1. New Education Reforms Mohan Lal Grero, Deputy Minister of Education
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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

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3. EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS
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EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS
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
68.1
95.6
99.6
Male
64.1
94.7
99.3
Female
72.6
96.5
99.8
Source: Annual School Census & Special Survey on MDG goals 2006/7, Dept. Of Census and Statistics

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CHALLENGES
Main challenges of the education system are lack of equity, quality and relevance to job market
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%)
Country
Rank out of 131 countries
Rank in quality of primary education
Rank in quality of overall education
Sri Lanka 42 44
India 80 37
Thailand
Malaysia 23 18
Source : World Development Indicators

5. Percentage of students by stream
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CHALLENGES
Percentage of students by stream
Percentage of A/L students by stream
Graduate Output by Major Field ( )

6. Employment by selected industrial groups
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CHALLENGES
Annual School Leavers
Employment by selected industrial groups
Agriculture sector recorded the highest employment. That was 2.2 million during the year 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

7. Pattern in Achievement – English Grade 8 – 2012
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CHALLENGES
Pattern in Achievement – English Grade 8 – 2012
Dispersion of marks
Source : National Education Research and Evaluation Centre (NEREC)
Faculty of Education, University of Colombo.

8. STRATEGIES – New Reforms
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STRATEGIES – New Reforms
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 with compulsory vocational training.
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).

9. STRATEGIES – To improve equity
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STRATEGIES – To improve equity
Primary Feeder Schools
Secondary School
Each D.S. Division gets 03 (restructured) secondary schools with laboratories and all subjects streams safeguarding equity in education.

10. Launching school based vocational counseling & training centers
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STRATEGIES– School to Decent work Vocational training to be mainstreamed in schools for skill development
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.

11. STRATEGIES– School to Decent work
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STRATEGIES– School to Decent work
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 - Vocational training to cater to ‘skilled’ migrant labour force as opposed to the ‘unskilled’ in the past towards decent work.
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.

12. STRATEGIES– School to Decent work
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STRATEGIES– School to Decent work
Market-driven vocational training available at School Level
Life Long Career Development
(SLQF)

13. STRATEGIES – School to Decent work
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STRATEGIES – School to Decent work
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.

14. STRATEGIES – Transformation
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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
Included in A/L technology stream

15. Sri Lanka Qualifications Framework (SLQF)
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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

16. STRATEGIES – Improvement of English Competency
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STRATEGIES – Improvement of English Competency
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.

17. Maintain focus on right to quality education linked to job market
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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