Shamala Kumar Through a review of the history of national policy making on university education, this first of a two-part Kuppi Talk demonstrates the persistent lack of a strong and systematically formulated policy for Sri Lanka’s university system. PART I Free education and the birth of a free country “We contemplate generally that the cost […]
Do we have a policy for higher education: A historical analysis Read More »
Hasini Lecamwasam As the debate on educational reforms rages, I find it useful to pay as much attention to the reactions they have excited as we do to the content of the reforms. Such reactions are a reflection of how education is understood in our society, and this understanding – along with the priorities it
Unpacking public responses to educational reforms Read More »
Sivamohan Sumathy The hype around educational reforms has abated slightly, but the scandal of the reforms persists. And in saying scandal, I don’t mean the error of judgement surrounding a misprinted link of an online dating site in a grade six English language text book. While that fiasco took on a nasty, undeserved attack on
The Call for Review of Reforms in Education: the discussion continues . . . Read More »
One of the major initiatives of the NPP government is reforming the country’s education system. Immediately after coming to power, the government started the process of bringing about “transformational” changes to general education. The budgetary allocation to education has been increased to 2% of GDP (from 1.8% in 2023). Although this increase is not sufficient, the
General Educational Reforms: To what purpose? A statement by state university teachers Read More »
Shamala Kumar Chief among my concerns regarding the announced major curriculum revision to general education is the lack of a document open to public scrutiny. Public institutions must be accountable to the public. Instead, PowerPoint presentations, news snippets and casual discussions with Ministry officials are all I must go by as I put a spotlight
Psychometrics and the Curriculum for General Education Read More »
Hasini Lecamwasam My ongoing fieldwork on agrarian politics in Sri Lanka is teaching me many things that are not directly related to, but heavily condition what happens in agriculture. I’m learning how the dynamics of everyday domestic life impact agrarian decisions: whether or not the credit taken for agriculture purposes is always actually spent on
Survival of the fittest? The importance of context-sensitivity in education reform Read More »
Anushka Kahandagamage The recently unveiled education reforms have provoked considerable buzz among scholars, researchers, teachers, parents, and students. Everyone is seeking to contribute, but the government is proceeding without a consultative process or proper document, relying only on an evolving PowerPoint presentation. While the reforms remain obscure, the Education Minister has been issuing statements about
Meritocratic education policy: Widening disparities Read More »
Aruni Samarakoon … I sing of Israel and Palestine: The world as neither yours nor mine How many different men will fit Themselves how fast into that place? A Woman’s body as the universal shelter To the demon or the sweet as paradigm Of home that starts and ends with face to face Surrendering to
Does teaching and learning History matter? Read More »
