• Urges discussions with business community, AI/IT experts, PCs, uni. lecturers  

The main Opposition, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), alleged that the Government has not appointed educationists to support the proposed education reforms and has not reached out to the parties that can significantly contribute to these reforms.

This was stated during a press briefing held yesterday (28) at the SJB headquarters, where the SJB’s Gampaha Seat Organiser Waruna Rajapaksha opined that although the Government should obtain the opinions and suggestions of business figures for these reforms, they should not be deciding on the final reforms. He added: “At the same time, the Government should hold talks with those in the information technology (IT) sector who are experts in artificial intelligence (AI) regarding the new education reforms. Their opinions and suggestions should be obtained. However, they themselves cannot formulate education reforms.” In addition, he claimed that since most schools in Sri Lanka are managed at the Provincial Council (PC) level, the Government should also hold talks with the heads of PCs. According to him, another group with whom discussions should be held is university lecturers.

Moreover, Rajapaksha opined that the proposed education reforms are vague, especially when it comes to their ultimate objectives, and lack a proper implementation plan.