Education Forum Sri Lanka (EFSL) is an independent platform that engages with experts and stakeholders from multiple sectors in order to catalyze policy reforms in education using evidence-based interventions.
Our goal is equitable access, child-friendly processes, and quality outcomes in education in Sri Lanka through the accountability of actors and institutions responsible.
Founder Members are Sujata Gamage, Tara de Mel, and Nisha Arunatilake. We have come together in the belief that there is a compelling need for a dedicated forum for education. Our Articles of Association outline the form and function of such a forum.
The following are some of the key policy issues that we identified through a consultative process. Â If you have the expertise or an interest in any one or more of these education policy issues, please contact us at eduforumlk@gmail.com. We plan to prepare and publicize a series of policy briefs by or before the 2020 general election in Sri Lanka.
POLICY ISSUES UNDER CONSIDERATION
(a) Early Childhood, Primary, and Secondary Education
- Uneven access to and questionable quality of early childhood education
- Unhealthy competition for admission to popular schools
- Exam-centric education that does not prepare students for life
- Learning is a joyless experience at all stages of education
- Schools are ill-equipped to give English proficiency to their students
- Teachers have become indifferent followers not innovators or exemplars in their vocation
- Disparities in facilities, materials and human resource across the school system
- Politicization, lack of motivation and poor coordination within the system
(b) Post-Secondary Education
- Inequities in the allocation of and inefficiencies in the utilization of funds
- Lack of accountability for disruptions in education due to ragging and other issues
- Poor quality of teachers and graduates