Five teacher trade unions which decided to refrain from the marking of GCE Advanced Level answer scripts, staged a demonstration in Colombo yesterday together with teachers who came for a seminar at Royal College, Colombo. The seminar was part of a series organized by the Examinations Department for teachers selected to mark answer scripts of A/L subjects. At this seminar, university professors who set the question papers briefed the teachers on the methodology to be followed in awarding marks. However, the activists of these trade unions prevented hundreds of these teachers from attending the seminar, and forced them to join a demonstration staged outside Royal College.The teachers demanded that their salary anomalies be rectified before they get down to the job of marking answer scripts.
The Cabinet granted approval last evening to implement the previous 2006/20 circular with amendments for the admission of children to Grade 1 classes for 2008, and the Education Ministry will accordingly publish application forms calling for Grade 1 admissions in state-run newspapers tomorrow. The Grade 1 admission process for 2008 ran into a crisis after the Supreme Court nullified the circular in this regard following fundamental rights cases filed by a few parents. The judgment was delivered on March 29, 2007. The Supreme Court requested the presidential secretariat to draft new a new circular to be approved by it before implementation. The issue was then referred to the National Education Commission which worked out a new system, including proposals from various concerned bodies.
Looks like Ranil won this time. Govt. changed the policy again yesterday. Now they are back to square one. (So why all this noise?
Public Education System is often blamed for not producing what is required by the society. It is also said that system had especially failed to deliver what is required by the private sector, which has been lately identified as the engine of growth and a possible provider of jobs. There is a counter argument to say that society is not advanced enough to absorb the products of the public education system. It has not advanced enough to provide suitable jobs to the job seekers having qualifications. Before addressing the issue, let us look at what we observe in the society that has relevance to the discussion.
Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday declared that the future of every child from a working class background was being shattered because of the proposed new Grade 1 admission system for schools. Speaking at a mass rally in Matara organised jointly by the UNP and the SLFP–M, Mr. Wickremesinghe said looking at the circular it seemed that common children had no chance of entering a good school if their parents did not have a high income and were not very educated. “Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe (Sri Lanka’s last king) destroyed the future of four innocent children. Today, Percy Rajapaksa is trying to destroy the future of an entire generation of children,†he said.
Amidst mounting criticism of the Grade One admission selection guidelines proposed by the Supreme Court, the Education Ministry has decided to revert to the old system with certain modifications, The Sunday Times learns. The Education Ministry’s fresh guidelines will avoid the clauses that are seen as violating fundamental rights. Government members and all major political parties are supporting the former selection process with modifications, amidst concerns that next year’s selection process that has run into many a snag would take longer than scheduled leading to a delay in starting classes for year one students. The new guidelines proposed by the Supreme Court have been rejected by all political parties who claim it could also lead to discrimination of students, particularly if their parents are less educated. Education Minister Susil Premjayantha said that the amended circular will be handed over to President’s Secretary Lalith Weeratunga to obtain the approval of the Supreme Court.
A national scheme giving primary school children in England a free piece of fruit each day has improved their diet, a study of 5,000 pupils has found. The number of children who ate fruit every day rose from 46% to 65% as a result of the initiative, researchers at Nottingham University discovered. The school fruit and vegetable scheme was rolled out nationally in 2002, amid concerns about healthy eating. It provides a piece of fruit to all those in the first three primary years. Between 2003 and 2005, reseachers from Nottingham University’s division of epidemiology and public health looked at more than 200 primary schools, studying the fruit intake of more than 5,000 children before, during and after taking part in the scheme.
 The main opposition UNP yesterday launched a countrywide campaign against the government’s proposed move to politicise the free education system by introducing a ‘Board of Management’ for national schools. UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe kicked off the campaign at a meeting in the parliament complex by urging all MPs, party district organizers and members of the National Youth Council to educate the masses and campaign against what he termed the “Walawwa mentality†adopted by the government regarding free education in the country. Mr. Wickremesinghe charged the move to introduce a special “Board of Management†to oversee activities of national schools had come directly from the President’s office without the knowledge of the Education Minister. UNP MPs and organizers launched a signature campaign and the petition would be presented to Speaker W.
The JVP charged yesterday that some NGOs had interfered with the national education policy of the country in an unlawful manner by publishing teaching guidebooks and organizing essay competitions. Posing a question to Education Minister Susil Premjayantha, in Parliament, JVP MP Sunil Handunnetti asked as to how the German enterprise GTZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit) had assisted in the publication of a teaching guide handbook of the Education Department of the Northern and Eastern provinces. He said this book had been approved by Provincial Education Secretary R. Thiagalingam. Mr.
Education Minister Susil Premajayantha informed Parliament yesterday he would take steps to call for applications for Grade one school admissions according to the previous circular with necessary amendments since political parties stressed the need to ignore guidelines set by the Supreme Court. The House took up the issue as an adjournment motion proposed by the JVP which noted that there would be a serious threat to free education if the Supreme Court guidelines were implemented. Minister Premajayantha said applications would be called from August 15 in conformity with the previous 2006/20 circular after introducing the necessary amendments to it. He said he would act in this regard only in keeping with the common viewpoint expressed in Parliament by political parties to do away with the Supreme Court guidelines which could give rise to numerous practical problems. The Minister said circular 2006/20 was cancelled on a Supreme Court ruling on March 29, over a fundamental rights case filed by parents regarding admission of their children to Matara Sujatha Balika Vidyalaya and Ambalangoda Dharmasoka Vidyalaya.