{"id":108287,"date":"2013-10-01T00:01:27","date_gmt":"2013-09-30T18:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=108287"},"modified":"2013-10-06T13:05:43","modified_gmt":"2013-10-06T07:35:43","slug":"new-education-policies-and-proposals-a-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/new-education-policies-and-proposals-a-review\/","title":{"rendered":"New Education Policies And Proposals \u2013 A Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sujata Gamage<\/a><\/span> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Dr. Sujata Gamage<\/p><\/div>\n

A document<\/a><\/span> outlining New Education Policies and Proposals (NEPP) was presented recently to the speaker and the members of the parliament by the Ministry for Education. This document is a result of deliberations on a new education act that began with a public notice published in November 2007 by the Committee to Draft a New education Act seeking input, and culminated with a series of sittings by a Select Committee of Parliament held during 2012.<\/p>\n

The NEPP document would not have seen the light of day if not for the efforts by a group of volunteers who worked with Dr. Dr. G.B. Gunawardena, the Chairman of the Committee to Draft a New Act, to complete the document. The Gunawardena committee ran out of money midway and the work of the committee ground to a halt. \u00a0Volunteers led by Upali Chandrasiri, a civil society activist, worked day and night with Dr. Gunawardena, even spending money out of pocket, to complete the document.<\/p>\n

The first and last comprehensive piece of legislation on education in Sri Lanka was enacted as far back as 1939. Since then several acts were passed for specific purposes such the take-over of schools (1960 and 61), Public Examinations (1968), Pirivena Education (1979), National Institute of Education (1981), Colleges of Education (1986), National Education Commission (1991) and School Development Boards (1993). To date, the education system has essentially been governed by these Acts and a system of circulars. It is opportune that the government has taken the initiative to update provisions of those acts and consolidate miscellaneous circulars.<\/p>\n

The lack of a systematic investigation in its formulation is evident in the final form of the NEPP. True, the final document has been through the hands of many experts as well as members of parliament, but, the lack of background information and evidence supporting the proposals is glaring. The present document reads like a wish-list put together by multiple committees. In contrast, the 1943 Report of the Special Committee on Education, with Mr. C.W.W. Kannagara as the principal author, is a dense document with context, data, references and footnotes leading to a tight set of recommendations. In spite of its weaknesses the present proposals represent a milestone in education reform. We should be thankful to those who took the effort.<\/p>\n

The NEPP lists a large number of stipulations under the themes Goals & Guiding Principles, Structure, Content & Delivery, Administration & Leadership, Education Service Personnel, Standards & Quality Assurance, Resource Allocation, Vocational Education and Pirivena Education.<\/p>\n

I have tried here to ease out the more salient features concerning Standards, Divisions of Responsibility and Accountability Measures as evident in the report.<\/p>\n

Standards<\/strong><\/p>\n

The NEPP proposes a comprehensive set of standards and many stipulations. Some of the more significant standards proposed are as follow;<\/p>\n