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Socio-political unrest: Adverse impact on education sector

09 Apr 2022

  • No adverse impact on examination process or on students: Commissioner General of Examinations
  • Stop politicising education: SLGTA
  • Assess impact on the entire education system: Dr. Gamage
By Sarah Hannan Schools across the country were closed for Avurudu holidays a week earlier, following the socio-political unrest that erupted on 31 March at Mirihana. This is the third year counting that the country’s school education system has been disrupted over the inaptitude of this country’s lawmakers. Schoolchildren were preparing to sit for their promotion tests to move to the next academic year, which were to commence just after the Avurudu holidays, and most importantly the practical examinations for GCE A/L students of the year 2021 were to proceed from 29 March to 8 April. With the incumbent President calling for a State of Public Emergency and imposing a police curfew on Saturday (2) 6 p.m. through Monday (4) 5 a.m., the practical examinations that were scheduled to take place on Sunday (3) were postponed. The Sunday Morning spoke to Commissioner General of Examinations L.M.D. Dharmasena on how the Department of Examinations was handling the situation. “Only one day of practical exams was hindered, but we conducted the rest of the practical exams as scheduled, with a new day being communicated to A/L students who were unable to face their practical exams last Sunday,” he said. Dharmasena also noted that all national exams would be carried out within the scheduled timelines.  Meanwhile, when asked whether the Department of Examinations was able to secure sufficient paper stocks to print the examination papers, the Commissioner General of Exams affirmed that provisions were in place to carry out the national exams with necessary stationery being secured on time. Separate education from politics The school education sector has been under severe pressure due to insufficient budgetary allocations to provide basic requirements for schoolchildren as well as administrative issues such as not addressing teacher and principal salary anomalies. With issues faced by students, teachers, principals, and non-academic staff since the pandemic and even before, as revealed during the teachers’ and principals’ protests last year, it was apparent that immediate action should have been taken to safeguard the right to education for the children of this country. The Sunday Morning spoke to Sri Lanka Government Teachers’ Association (SLGTA) General Secretary Shehan Dissanayake about the impact on the school education system over the past years and counting. “The incumbent Government is gambling with the future of this country. Children have not been able to attend school regularly or receive guidance or lessons in their respective grades over the past two years. We have actually lost two years of education and it is very unfair to children, especially for children that are in pre-school and junior grades.” Dissanayake noted that politicians should be blamed for the disruption of education in Sri Lanka, as they had failed to provide sufficient budgetary allocations to develop the technological infrastructure to provide remote education to children in these past two years. Moreover, he also noted that the decision-makers at the Education Ministry were mere puppets of the State carrying out the orders of their political leaders, with no regard for the children. “We are disappointed that they have not been able to make policy decisions and heed the recommendations that were given by educationists, teacher trade unions, and even several international organisations to ensure that the right to education was provided for the children of this country. We urge the administration to stop politicising the education system of Sri Lanka for their personal gain,” Dissanayake reiterated. Not only exams, lessons also disrupted Speaking to The Sunday Morning, renowned educationist and Education Forum Sri Lanka Co-Founder Dr. Sujatha Gamage stated: “Sri Lanka has a positive record of holding national examinations on time. So we do not have to worry about the examinations. It will happen with a few delays, yet they will work on completing the examination process in a timely manner. What we need to pay close attention to is whether the syllabus is covered and whether the students are given enough space to clarify any doubts about the subject matter.” According to Dr. Gamage, the in-person education that was missed, especially by pre-school and junior grade students over the past two years and counting, will have an impact on their early childhood development. To top that off, even students in other grades are experiencing separation and social anxiety since they have not been able to interact with their schoolmates or take part in extracurricular activities during these times. “We urge the lawmakers to pull allocations from other departments and provide an emergency relief fund for education as well. Not only health, agriculture, and industry, but education too must be included in this relief scheme that is currently being discussed at Parliament,” Dr. Gamage concluded.

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