• Secy. claims reforms not an education sector cost-cutting agenda

The Ministry of Education, Higher Education, and Vocational Education has refuted allegations that the upcoming education reforms set to be rolled out next year (2026) are part of a cost-cutting agenda driven by pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Speaking to The Daily Morning, the Secretary to the Ministry, Nalaka Kaluwewa said that the reform process is a long-term programme that has been underway for several years. “By the time the current Government assumed office this year, the full framework for the reforms was already in place. A review was carried out after the Government took office, and the reforms are now moving into the implementation stage,” he said.

Responding to claims that the reforms are aimed at reducing the number of teachers and cutting costs, he said that there is no connection between the education reforms and the IMF recommendations. “We have never discussed education reforms with the IMF. They haven’t given us any advice on this, and neither has any other funding agency. We haven’t done any calculations related to education spending in relation to these reforms. Our aim is to give students the real meaning of going to school,” Kaluwewa pointed out.

Earlier, the Ceylon Teachers’ Union President Priyantha Fernando told The Daily Morning that the reforms appear to be influenced by IMF recommendations to reduce the number of public servants, which, in this case, include teachers. He claimed that the Government is working towards bringing the number of teachers down to 190,000 and closing around 1,500 schools.

The ministry recently announced that the number of subjects at the General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level Examination would be brought down to seven under the initial reforms. Students will be required to study five core subjects – Mathematics, English, their Mother Tongue (Sinhala/Tamil), Religion, and Science – and choose two additional subjects from options such as Technology, Aesthetics, Management and Entrepreneurship, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Health and Physical Education.

The number of teaching periods per day will also be reduced to seven, with each period lasting 50 minutes.