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This inquiry seeks to probe into several inter-related issues
concerning the current approaches followed by the Government
of Sri Lanka for the delivery of education by the public
sector – with a specific focus on issues at the primary
and secondary level of the delivery system. These issues
relate to the structures, management, staffing and financing
of the delivery system and its constituents. The ongoing
system is evaluated in terms of its relevance to the task
of the development of the country’s human resources
in such manner as would contribute positively to meeting
the current and future challenges of the Sri Lankan economy
and society.
Sri Lanka has, during its half century
of post-Independence history, witnessed several attempts
at effecting changes in the primary and secondary levels
of its education delivery system. It is, however, difficult
to say that any of them have been optimally successful in
achieving the goals they sought. The episodes were driven
by what was perceived to be symptoms of inadequacies in
systemic outputs or by current ideological fads and sought
to achieve quick results. However, they failed to focus
on the basic structural weaknesses, which impeded the constituents
of the system from effectively responding to the demands
of the changing economy and the society.
It is the premise of this inquiry that
unless and until these structural issues are effectively
addressed, any future reforms of the content and direction
of primary and secondary education would continue to yield
sub-optimal, and even negative, results. The expectations
that would be generated in them would remain unfulfilled.
The logical outcome would be a persistent state of cynical
dissatisfaction on the part of the citizens.
It is, therefore, the objective of this
inquiry to identify the structural issues which require
to be addressed and to examine the vested interests within
the polity and the bureaucracy that obstruct them being
addressed. It also seeks to suggest changes that need to
be brought about and to propose an agenda of action for
implementing these changes.
These structural issues include issues
of financing and management as well as issues related to
ensuring quality of delivery of educational services. The
issues that need to be addressed are identified through
an assessment of the current structure. This assessment
is placed in the context of the rapid changes in the economy
and the society that impinge on education. It is essential
that the changes that flow from the environment be taken
into consideration in planning and implementing educational
reforms. Failure, in the reform process, to appropriately
and adequately respond to the demands that are posed by
such changes would trigger a level of social unrest that
would be well nigh impossible to contain.
The inquiry concludes with an appraisal
of what the role of the State would be, in the context of
the structural changes that are suggested. This, it is suggested,
is an issue that has been avoided in previous reform episodes
– based on an uncritical acceptance of an all-pervasive
State as the basis of governance.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Current Structure
- The Changing Environment
- The Content of Education
- Quality of Delivery
- Financing Issues
- Management Issues
- The Role of the State
- The Support Requirement of Schools
- Implementing the Changes
- Conclusion
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