'Educational reforms should be implemented without delay'

Educational reforms introduced by the government should be implemented without delay as students have been subjected to mental trauma as a result of the flaws found in the present educational set up, said Parliamentary Coordinating Secretary to the President Kumarasiri Hettige.

He said so participating as the chief guest in the ceremony held recently at Homagama Maha Vidyalaya to distribute English- Sinhala dictionaries to students who were successful in the grade five scholarship examination. The dictionaries were presented under the decentralized budgetary allocations of Provincial Council Member Gamini Thilakasiri to the students of the Homagama Educational Zone.

Hettige pointed out that the parents and teachers should pay more attention to the students as they are a national asset belonging to the entire society. "The children are the foundation of a righteous society and only if they are shown the correct path the future of the country would be safe and prosperous. The government alone cannot bear this burden and all the people who love the nation should extend their assistance in this regard," he said.

The education of the country suffered a lot due to terrorism that prevailed in the country for over three decades. This had negative impacts on the discipline and morality of the student population. "However, with the eradication of terrorism, we are now able to live peacefully and as such the students are pursuing their studies without stress. But we must be aware that we are facing some more challenges now," he added.

"Economic freedom is vital at this point of time in this country. Due to the indefatigable courage and enthusiasm of our President, we have been able to achieve an economic growth rate of eight percent. However, a righteous society must be built to get the benefits of such economic freedom that we envisage. Education is vital in nation building. At the moment, we have a student population surpassing four million and there are 250,000 teachers island wide in nearly 10,000 schools," he pointed out.

"Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena is striving hard to clear the mess in the education system. The President is encouraging him to introduce new reforms in education. The proposed reforms have introduced measures that should be taken by teachers, parents and the citizens in building a righteous future generation," Hettige said.

He also emphasised the importance of studying more languages with special attention on the mother tongue. "Students would thereby be exposed to different cultures. Only such a person would be able to march forward. Information technology is very important while languages, including the mother tongue are vital," he added.

Sri Lanka has now commenced a new journey with expressways which would be a boon for the rapid development of the country, Hettige said.

Provincial Council Member Gamini Thilakasiri said the lion's share of his decentralized budgetary allocations would be spent on the education of the children of the nation. This would help in assisting the forward march of the President. Several dignitaries including Ven Madovita Vajirabudhdhi Thera and Zonal Education Director Palitha Weerasuriya addressed the gathering. Homagama Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman A D Kumarasiri and Divisional Secretary A J Karunaratne also participated.