some people made attempts to make undergraduates a cat’s paw to topple the government by spreading baseless rumours that the government planned to destroy the university education. But we cannot allow undergraduates to take the law into their hands.

P Selvarasa (TNA): We have 16 schools in A and B grades. But the government is planning to develop 1,000 schools. But you have to improve their standard to A B grade.

Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena: We assure that all those schools will be improved to A B grade where students could study in science, arts and commerce streams.

P Selvarasa continues: Thank you Mr Minister. But can our students get at least a job as a ‘cook’? There are problems in the Eastern University. It is a university without a permanent Vice Chancellor. There is no professor at the medical faculty in the Eastern University.

Higher Education Minister S B Dissanayake: We will appoint a professor to the medical faculty immediately.

P. Selvarasa continues : Thank you, thank you, thank you Minister.

Chandrakumar Murugesu (UPFA): If we need to develop our economy, politics and arts, we have to develop education. When we resettle the people in the North and East, much attention should be paid to improve their education.

I have to thank Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa for providing much facilities to schools and also the Education Minister.

But there are many other needs to be addressed to. The Kilinochchi District does not have National schools. Those schools do not have quarters for teachers and libraries, furniture, and even computers.

A H M Azwer takes the Chair

Vijayakala Maheshwaran (UNP): Facilities should be upgraded in schools in the North and the East which were affected by the war. Facilities in these schools are not satisfactory. There are a large number of unemployed youths in these regions.

Graduates should be provided with suitable employment. They have obtained degrees with a lot of sacrifices and under many hardships.

The voluntary teachers in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, should be offered permanent appointments.

They have been serving in these schools for the last 10 to 15 years.

Therefore they are now unable to shift to other jobs as they had also been hopeful that they would be offered permanent teaching appointments.

Minor Export Crop Promotion Minister Reginold Cooray: According to scholar Bertram Russel, man is engaged in three kinds of conflicts. One with nature, one with other humans and one with the spiritual aspect of life. People learn things gradually when they face numerous experiences in life. The duty of the Education Ministry is to give our children knowledge and wisdom, other than these natural lessons that they abstract from their environment.

Our children must be educated as to how to live in harmony and peace with others. Today different ethnic communities live separately and there is no adequate sharing and mingling among them. This should be changed by educating our children.

Today most of principals in schools are very old and unable to take revolutionary steps.

I believe young blood should be given opportunities to hold these posts in order to take innovative initiatives.

Wasantha Aluvihare (UNP): Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena is a very talented person. Higher Education Minister S B Dissanayake is also a talented person who was once in the UNP.

The absence of a national policy towards education is very pathetic and this field cannot be developed without a proper national policy.

The policies which are followed at present will subject to changes, if the ministerial portfolio shifts to some other minister.

Funds will not be sufficiently allocated for the development of rural schools, which are governed by Provincial Councils. Teachers in rural schools manage to obtain transfers by many means to urban schools. Therefore there is a dearth of teachers in rural schools.

Shehan Semasinghe (UPFA): The government’s aim is to convert the country to a knowledge hub.

Many programmes have been implemented to improve the quality of education in the country to achieve this target.

When we consider higher education sector, it is seen that public-private partnerships have been necessary to uplift the facilities in universities. This initiative is already being taken by the Higher Education Ministry. Moreover 6 key universities have been selected to be uplifted to international standards.

R. Yogarajan (UNP): The government should regulate international schools. Then only can we assure that children of international schools obtain good standards in education.

It is reported that a number of international schools were not upto standard.

There are some schools which started in the English medium, but had been unable to find qualified teachers to teach in the English langauge. Education is not a business, we must not allow anyone to make money by selling education.

Vijitha Veragoda (UPFA): Reforms will be introduced to the education sector for the benefit of the future generation. The government is in the process of introducing a sustainable education policy. Necessary funds have been allocated for this purpose.

Kanaka Herath (UPFA): One of the main areas that had been focussed in the Mahinda Chinthana is education. All students entering universities are compelled to undergo leadership training. They have been provided with IT and knowledge in English. This has helped graduates to find jobs in other countries.

We have planned to increase the intake of students in universities. The syllabus had been formulated, based on the practical knowledge of students in universities under the new education reforms.

Shivasakthi Anandan (TNA): The government should take measures to fill teacher vacancies in the North. There are around 600 English teacher vacancies, 300 science and maths teacher vacancies existing in Northern schools. These vacancies must be filled without further delay.

Pre-schools are facing problems due to the shortage of necessary tools and equipment. Facilities of the schools in the North and East should be upgraded at its earliest.

V. S. Radhakrishnan (UPFA): Schools in the plantation sector had not been upgraded for the last 32 years. Teacher vacancies in schools in the plantation sector should be filled with immediate effect. The plantation sector should not be neglected.

There are no graduates and trained teachers in many subjects, including agriculture, science, maths and English in plantation sector schools.

A. Haleem (UNP): The education sector has been politicised. Teacher transfers, recruitments and promotions are made on political influences. This situation should be changed to create valuable educational service.

