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One Thousand National Schools Programme: Lack of funds adds another burden on parents

09 Apr 2022

  • Govt. has slashed funding for school activities: Stalin
  • Claims schools are running on minimum facilities 
By Maheesha Mudugamuwa The One Thousand New National Schools Programme, launched by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in January, has now come to a standstill due to the lack of necessary funds for the development of infrastructure and other facilities. According to the teachers’ unions, funds allocated for school development as well as for the operations of the schools have now been cut down by the Government, thereby putting an additional burden of school maintenance on parents’ shoulders. Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) President Joseph Stalin alleged that almost all school development activities have now been halted by the Government and one such project was the new national school project. “Funds are not being released for schools. School maintenance has also been passed on to the parents. Almost all expenses are now being covered by the schools themselves. The schools are not earning money. Therefore, the parents have to give that money,” he explained. According to Stalin, a large sum of money had been spent by parents in a year. “Most parents can’t bear these costs,” he stressed. According to the CTU President, the direct funds released by the Central Government as well as the funds being allocated by the Provincial Councils have now been suspended. “Schools are running with minimum facilities,” Stalin noted. He also went on to say that even though the One Thousand National Schools Programme had been launched, the funds had not yet been released to develop the quality of the schools. “Converting a provincial school into a national school has to be done by upgrading school facilities. Therefore, without proper funds, that cannot be done,” he stressed. The project is aimed at increasing the number of national schools by upgrading 1,000 schools currently governed under the Provincial Councils in each province to national schools. At present, there are around 373 national schools in operation and under the new project, it has been planned to increase the number of such schools to 1,169. These schools were to be established in each divisional secretariat division with a maximum of 3,000 students per school. According to Government statistics, in 2017, there were 353 national schools and 9,809 provincial schools.  National schools, managed directly by the Ministry of Education at the central level, are primarily elite and old State colleges (madhya vidyalaya) that date back to the colonial period. The Western and Southern Provinces host the greatest numbers of national schools, while the North Central Province has the lowest. The inaugural ceremony of the 1,000 New National Schools Establishment Programme was held at the Siyambalanduwa Maha Vidyalaya in Monaragala on 7 January 2022. Accordingly, the programme had been launched with the objectives of reasonably expanding the national school network across the country, significantly increasing the opportunities for high-quality secondary education, minimising unnecessary demand for certain schools, reducing crowding in certain schools, and assuring the utilisation of available educational resources (physical and human) at an optimum level by providing such resources based on the justifiable criteria, norms, and guidelines to all schools. The project had been granted Cabinet approval in January last year and was planned in three stages – including the establishment of at least one national school in 123 divisional secretariats. Under the first phase, Rs. 1 million each had been granted to certain schools to construct a name board with a gate and another Rs. 1 million had been given to around 300 schools to purchase computers, photocopying machines, and other required equipment. Under the second stage, 673 schools that were selected under the identified criteria would be upgraded to the national school level, and under the third stage the 373 existing national schools would be developed, gaining better facilities and infrastructure. All of these schools would be developed under internationally accepted criteria to produce technologically advanced youth for the workforce. Under the third phase, training programmes would also be conducted for selected school principals on a provincial basis. In Sri Lanka, the national schools outperform provincial schools, with rural schools falling behind. The share of students qualifying to proceed to the collegiate level is much higher in national schools than in provincial schools (75% versus 46%). There is a strong perception in the country that centrally managed schools receive better resources and spending per student, while the move to shift these schools under the control of provincial authorities has been unsuccessful. In order to accelerate the 1,000 National Schools Programme and for other developments in the education sector, the Budget allocates Rs. 5,300 million in addition to the Rs. 2,200 million that was allocated in the Appropriation Bill. Meanwhile, when contacted, Ceylon Teachers’ Service Union (CTSU) General Secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe told The Sunday Morning that there were no funds for school development activities. At present, the entire system has collapsed and it has affected education as well. There are no funds for schools. Even though the funds were allocated through the Budget, those funds had not been released, he alleged. Furthermore, the CTSU General Secretary noted that most of the funds had now been cut down by the Government. In the Budget 2022, the Government has allocated a record 8% for education with over Rs. 157.6 billion funding to the sector, a major increase compared to Rs. 126.5 billion in 2020. Of the total allocation, Rs. 135.4 billion would be for capital expenditures while Rs. 22.15 billion would be for recurrent expenditures. Expenditure on general education includes spending on national schools, provision of free educational resources, school libraries, monitoring of educational standards in international schools and teacher training programmes. Meanwhile, Ministry of Public Services, Provincial Councils, and Local Government Secretary J.J. Ratnasiri told The Sunday Morning that the funds had already been allocated for the 1,000 National Schools Programme through the 2022 Budget. However, when queried as to whether the funds were being released, he stressed that the funds for development activities had now been cut down as the Government was mainly focused on providing basic requirements such as fuel, electricity, medicine, and food.   “We are in a crisis situation and therefore we are focusing on providing basic needs. Development could come later. There is a huge dollar crisis and there are no rupees either,” he stressed. Attempts to contact Education Ministry Secretary Prof. Kapila Perera were futile.   


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