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 (1)

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   Initiated Free Education for primary & secondary educations in 1943.

Achieved very good education indices in Asia by 1960’s.  Achieved universal access to primary education with 99.6% completing primary education.

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 Male Female

68.1

64.1

72.6

95.6

94.7

96.5

99.6

99.3

99.8

Source: Annual School Census & Special Survey on MDG goals 2006/7, Dept. Of Census and Statistics

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 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 Rank in quality of overall education Sri Lanka India Thailand 42 80 80 44 37 37 Malaysia Source : World Development Indicators 23 18     Changing population profile from child to adolescent & youth Increase in labour force from 6.3 million in 2000 to 7.3 million in 2010 Annually about 150,000 adolescents and youth join the labour force with low skills or no skills at all Unemployment rate is 4.2% but youth unemployment is higher (19%)

Percentage of students by stream Percentage of A/L students by stream

Mathematics & Science Commerce Arts 52% 21% 27%

Graduate Output by Major Field (2007-2011) (5)

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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 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 Agriculture Forestry & Fishery 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

30,00 25,00 20,00 15,00 10,00 5,00 -

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 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.

 New Technology Subject Streams were introduced to A/L Students compulsory vocational training.

with Technical Laboratory Unit (1000 Units)  Introduction of Mandatory career guidance in schools.

 Strengthening English Teaching and Trilingualism (Sinhala, Tamil and English) and Introducing assessments for listening and speaking skills.

 Strengthening organizational linkages among the relevant Ministries (Education, Higher Education, Youth affairs, Skills Development, Labour, Productivity).

Primary Feeder Schools

(9) 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

Vocational training to be mainstreamed in schools for skill development (10)

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Launching school based vocational counseling & training centers

Targeted on students who complete G.C.E. O/L & A/L, but fail to gain university admissions . This program and the project come under the supervision of the Sri Lanka Vocational Training Authority The first school based vocational training center has been opened at the Ananda College, Colombo.

STRATEGIES– School to Decent work

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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 ‘unskilled’ in the past towards decent work.

Vocational training to cater to ‘skilled’ migrant labour force as opposed to the • 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

(12) Life Long Career Development (SLQF)

STRATEGIES – School to Decent work

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 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.

 University for Vocational Technology (UNIVOTEC) is already available.

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

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Included in A/L technology stream

• 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

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1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) Increasing the number of English Teachers in the system as necessary. Continuous training of English Teachers.

Establishing a strong Provincial based English Master Teacher Units to facilitate on the job training of English Teachers. In O/L examination; providing 20% marks for English Listening and Speaking Skills from 2015 to improve Speaking skills of students.

Developing 1000 language laboratories in 1000 secondary schools with relevant software to facilitate in this teaching. Developing 1000 distance learning laboratories in 1000 secondary schools to facilitate distance learning in English. “English as a life skill” programme launched by Presidential Task Force with collaboration of Ministry of Education.

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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

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