The Government this week stated that it has identified a need to transform the existing preschool education system by upgrading it to meet international standards. While this is indeed a commendable decision, it is not one that is new. In the recent past, both the presidential manifestos of key candidates, and annual reports by the Ministry of Education have flagged this need. The lack of investment, quality control and regulations for the preschool education sector has been a constant worry for educators, parents and groups involved in Children’s rights for decades. What has also been lacking from the governance side is political will, and prioritisation of funding for such education.

However, Minister of Education, Susil Premajayantha did identify some key issues. Namely, the lack of a modern and well-articulated regulatory framework for preschool education, the unevenness of the quality of the country’s preschool education, and the shocking lack of accredited training and support available for those who teach and manage preschools. It is no secret that preschool education, like many other services in Sri Lanka, functions on an unequal basis. Most preschools in sub-urban and rural settings suffer greatly from lack of resources, funding and competent teachers. Further, there is no single, uniformed lesson structure or set of guidelines for lesson planning for the preschool sector, which is taught and enforced. Thus, leaving many ‘preschools’ to have their own teaching. This fact alone leaves many children inadequately prepared for primary education, with some suffering irreversible damage to their reasoning in later years. Premajayantha acknowledged that there is a significant variation of skills and competencies in children who enter grade one in primary school, due to issues pertaining to preschool education.

Last week, Premajayantha repeated something which has been said many times before; that formal training will be given to preschool teachers who have not obtained proper training and that the necessary arrangements for the training will be made soon. Soon? This is a term Sri Lankans often hear, when policies which are not prioritised need to be referred to and the Government in power wants to give the illusion it's doing something about it. However, today, in August 2023, our children, the future of the country, can't afford to wait for; Soon. Given the unprecedented disruption to all levels of education brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, with almost all institutions closed, and children were forced to learn at home, and the impact of the ongoing economic and food security crisis, the Sri Lankan citizen of the future may already be in need of much more than ABC and basic mathematics.  The Government, which takes column inches, and broadcasts minutes to advocate STEM education, digitalisation, automation and making Sri Lanka a transport and Services hub in the future, should realise that none of those dreams may be realised if we don’t invest in preschools and early childhood education.

The National Education Commission released a new National Policy on Preschool Education in 2019. The objectives of the policy framework were: Advance equitable and inclusive learning opportunities for all preschool children; Improve the qualifications, training and working conditions of the workforce; Promote the development and use of data and research to support evidence-based decision making and practice; and improve governance and increase allocation of resources for preschool education. The same facts that the Minister of education is repeating today. It seems, we are back at square one, on this most important issue. If the Government is serious about reforming the preschool education sector and bringing it up-to-date, then first propose a robust draft of a policy, which they are willing to invest in, not another policy document, which will remain in black and white on a bureaucrats’ shelf. It is the duty of every policy maker to understand the importance of what needs to be done and act as statesman and women, for the future generation.

The World Bank, in 2018 recommended that Sri Lanka move to improve the preschool education sector, pointing out that “Investing in early childhood development makes economic sense for Sri Lanka, as such interventions have proven to have high benefit-cost ratios as well as the best rate of return on any human capital investment. Children who are exposed to such programmes typically report improved performance on standardised tests, reduced school drop-out rates, and increased grade retention rates.”

Early childhood education, preschools, infant nutrition and children’s wellbeing should be top priorities for any government. Especially one that is trying to recover and rebuild for a better future.