M H Abdul Haleem (UNP): Teachers who are conversant only in the Sinhala Language, have been appointed to schools where the medium is Tamil Language. There are a number of such schools in Akurana. So such matters should be solved.

Saleem Mohamed (SLFP): When we consider education in other countries where we have to pay for studies, in Sri lanka we have free education. When we consider O/Levels and A/Levels examination results during the last few years, the passing ratio had been increasing.

Eran Wickramaratne (UNP): The amount that is allocated for education by this government is not adequate. Our country had allocated only 8 percent of the GDP for education. But countries like Singapore, Bangladesh, etc have utilized around 15 percent of their GDP for education. We cannot develop a country if it allocates a lesser amount of money for education.

Sriyani Wijewickrama (UPFA): The Mahinda Chinthanaya has its plans to create a society full of knowledge.

Deputy Chairman of Committees Murugesu Chandrakumar takes the Chair

The Mahinda Chinthanaya has special plans to develop education in the country. I think the government should take measures to prevent the closure of schools.

Where the North and East is concerned, there are much problems due to education and the government has taken measures to solve them.

There are 10 national schools in Ampara. But out of them, only three are in Sinhala Language. I think that those three are not adequate for the Ampara district.

Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake: MP Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said that if we produce graduates suitable for the labour market, it would be an investment. I totally agree to this point. That is what we are attempting too.

He also said that graduates have not secured suitable employment opportunities according to their degrees. This happens when we offer them employment immediately. To change this situation, we need to improve their English and IT skills.

When speaking about brain drain, the MP presented inaccurate statistics. In India, 8 percent of the educated crowd migrate, whereas this percentage is 0.1 percent in Sri Lanka.

Some criticised the Malabe Medical College. There are 77 local students at present studying in this university. A number of foreign students too study in this university. The Opposition MPs who criticize this move to offer degree grant status to this university, should pay a visit to the university and ascertain the facilities available in it.

One MP also said that some lecturers at the university had not passed ‘Act 16’ examination. This is totally incorrect. This university has an abundance of human resources. There are 12 professors who have a long period of service experience.

There are 20 senior lecturers with PhDs. These types of human resources have not been available in the Eastern or Batticaloa University. I stress that I will definitely go forward with this move despite the opposition directed towards it.

One MP spoke about the appointment of a competent authority to the Eastern University. This move was taken after having discussions with all stakeholders. There had been a number of requests for a competent authority.

Several MPs spoke about the unemployment of graduates. In the North, most of the students complete their studies in the Tamil langauge. We have been instructed to change this medium to English. Despite whether the medium is Sinhala or Tamil, if these students do not have sufficient knowledge of English, they may face difficulties in securing employment.

We have also paid attention to introduce nursing courses to the Arts Faculty subjects. This will be a highly positive move.

We are establishing a Quality Assurance and Accreditation Council to monitor the diploma and degree awarding private institutions. With time low quality institutions will not be allowed to operate in the country.

Some MPs spoke about the lack of facilities in Vavuniya University. We have specially allocated funds to upgrade the facilities in this faculty as well as the faculty in Batticaloa.

The reality is that 40 percent of the graduates who pass out from our universities cannot procure employment. We have been discussing this problem and necessary measures need to be taken to prevent this.

Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena: The late C.W.W. Kannangara, established the free education system in the country. We set up Central Colleges to cater to this move. This was a turning point at that time. Those schools provided a practical knowledge to the students and guided them to find suitable employment. However, newspapers during that era called him a stupid. This was the treatment he received for his revolutionary transformation in the education field.

Now the education system introduced in Central Colleges have been ruined. Therefore vocational training that had been provided by these schools have ended and students have been restricted to an exam oriented educational system.

We have already concluded the amendments that we were to bring about to the education system. These amendments have been carefully decided with the support of a panel of experts.

The number of schools with an inadequate number of students have been increasing and at the same time schools over 2,500 students have been increasing rapidly.

There are 187 schools at present with over 2,500 students. Those are the schools which outshine from among the total number of about 10,000 schools in the country. The teacher distribution in these schools has not been fair.

There are many disparities in teacher distribution among schools. The number of schools with science stream facilities is insufficient. As a percentage, only 25 percent of the A/L students study in the science stream and over 53 percent study in arts subjects.

This is a problem that should be addressed. All facilities have been provided to the Western Province. The students of under privileged families face numerous hardships.

The literacy rate in the country is 95 percent and computer literacy is 35-40 percent in Sri Lanka. As a percentage, the number of students who pass the O/L and A/Ls have increased. About 20,000 students gain university entrance, whereas the other students are left out. There should be a proper mechanism to guide them in the future.

We will upgrade at least 3 schools in each Divisional Secretariat Division with all facilities, to prevent student congestion in urban schools. 5,000 primary schools are now being upgraded as well. When village schools are improving, students from under privileged families will receive a better future.

This is how we are planning to develop the education sector in the country.

The Financial Heads were passed without amendments.

The House was adjourned until 9.30 am today.