1 NEW EDUCATION REFORMS Mohan Lal Grero Deputy

(1) NEW EDUCATION REFORMS Mohan Lal Grero, Deputy Minister of Education Ministry of Education Monitoring Member of Parliament Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development Government of Sri Lanka

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EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS (3) Ø Initiated Free Education for primary & secondary educations in 1943. Ø Achieved very good education indices in Asia by 1960’s. Ø Achieved universal access to primary education with 99. 6% completing primary education. Ø On track to achieve MDGs 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 with notable health & education indicators. Proportion of Pupils Starting Grade 1 who reach Grade 5 ( by Sex ) 1990 2002 2006/7 Overall 68. 1 95. 6 99. 6 Male 64. 1 94. 7 99. 3 Female 72. 6 96. 5 99. 8 Source: Annual School Census & Special Survey on MDG goals 2006/7, Dept. Of Census and Statistics

(4) CHALLENGES Ø Main challenges of the education system are lack of equity, quality and relevance to job market Rank out of 131 countries Country Rank in quality of primary education Sri Lanka 42 44 India 80 37 Thailand 80 37 Malaysia 23 18 Rank in quality of overall education Source : World Development Indicators Ø Changing population profile from child to adolescent & youth Ø Increase in labour force from 6. 3 million in 2000 to 7. 3 million in 2010 Ø Annually about 150, 000 adolescents and youth join the labour force with low skills or no skills at all Ø Unemployment rate is 4. 2% but youth unemployment is higher (19%)

(5) CHALLENGES Percentage of students by stream Percentage of A/L students by stream Mathematics & Science 52% Commerce 22% Arts 26% Graduate Output by Major Field (2007 -2011)

(6) CHALLENGES Annual School Leavers 160000 140000 120000 100000 80000 60000 40000 20000 0 Move to Higher Education Move to Vocational & Tech Education Move to Informal Employment School leaving Students groups Employment (‘ 000) Employmen t by selected industrial groups Agriculture Forestry & Fishery 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 Manufacturing Construction, Minning & Quarrying Electricity, Gas & Water supply Wholesale & Retail Trade 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Agriculture sector recorded the highest employment. That was 2. 2 million during the year 2012. The lowest, about 0. 1 million employments was recorded in the Miscellaneous Labour Work category in 2012. Source: Quarterly Labour Force Survey, Department of Census & Statistics

(7) CHALLENGES Pattern in Achievement – English Grade 8 – 2012 Dispersion of marks 30. 00 25. 00 20. 00 15. 00 10. 00 5. 00 90 to 100 80 to 90 70 to 80 60 to 70 50 to 60 40 to 50 30 to 40 20 to 30 10 to 20 0 to 10 Source : National Education Research and Evaluation Centre (NEREC) Faculty of Education, University of Colombo.

STRATEGIES – New Reforms Ø 1000 Schools are remodeled with new Technological Laboratories and Science, Mathematics, Commerce and Arts Subject Streams for A/L. These schools are evenly distributed through out the country. Ø New Technology Subject Streams were introduced to A/L Students with compulsory vocational training. (8) Technical Laboratory Unit (1000 Units) Ø Introduction of Mandatory career guidance in schools. Ø Strengthening English Teaching and Trilingualism (Sinhala, Tamil and English) and Introducing assessments for listening and speaking skills. Ø Strengthening organizational linkages among the relevant Ministries (Education, Higher Education, Youth affairs, Skills Development, Labour, Productivity).

STRATEGIES – To improve equity (9) Primary Feeder Schools Secondary School Each D. S. Division gets 03 (restructured) secondary schools with laboratories and all subjects streams safeguarding equity in education.

STRATEGIES– School to Decent work (10) Vocational training to be mainstreamed in schools for skill development Ø Launching school based vocational counseling & training centers Targeted on students who complete G. C. E. O/L & A/L, but fail to gain university This program and the project come under the supervision of the Sri Lanka Vocational The first school based vocational training center has been opened at the

STRATEGIES– School to Decent work (11) Ø Decent work available for adolescent and youth through skill enhancement - Strengthen regulated & certified vocational training • Linking secondary education, VET and higher education institutes and the world of work to promote seamless career paths via lateral entry. • Degrees at Universities to be labour demand oriented- The curriculum content of academic programmes will be redesigned to match the requirements of employers with new Technology Faculties. • Public-private partnership in education and training - Non-state universities and degree awarding institutions will be encouraged, with regulatory controls on quality and accreditation requirements. • Skills of Migrant labour improved - Vocational training to cater to ‘skilled’ migrant labour force as opposed to the ‘unskilled’ in the past towards decent work. • NVQ school learner acquire competencies by direct entry to industry - A network of one-stop career centres is planned throughout the country to provide information on training, career guidance and employment related services.

STRATEGIES– School to Decent work Market-driven vocational training available at School Level Life Long Career Development (SLQF) (12)

STRATEGIES – School to Decent work Ø 25 New University Colleges are being constructed to offer NVQ (National Vocational Qualification) Levels 5, 6 and 7 for school leavers with vocational training. NVQ Level 7 is B. Tec. Degree. Ø University for Vocational Technology (UNIVOTEC) is already available. (13)

STRATEGIES – Transformation • New technology stream for A/L students • NVQ (Level 2 & 3)) for ICT Students during O/L & A/L. • NVQ for School based Vocational Trainees Included in A/L technology stream (14)

(15) • Sri Lanka Qualifications Framework (SLQF) Different levels of SLQF with some examples together with comparable levels of NVQF SLQL = Sri Lanka Qualifications Framework Level NVQL= National Vocational Qualification Level Source: University Grant Commission – Sri Lanka

STRATEGIES – Improvement of English Competency (16) 1) Increasing the number of English Teachers in the system as necessary. 2) Continuous training of English Teachers. 3) Establishing a strong Provincial based English Master Teacher Units to facilitate on the job training of English Teachers. 4) In O/L examination; providing 20% marks for English Listening and Speaking Skills from 2015 to improve Speaking skills of students. 5) Developing 1000 language laboratories in 1000 secondary schools with relevant software to facilitate in this teaching. 6) Developing 1000 distance learning laboratories in 1000 secondary schools to facilitate distance learning in English. 7) “English as a life skill” programme launched by Presidential Task Force with collaboration of Ministry of Education.

Moving Forward……. Maintain focus on right to quality education linked to job market Ensure an adequate resource pool for skills development in schools and technical colleges for initial steps towards school to decent work Advocate for mindset change from traditional to market-oriented new skills requirement Continue assessment and required adjustments in training to meet national and international market demanded for skilled labour Implementation of the newly formulated Human Resources and Employment Policy through allocation of financial and other resources, with more efficient and effective coordination across implementing agencies (17)