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Sri Lanka’s simmering education crisis

28 Aug 2022

By Marianne David   Sri Lanka’s students have been facing challenge upon challenge since early 2020, commencing with Covid-related lockdowns, during which school education more or less fell apart, and compounded by the ongoing economic crisis. On 13 August, the Ministry of Education decided to open all Government and Government-approved schools on all days of the week from 15 August and restricted co-curricular and extra-curricular activities to outside of school hours for the next three months.  It also called for events held in schools to be minimised and scrapped the August school holidays in order to make up for missed academic activities. The Ministry also stated that provincial authorities had been instructed to prepare a suitable transport programme for academic staff and students in areas with transportation difficulties. Meanwhile, Education Minister Dr. Susil Premajayantha said that term tests for students in Grades 1 to 5 would no longer be held in line with the new educational policy and that the students would be subjected to continuous testing through modules. An Essential Learning Content (ELC) programme has also been developed for Grades 1-11.   ELC programme   The ELC programme, developed by the National Institute of Education (NIE) in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Provincial Departments of Education, is an ‘immediate response’ to the reopening of schools. The content for the first term has already been issued to schools, while the development of a module system is also underway. “We have approved the document prepared by the NIE and the related officials from all sections and departments. The ELC for the first term has already been sent to schools,” Ministry of Education Additional Secretary – Education Quality Development Division H.U. Premathilaka told The Sunday Morning. According to the NIE, the ELC comprises the content considered ‘compulsory’ for each student to master in order to reach the next grade successfully while the rest of the content identified in the normal curriculum is considered as the ‘desired’ learning content for the respective grades.  “We have already given the ELC content for the first term and we will give the second term and third term content in the days ahead. It has been accepted well by the schools. The Secretary has also issued a circular on adhering to this content and the Examination Department has agreed to conduct the exams accordingly,” National Institute of Education Director General Dr. Sunil Jayantha Nawaratne told The Sunday Morning.    Tackling learning losses   While opening schools for in-person education is extremely important, that alone won’t resolve Sri Lanka’s ongoing education-related woes, with the issue of learning losses accumulated during the last two-and-a-half years needing urgent addressing.  Education Forum Sri Lanka Co-Founder Dr. Tara de Mel, while hailing the reopening of schools, noted that learning losses needed to be tackled as a matter of priority.  “Fortunately schools have opened and I think that this is the first time after a very long time that students can attend school on all five days a week. Let’s hope it remains that way. However, when students miss out on school for long periods, as they have in Sri Lanka, they suffer learning losses, defined as a situation where students learn less than they would have if schools were open,” she told The Sunday Morning.  “That the learning losses translate into ‘earning losses’ is well-accepted by economists and policymakers. A school or university leaver who is less educated, less knowledgeable, and less skilled will have less chances of getting good quality, high-wage employment,” she warned. Via the ELC, the NIE expects schools to recover the learning losses accumulated since March 2020, with special attention to literacy and numeracy skills. Pointing out that since the pandemic learning losses have been calculated at an average of 60-70% in developing countries in Asia and Latin America, while students from Northern Europe, the US, Canada, and similar developed countries have reported about 50% loss in learning, Dr. de Mel said that the revealing reports published by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) [1] and International Monetary Fund (IMF) [2] in this regard were worth studying.  “As far as I know, Sri Lankan learning losses have not been assessed. With children returning to class, we have no idea what type of learning gaps teachers have to deal with. UNICEF has indicated that learning poverty increased to 63% globally during the pandemic. Sri Lanka had recorded learning poverty at 15% before 2020 but we have no information since then. We need to ensure that students keep attending school and incentives like school meals programmes should be used to entice children.” Having scientifically assessed the fallout of long-term school closures and the negative impact on the economy and on future generations, countries around the world are pledging never to close schools again, except in extreme weather conditions, said Dr. de Mel, adding that the Worldwide Commission To Educate All Kids (Post-Pandemic) [3] was championing a treaty to be signed by all governments in this regard.   Economic woes   Beyond learning losses, the uncertainty relating to students’ futures in Sri Lanka is compounded by food and transport challenges, given the constantly-rising cost of living. Earlier last month, Minister Premajayantha said measures were being taken to resume the supply of school midday meals for all primary schoolchildren with the assistance of international organisations and communities, while the price paid per meal to the suppliers of school meals had also been doubled to Rs. 60. Despite these reassurances, the Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) last week claimed that the school meals programme had been disrupted, with suppliers refusing to supply meals at Rs. 60 per meal. As Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Rohini Wijeratne Kavirathna pointed out, children are facing dual problems – transport and nutrition. “Sri Lanka is in such a dire economic situation at present that I do not believe that children are eating three meals a day these days,” she told The Sunday Morning. “People’s incomes have not increased, so when sacrifices need to be made, the plate of rice shows the impact.” In fact, in early June, UNICEF appealed for $ 25 million to meet the urgent needs of 1.7 million children affected by the economic crisis in Sri Lanka. “It would be good if the Government can provide meals for children from pre-schools up to Grade 5. If a child goes to school hungry, that child will not be able to learn,” said Kavirathna.   University students’ woes   While many universities have been functioning mostly online while some have conducted face-to-face lectures, the Government recently announced that all universities would be open for face-to-face lectures from this week. Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) Vice President and Jaffna University Senior Lecturer Dr. Ahilan Kadirgamar said that while the Government was merely announcing the opening of universities, the material needs of the student population and the junior lecturers needed to be addressed as Sri Lanka moved from crisis to crisis. Dr. Kadirgamar pointed out that the massive rise in the cost of living was a major obstacle for university students. “Since the Easter attacks, the universities were closed for some time; then there was the Covid crisis; and now the economic crisis – we’ve been going from crisis to crisis. The economic crisis is continuing, but they are saying everything is normal.  “In the week ahead we will get a sense of what attendance will look like and how students are going to cope. It’s also a huge strain on their families, which have to support them. From bus fares to petrol for bikes and so on, everything has gone up. Even lunch packets have gone up in cost. For outstation students, train fares are up. But the Mahapola Scholarship that the students get has not been increased. Things are surely even harder for school teachers and students.”   Education priorities   Commenting on what the Government and Education Ministry should prioritise in order to get education back on track and ensure children do not keep paying for the failure of education authorities, Dr. de Mel said that firstly, all provincial and zonal directors should be advised to devise methods to assess learning gaps in children in all schools in each of their zones. “Teachers and principals are well-equipped to assess these using standard measurements like essential learning outcomes in foundational skills (e.g.: maths and reading/writing in primary grades). Provincial authorities should be empowered to speedily implement such measures using their own skills and knowledge,” she said.  She noted that while the ELC document could be used to some extent to begin the process, it was by no means a comprehensive instructional manual. In parallel, she said immediate steps should be taken to improve pedagogical skills of teachers through teacher training and incentivising teachers using various methods.  “Teachers should be provided with suitable devices for online learning, whenever the need may arise again, and curricula for such digital learning should be prepared. The in-service teacher training centres and the National Colleges of Education should spearhead these initiatives with the NIE,” she said.  Dr. de Mel said it was also important to ensure that all students received all textbooks needed for 2022, along with school uniforms.   National examinations   Meanwhile, the national examinations continue to be scheduled – and rescheduled. The delayed Grade 5 Scholarship examination has been scheduled for 27 November while the G.C.E. Advanced Level examination has been rescheduled for early December. Students from the 2021 Ordinary Level batch who sat for the delayed G.C.E. Ordinary Level examination in May/June this year are meanwhile awaiting their results, uncertain about the release date. Dr. de Mel asserted that until some form of stability was restored in the system, the three main national exams should be rescheduled. “During the past two years, the biggest stress for students was when exams were scheduled and rescheduled, whilst school education was disrupted – first due to the pandemic and subsequently due to the fuel, food, and economic crises.” Noting that the Government was hampered in allocating funds for education, as with everything else, she said it should have drawn up plans for fast-tracking education delivery through in-person and remote learning methods about six to eight months ago and presented those plans to specific donor communities. “Organising an education donor conference is still not too late. A similar exercise was undertaken during the education emergency after the tsunami,” she added.   Education reforms   That Sri Lanka has been dragging its heels on education reforms comes as no surprise. However, the state of education in the country is such that it can no longer afford to waste any more time. Commenting on education reforms, the NIE’s Dr. Nawaratne noted that reforms had to be implemented successfully, but that they came at a cost: “We are introducing a module system, which costs more compared to textbooks. Students will work with the printed modules, which is somewhat expensive, however we should consider it as an investment and not a cost. This programme will help children who experienced learning losses during lockdowns and were unable to access online learning.” Dr. Nawaratne also revealed that the NIE was in the process of implementing a method based on the learning pyramid. “Now students are passive learners but we are promoting active learning,” he emphasised. MP Kavirathna meanwhile noted: “Sri Lanka’s education syllabi are not suited to this country or any country in the world, even when we are not in a crisis situation. Education reforms are a must.” Meanwhile, a teacher from a prominent school in Nugegoda, speaking on terms of anonymity, said: “A lot needs to be done to get education back on track. We can propose solutions, but they are difficult to implement. It is essential to have smaller classes and the teacher-student ratio needs to change. As teachers we are doing the best we can, especially since the children need a lot more attention now. However, no relief has been provided to teachers, not even a transport allowance.” Another teacher added: “We got the ELC term 1 plan, but teachers have not received any instructions on it. A teacher in the staff room said modules would be introduced next year instead of textbooks. The current curriculum is neither relevant nor useful. The Government must change the syllabi.”   Sri Lanka is failing its children   While students should be preparing for a world where skills such as creativity, problem solving, critical thinking, leadership, and innovation will be in high demand, Sri Lanka, shaken by its worst economic crisis to date, is struggling to deliver even the bare minimum in terms of education, while parents are hard-pressed to ensure their children’s needs are met. For Sarath de Silva, like for many Sri Lankans nowadays, life is a daily battle. “School attendance seems to be good, but parents are struggling – everything has gone up in price, from books and stationery to fuel and food. The school bus cost alone has increased from Rs. 1,500 to Rs. 3,000,” said de Silva, a parent of two school-going children and a toddler from Panadura. Unless there is some urgent relief, Dr. Kadirgamar warned that Sri Lanka may see high levels of dropouts among students who might be forced to find some way to support their families and themselves – even to feed themselves. “This will have an intergenerational impact in terms of disrupting education and creating, or not creating, an educated next generation.” Even as other countries shift their focus to soft skills and Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) education, Sri Lanka is flailing about and failing its children. Beset as they are on all fronts, with learning continually disrupted or delivered via outdated syllabi and hamstrung by economic hardships, many children are being left behind – failed by the State and the system.  


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