A policy dialogue on “Bottom-up Solutions to the Grade 1 Admission Problem” was held by the Education Forum Sri Lanka (EFSL) on January 16, 2021, via Zoom. LINKS: Full Video: PD#11, 2 hours 23 minutes Mini clips: Documents: PRESENTATIONS: Grade One school admissions is a serious national issue – Dr Tara de Mel Responses by: Mr. Lal Dissanayake (former principal Gampaha Bandaranaike Vidyalaya, & ZED Matugama W) Ms. SR Hasanthi, Director, Maha Oya Education Zone, EP Mrs Dilekha Kudachchi, Senior Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Education, SP OVERVIEW: Every year, beginning its cycle in June and ending in January of the following year, the issue of Grade 1 Admissions rears its head, posing problems for parents, teachers, principals and education administrators alike. Among Sri Lanka’s 373 national schools, around 70 (less than 20%) are considered ‘popular’ schools, having the highest demand, across districts such as Colombo, Kurunegala, Kandy, Galle, and Matara. 
A policy dialogue on “Bottom-up Solutions to the Grade 1 Admission Problem” was held by the Education Forum Sri Lanka (EFSL) on January 16, 2021, via Zoom. LINKS: Full Video: PD#11, 2 hours 23 minutes Mini clips: Documents: PRESENTATIONS: Grade One school admissions is a serious national issue – Dr Tara de Mel Responses by: Mr. Lal Dissanayake (former principal Gampaha Bandaranaike Vidyalaya, & ZED Matugama W) Ms. SR Hasanthi, Director, Maha Oya Education Zone, EP Mrs Dilekha Kudachchi, Senior Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Education, SP OVERVIEW: Every year, beginning its cycle in June and ending in January of the following year, the issue of Grade 1 Admissions rears its head, posing problems for parents, teachers, principals and education administrators alike. Among Sri Lanka’s 373 national schools, around 70 (less than 20%) are considered ‘popular’ schools, having the highest demand, across districts such as Colombo, Kurunegala, Kandy, Galle, and Matara. 
A policy dialogue on equitable access to distance education was held by the Education Forum Sri Lanka (EFSL) in collaboration with the Development Partners Secretariat on December 08 , 2020, via Zoom. Video: Click here Presentation: Equitable Access to Distance Education OVERVIEW: The discussion revolved around the themes of 1) universal access to distance education, and 2) the quality of education provided. In his opening remarks, Mr. Patrick Vandenbruaene, Head of Development Partners Secretariat Sri Lanka, noted that COVID-19 could be the stimulus that we have needed to transform education, and he hoped the forum would generate new ideas towards this end. The forum discussions revealed that although internet access by households in Sri Lanka remains under 50% (LIRNEasia, 2018; EFSL & World Vision, 2020) it is in fact possible to ensure a quality learning experience for ALL children for 2021 if we optimize the use of existing digital technology and content, and adopt a more student-centered and student-led approach to teaching. 
Held on September 19, 2020, via Zoom VIDEO:Â Click here PRESENTATIONS Introduction – Dr. Tara de Mel Master Plan for ICT in Education -Â Prof. Kapila Perera, Secretary, Ministry of Education and former Vice Chancellor, University of Moratuwa Digital Infrastructure – Mr. Indika de Zoysa, Vice President, Enterprise Business Group, Huawei Technologies Lanka Integrating ICT into Education – Mr. Hasitha Dela, CEO, Headstart Response & Comments – Dr. 
Held on August 15, 2020, via Zoom Video: Click here PresentationsFunding and Management (Mr. Anura Dissanayake, Secretary, Ministry of Higher Education)Global Rankings (Dr. Nicholas Ruwan Dias & Niresh Eliatamby, Managing Partners, Cogitaro.com)Research and Graduate Education (Prof. Veranja Karunarathna, University of Peradeniya and Vice Chancellor, SLINTEC Academy) Summary: PDF available here (Written by Niresh Eliatamby and Dr. 
Education Forum Sri Lanka (EFSL) invites applications for the position of researcher, part-time or full-time at mid or junior level. 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. Responsibility: Work with Dr. 
EFSL held a Policy Dialogue via zoom on Early Childhood Education and the way to move forward on Saturday, the 27th of June 2020. It was attended by primary school principals, researchers, university lecturers and teachers. Presenter: Dr Ravi Nanayakkara, Project Director, Early Childhood Development Project, Ministry of Women & Child Affairs Watch video here. Summary of presentation and discussion: Early Childhood is defined as period between 0-5 years 0-2 is home-based care and the Ministry of Health has on-going programs using Public Health Nurses, Public Health Midwives and the Medical Officers of Health 3 to 5 years is the period that ECE usually operates Golden 1000 Days in a child’s life is critical, because brain growth is maximum during this period. About 85% of brain growth of an entire life happens during early childhood. 
Held on May 16, 2020, via Zoom. Video: https://www.facebook.com/EduForumLK/videos/726016001268499/ Presentation (Who has Access?): https://lirneasia. 
Held on May 2nd, 2020, via Zoom Video: https://www.facebook.com/EduForumLK/videos/726016001268499/ Presentation: The event was attended by 34 participants including teachers from several districts in SL, representatives from the Open University, non-governmental actors in education, private sector representatives, those interested in special education and those from the IT sector. The main purpose of the Dialogue was to exchange ideas, share best practices and discuss successful models used for distance education, e-learning and other forms of HBL systems, during the Covid crisis. With sudden schools closure, teachers had to gear themselves for on-line teaching and other methods of distance education very rapidly. 
Held on March 7th, 2020, at the Kingsbury Hotel Presentation: This first Dialogue of EFSL was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Education, the National Institute of Education, National Education Research Centre, university academics, Ministry of Health representatives, Psychologists, Save The Children Sri Lanka and the Institute of Policy Studies. The discussion centered around the Quality of Primary Education, Curricula & Assessments, and whether Sri Lanka is on par globally in regards to primary education quality & delivery. The next session is on March 21st and will focus on teaching-learning processes. Email eduforumlk@gmail.com for details.