Sri Lanka’s school education system is gearing up to roll out reformed education methods that have been in the pipeline for three years. As the timeline nears for schoolchildren to experience the new methods of learning, there have been various suggestions to add subjects and redesign curricula in a manner best suited to shape the thinking of a citizen in the 21st century.
Among the latest such topics or subjects that the Ministry of Education has been requested to include in the curriculum is Human Rights.
Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) Commissioner Prof. Thaiyamuthu Thaanaraj said: “The HRCSL received a positive response from the Education Ministry and the National Institute of Education (NIE) regarding the addition of Human Rights as a subject in the teacher training curriculum. We are conducting awareness sessions at the school level to educate students. However, to achieve effective results we are looking at educating teachers about Human Rights so that they could teach it to students as a subject in schools.”
The NIE, the authorised body to carry out the necessary education-related subject reforms, has been tasked with rolling out the much-discussed education reforms to the school curriculum this year. The piloted module method is to take effect across Grades 6-10 with teachers from 108 schools undergoing training for selected subjects from this month onwards.
Elaborating on the matter, NIE Faculty of Science and Technology Deputy Director General K.R. Pathmasiri explained: “The school curriculum in Sri Lanka undergoes reforms on an eight-yearly cycle. To keep abreast with the latest discoveries and updates locally and globally, it is imperative to make such reforms to subjects taught at school.”
Via the reforms, the NIE target is to bridge the gaps in the curriculum and improve the quality of the content modules delivered to schoolchildren. Pathmasiri added that part of the reform process was also focused on training teachers to enhance their skills and bridge their knowledge gaps by understanding their shortcomings at various administrative and operational levels.
“Part of the education reform process is to regulate the school curriculum being rolled out. The first phase in training teacher assistants, teachers, teacher advisors, and principals took place from 1-4 April with the second phase to be conducted from 25-28 April and the third phase to be rolled out between 26-30 April,” Pathmasiri noted.
Accordingly, the NIE will look at incorporating Law (Sri Lankan), Human Rights, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) and look at including practical assignments where schoolchildren, especially in junior and senior secondary education, hone vocational skills that will come in use once they step into the country’s workforce.
Integrating modern technology to education
President Ranil Wickremesinghe earlier this month reiterated the importance of updating knowledge in the education sector, calling for a transformation of the local education system.
Pointing out that knowledge of modern technology had become the latest tool in education, Wickremesinghe noted: “Developing knowledge is very necessary in this rapidly-changing world. You cannot move forward with the world without renewing your knowledge. Therefore, renewing knowledge becomes the main task of education.
“For this purpose, the Government has planned to transform the school system in this country. Accordingly, a programme has been prepared to establish an education board in every province. Furthermore, teachers and schoolchildren should be provided with knowledge of the English language and the applied knowledge of Information Technology when using devices to facilitate learning.”
The President stressed on the importance of adding AI to the school curriculum. However, the Government is to introduce new laws to regulate the use of AI in education and within the country’s workforce before incorporating it into the school curriculum.
Following up on Wickremesinghe’s sentiments, Education Minister Dr. Susil Premajayantha said: “Through the proposed education reforms, the emphasis is on measuring the skills acquired by the child for practical activities. A national programme is to introduce an Activity-Based Oral English (ABOE) programme in schools to develop English speaking and listening skills for students of Grades 1 and 2 in all schools in the country. The programme will roll out for children entering Grade 1 for the academic year of 2024, which commenced in March.”
While English is being taught in schools from Grade 3, providing students with English-speaking skills from the primary education stage has been recognised as a timely need and the Ministry of Education has therefore put together training programmes to prepare primary teachers of Grades 1 and 2 for ABOE teaching.
Accordingly, 13,800 teachers have already been trained towards this end in order to roll out the ABOE programme in schools.
Policy framework implementations
Meanwhile, the Cabinet committee appointed to oversee the implementation of the National Education Policy Framework prepared by the Government met at the President’s Office in March.
A bill to establish a National Teachers’ Council to encourage the active participation of teachers in the decision-making and professionalisation of teaching services, including developing a teacher certification system, as in other recognised professions, is to be drafted following the consultations.
The council aims to transform the teaching profession into a highly-recognised profession, improve teachers’ professional qualities, introduce a well-defined professional development framework including a specific career path for teachers, evaluate the teacher salary structure in line with emerging professional standards, and identify and reward outstanding teachers and principals. Requirements such as establishing a reward process are in place.
The Cabinet committee has stated that the number of schools should be increased to 1,000 as there is a great demand for education in the English medium. This will enable at least 200,000 students to be educated in English by 2025.
President Wickremesinghe has given instructions to obtain the services of 2,500 new teachers for the speedy implementation of this work, and considering the urgent need to start this process, to immediately hire 1,000 qualified retired teachers who can teach subjects in the English medium for a contract period of three years. He also directed the recruitment of 1,100 graduates who can teach in the English medium through an open competitive examination in a phased manner.
Besides the school-leaving certificate currently given to students who complete junior and senior secondary education, students are not entitled to receive any certificate that shows the various skills and subjects studied by a student in school over the years. Accordingly, a policy decision was reached to give every student a certificate of completion of school education, not limited to certificates showing the results of the national examinations, effective from this year.
The committee included Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, Education Minister Dr. Premajayantha, and six other officials. The National Education Policy Framework contains short-term and medium-term education transformation processes and looks at the most important and urgent measures to be implemented in the education sector.