News
1,000 ‘national’ school plan deprives funds to existing ones
The Government’s proposal to create 1,000 national schools has deprived funds to the existing national schools.
It is learnt that handpicked schools have been refused funds for 2022 from respective provincial councils, while the line ministry which had absorbed the schools have not allocated funds.
“The schools are in limbo without funds from the provinces, or the centre,’’ the national principals union claimed.
Union head Mohan Weerasinghe said schools are undergoing untold hardships without funds for administrative and other expenses.
The 1,000 national school programme is the brainchild of former education minister G.L. Pieris aimed at meeting the increased demand for admission to the 373 national schools in the country. Demand for such schools is high due to the perception among parents that these are better equipped and provide a better education.
The upgrade programme under the government’s ‘vistas of prosperity and splendour’, plans to spend Rs 12.3 billion over three years.
The project was granted cabinet approval in January 2021 and is planned in three stages including establishing a national school in the 123 divisional secretariat areas.
In the second stage, 673 schools selected are to be upgraded, and in the third stage the existing 373 national schools are to be developed.
Under the first phase, Rs 1 million each was granted to identified schools to erect a signboard and a gate and another Rs. 1 million was given to around 300 schools for computers, photocopying machines and other equipment.
Under the third stage, principals of selected schools on a provincial basis are to be trained.
Last week, a four-day training programme was held in Kurundeniya Training Centre in Kandy where participants had undergone severe hardship in finding food and lodging at their own expense.
This week, another group of principals was identified for training. However, this time, the course will be online. Principals have to use their own devices and data with no assistance from the education department.
The Siyambalanduwa Maha Vidyalaya in the Monaragala District was opened last January, the first school under the project, by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
The Ceylon Teachers Union said the programme was “absolutely useless and is only aimed at reducing the powers of the provincial councils and making the 13th Amendment redundant’’.
The union said taking away schools from the provinces and designating them as ‘national’ under the line ministry will create a perception that provincial school education is substandard .
Also, this will create a disparity in the status quo of students, worsening discrimination in society. There are 10,164 state-run schools of which 3,000 in the provinces have fewer than 100 students.
Union general secretary, Joseph Stalin said that around 60% of the children will enter national schools, and only those below the poverty line will go to provincial schools.
This will again create a class difference with many rural children falling back on their education.
“Why cannot the government upgrade all schools so that everyone benefits?’’ he asked. “If this continues, education in this country will break down.’’
CTU secretary Theeban Arokiyanathan said that the project has no provincial council representation and has been implemented by the military.
“In the east, it is Pillayan [Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan of Batticaloa District], who has been assigned,’’ he said.
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