By Sarah Hannan According to the School Census and Statistics Report of 2018 published by the Ministry of Education, out of the 10,175 schools in Sri Lanka, only 353 are national schools; the Western Province has the highest number of national schools at 72, while the North Central Province has the lowest at 10. Out of the student population of 4,214,772, only 839,116 are educated at national schools. Out of the teacher population of 247,334, only 39,176 teach at national schools. Several decisions pertaining to the welfare of the public and the progress of society were taken during the meeting between President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and all state ministers held at the Presidential Secretariat on Thursday (10), during which the necessity to increase the number of national schools to 1,000 was taken up. In a statement released by the President’s Media Division (PMD) following the discussion, it was noted that only some of the existing national schools are limited to the title of “national school”, as there are inadequate facilities to even categorise them as national schools. Therefore, the first phase of the initiative would see to these schools being developed to the expected standards and equipped with the necessary facilities. District educational committees too would be appointed to oversee the development of the school network. Meanwhile, the liaisons between zonal education offices and divisional education offices too would be strengthened to expedite the development process. The opportunity to contribute to any activity that will ensure the progress of the school system, except the transfer of teachers and admission of students, will be made available to politicians. However, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had pointed out that the given opportunity should only be used for the benefit of society and not for political interference or gain. Attention was drawn during the meeting to the appointment of acting principals to fill existing vacancies in grades. In an attempt to regulate the teacher service of the country, teaching exams would be held once a year. During the meeting, stakeholders pointed out that the main reason for vacant principal posts was the delay and failure to conduct these grading examinations in a methodical and regular manner. It was also decided that the possibility of appointing competent and experienced teachers in schools as acting principals would be explored. One national school per DS According to former Ministry of Education Secretary and current State Ministry of Skills Development, Vocational Education, Research, and Innovation Secretary N.H.M. Chithrananda, the task force in August had proposed that the number of national schools in the country be increased to 1,000 from the present 345. “Not all divisional secretariats in Sri Lanka have a national school in the area; through this programme, we are hoping to establish at least one national school in each divisional secretariat to improve the quality of education of Sri Lanka. Furthermore, we are also looking at establishing a self-learning system under the supervision of teachers,” Chithrananda added. The Task Force on Sri Lanka’s Education Affairs proposed that at least one national school be established for each divisional secretariat (DS) under the 1,000 national schools programme. The decision was reached by task force members after they found out that 124 DSs in Sri Lanka did not have national schools and that most national schools were established in urban areas. “In December 2019, the Interim Cabinet unanimously approved the proposal to increase the number of national schools to 1,000, in order to improve the quality of education afforded to the student population of the country which amounts to 4.2 million,” Task Force on Sri Lanka’s Education Affairs member Dr. Sunil Jayantha Nawarathne opined, adding: “At least one national school should be established for each divisional secretariat.” Rs. 78,834 million was allocated for school education by the Central Government for the period from January to April this year, out of which Rs. 73,660 million was for recurrent expenditure and Rs. 5,174 million was for capital expenditure. Former Minister of Education Dullas Alahapperuma in December 2019 revealed that 124 DSs out of the 330 DSs did not even have even one national school and most of the national schools were located in urban areas of the said DSs. The initiative that was commenced by Alahapperuma is now being carried out by the Task Force on Sri Lanka’s Education Affairs. Six-hundred-and-fifty-five schools were proposed to be upgraded to national schools just last month with the allocation of more funds. The task force appointed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in August recommended the establishment of 1,000 national schools in the country. Issues of various complexities The Sunday Morning contacted Ceylon Teachers’ Union General Secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe for his views on the recent suggestions and decisions that were taken at the task force meetings and at the meetings that were convened by President Rajapaksa. “School facilities need to be upgraded and we totally agree with that; not only the schools earmarked as national schools, but schools in all categories need to have better infrastructure and facilities too, so that it would bridge this disparity that has been created among schools in the city and those in rural areas,” Jayasinghe noted. According to Jayasinghe, while national schools come under the purview of the Central Government, the schools that fall under the Local Government often get neglected. Moreover, by creating different grades of schools, there is a tendency that teachers would want to be assigned to national schools and even parents would fight to put their children into national schools, creating a deficit of teachers who would willingly work at Local Government-managed schools and overcrowding national schools. Jayasinghe elaborated that while all schools need to have better facilities to match the present learning environment and to match the required skills development, the Government should also look at standardising the education system, so there would not be a categorisation required in the future to say that one is a prestigious/popular school and the other is not. When asked about the appointment of acting principals to schools, Jayasinghe stated that this is purely done to satisfy the needs of the politicians, so they could offer posts to the candidates of their choosing. “We urge the Department of Examinations to conduct the teacher and principal grading examinations at their earliest convenience, and whoever passes and qualifies to be a principal should be able to fill the vacant posts in many schools,” Jayasinghe concluded.