Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya says that education is a key area which the new government will give the “highest priority” to and that they firmly believe reestablishing the trust in the country’s education system is critical.

Addressing a workshop held for school principals at the Ananda College in Colombo today (28), she pointed out that there are several issues in the current education system and that one of the main problems is that the trust in the education system has “broken”. 

“As in many other areas of our society, people no longer trust that this system will work for them.”

Dr. Amarasuriya, who is also the Education Minister, said children no longer believe in the importance of education nor do they feel as committed to the education system as perhaps a generation ago. 

“We need to change this. We need to establish the trust in the system again. We need to make sure that children feel excited about their education. That parents are able to handover their children to the education system and have the faith that the education system will deliver.” 

“So, for all these reasons we believe establishing that trust in the education system is critical. We also know that there are huge disparities, inequalities in the education system,” she added. 

Addressing the school principals present, she said they belong to a particularly privileged section within the country’s school system - the elite schools. 

“But in our thinking, there shouldn’t be a division within the school system where some children go to good schools or popular schools as they are generally known and then there can’t be another category that is known as ‘unpopular schools’, the PM said” 

“That’s not an acceptable situation. So, our intention is to make sure that all schools deliver the best for all children. And we really hope that all of you would be able to be a part of this journey and work with us in making sure that the education system in Sri Lanka recovers its lost glory.” 

She further said: “Our education system was something that was regarded as an example by the rest of the world. We have delivered on our education system previously, but sadly in the last several decades we have not fulfilled that promise of our education system. We need to recover it and we need to improve on what we have.” 

“We recognize that this problem has not been created by you or by anyone else. The responsibility lies with firmly with successive political leaderships. But in the coming years we hope to continue to have this discussion with you about the policy directions and reforms that we have planned for education and I invite you all to work with us to bring our country and our education system to the place that it really deserves.”