Unstable Education System due to Policy changes by new Govts: CTSU
View(s):The Education System is unstable due to the change of policies with every new government, said the Ceylon Teachers Service Union (CTSU).
CTSU General Secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe told the Sunday Times that, when students are introduced to contradicting policies, with every incoming government, they have difficulties in adapting to them.
“These policies that change every year portra the instability of the Education System. The country’s Education must have set National policies”
He said the policies presented by the former Education Minister, like reducing the number of Ordinary Level subjects to 6 and not making Scholarship compulsory to all schoolchildren, will most likely not be implemented under the new policies.
“Sudden changes like this can agitate the children and mentally affect their wellbeing”, he said. Education Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe told the Sunday Times that the present Education System is in a mess and there is a lot to be corrected. Commenting on the future policies of the Ministry, he said they are still formulating policies to transform the Education System.
When queried about the proposed policies of the former Minister he said that, he personally believes that Scholarship exams should not be made compulsory. In fact, he queried whether the Education System needs a Scholarship exam at all.
“We want to introduce a system where we encourage parents to send their children to the closest school, but first, we have to provide equal infrastructure facilities to all schools” According to him, there are around 3,000 schools where the population is less than 100 students, and insufficient teachers in them.
Minister Rajapakshe revealed that of the 352 National schools, only 50 schools have Principals who were appointed in line with their qualifications, while the remaining vacancies have not been filled.
“We intend to take immediate action to appoint Principals for the remaining 302 schools,” he said. - Shaadya Ismail