Information Communication Technology (ICT) will be included as a subject in the Advanced Level examination curriculum from 2009, said Secretary to the Ministry of Education Ariyarathne Hewage. He said approval for the ICT policy for education will be obtained soon and it will help develop capacity, train teachers, set up ICT centres and build private public partnerships. Ariyarathne was addressing the academia career guidance pre meet organised by the Information Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) which will host the National ICT Capacity Summit and National ICT Career Fair (NICS 2007) from September 1-2 in Colombo. Ariyarathne said information technology and computer science has grown at a phenomenal rate to a US$ 1 trillion industry but the country has not been able to keep pace with developments due to the lack of skilled IT personnel. The challenge today is to get IT professionals for the market.
By circular 890 dated June 07th the University Grants Commission has ruled that all employees who do not report to work due to trade union action be treated as no-pay absentees. http://ugc.ac.lk/policy/circulars/MainIndex/MainPage.htm.
Education authorities in Sri Lanka have denied the right of a girl to education after she was raped, a rights watchdog said. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) said the principal of a school in Galle has refused to allow the victim to resume her education in the school. “The Principal has stated that the girl denied entry because she is now a disgrace and a bad example to the other students,†a statement issued by the watchdog said. Nadin Ishan Chandika, a resident in Ahangama, is accused of raping the 15-year old girl on 29 December 2006, according to the AHRC. Nadin and his friend, Nuwan “recorded her semi-clothed body on their mobile phones.
 Unemployment is an issue in most of the countries, developing or developed. ‘Graduate Unemployment’ is perhaps a burning issue unique to Sri Lanka. Many, not just the unemployed graduates, think we should treat that issue with utmost importance. Ethnic issue or inflation can wait, but not graduate employment.  Any idea why the issue assumes such a high priority?
Prof. Wisawa Warnapala, minister for higher education, was invited to say a few words at the University Librarians Association annual conference on June 8th and he took nearly one hour to reminisce about the good old times, complain about the non-academic staff, faculty and lack of scholarship, students and lack of love of learning and many other ills of the university system. Then he went on (again*) to stress the need for a vision, mission, goals objectives etc. This is coming from a man who, on his own admission, has been in positions of power in the academia for decades, and then since 1996 or so, in politics. He is not the only one in power to complain and not to do anything.
A speech made by Prof. Wiswa Warnapala – Minister of Higher Education at the Conference of Vice Chancellors held at the University Grants Commission on May 4, 2007 SPEECH: The purpose of this meeting is to enter into an active dialogue with the Vice Chancellors of the Universities of Sri Lanka, and the primary aim of the dialogue is to make use of the experience of the distinguished Vice Chancellors in formulating a new Higher Education policy for the country. The objectives of Higher Education, due to a wide variety of reasons, have undergone a change, and the university system, which came into existence in 1921 with the establishment of a University College which was later elevated to the status of a fully-fledged University in 1942, fulfilled its tasks and the system expanded to such an extent that Sri Lanka has a fairly developed university system which has had a considerable influence on the intellectual life of the country. With this expansion and the nature of its contribution, no proper policy perspectives have been advanced to bring about changes in the system to make it more meaningful and relevant. In other words, the system did not expand in relation to […]
COLOMBO: President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday urged the teaching community to serve the poor and the less-privileged students in the remotest areas of the country and thereby protect the country’s ‘Free Education’ mechanism. President Rajapaksa was speaking at the handing over of appointment letters to Diploma Holders in Teaching to 2,599 new diplomates. Making a symbolic handing over of appointment letters to a selected number of teachers who had successfully completed their training and qualified to receive the ‘Diploma in Teaching’ for 2007, the President asserted that his Government aims to provide equal opportunities in education to all, sans any irregularities, irrespective of one’s race, religion or region. “A deficiency of Tamil medium teachers did exist in the past, but we took immediate steps to remedy the shortage. We appointed Tamil stream teachers in the North-East and the estate schools.
By Deepal Warnakulasuriya Only half the G.C.E. Ordinary Level students who sat for the last year examination had qualified for the G.C.
by Kumar David http://www.island.lk/2007/06/03/features1.html The results of the December 2006 GCE O-level examinations are appalling but not in the least surprising. The writing has been on the wall for years.
Continuing with the post on “real issue is the pass rate at Grade 9,” I like go further and suggest that at this stage of development we need to spend our tax rupees on those completing Grade 1-9 basic education, and the rest should be asked to pay according to their means. (Yes, this means that all university students should be asked to pay something for their education, if not now, but later as they do with the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) in Australia). The labor force data for Sri Lanka are most revealing in this regard, particularly when you benchmark against another country. There are 9 major occupational categories. To make the following table I lumped three categories together (proprietors/managers;senior officials or managers; and professionals) for simplicity and then arranged Sri Lanka’s numbers in ascending order.