Comment: Is today's education dynamic and competitive?
Once the renowned economist Milton Friedman said, "Let parents choose
to educate their children wherever they wish at the taxpayer's expense.
The principle of this idea is simple and it said, "the state pays;
parents choose; schools compete standards rise; everybody gains."
This shows that even the fathers of neo-liberal economic policies
advocated free education but not what we have understood and are ready
to protect sacrificing even lives.
Sri Lanka had many achievements to be proud of and one of them is the
high standard of education. According to statistics the higher literacy
rate around 90%, is the highest in the region. This is one of the main
advantages we have in attracting investors in many fields. Every
investor who comes here gives credit that our talent pool is second to
none.
However, it seems that Christmas is now over as all sectors of the
economy and education as well is in a serious crisis. This is a well
known secret for over several years and our education gurus were
planning many high brow proposals but nothing has been implemented on
the ground and could not reverse the drift in the general education
system.
The statistics of last year's O/L examination show the depth of the
crisis and it is indeed shocking. According to reports more than 50% of
the students have failed in Mathematics and English at last year's O/L
examination. A total of 21,813 students failed in all subjects.
These statistics have awakened the authorities and even President
Mahinda Rajapaksa has appointed a committee to study the reasons and
report to him. There is a big debate as to the reasons for this
situation but nobody seems to understand the underlying reasons.
The late Education Minister C.W.W. Kannangara, who introduced free
education in Sri Lanka correctly saw the future and his vision was
fulfilled. The country came out of illiteracy and laid a solid
foundation for socio economic development.
However, the free education did not help our leaders or the citizens
to creatively think of the free education concepts and we all protected
the old free education system sacrificing our lives. There are hundreds
of young university students starting from Weerasuriya who have
sacrificed their lives for the sake of free education.
The education system in the country has been stagnant for many
decades. The sector did not receive government funding in keeping with
the increase in the student population.
Infrastructure, teachers as well as the quality of the teachers did
not increase or improve to maintain the quality of the education. New
investments did not come to the system. Political interference, absence
of a prudent national policy and changes initiated from government to
government or minister-to-minister played havoc with the system.
The administration of the education system has deteriorated to rock
bottom forcing students to shift to private tuition centered education.
For many years, the World Bank (WB) has proposed reforms to
education. As the WB is funding to improve the quality of education they
put these reforms as conditions. However, the society recognised them as
a move of privatising the education sector.
There are reasons to suspect WB proposals as well as some unrealistic
proposals. The problem is not the WB but our politicians and authorities
who did not see the fast changing world and incorporate them to the
education system.
As a society we totally oppose private education institutions be it
student movements or parents. However, according to 2004 statistics 50%
of the students attend tuition classes or private education, paying from
their own pockets and not from taxpayers' money as Friedman said.
This private education in the country is an informal sector and there
is no government regulatory system to ensure the quality or a standard.
Similarly the University Grants Commission's recent move to regulate
private university education system has come under fire with protests
from the students.
To address the issue and come out of the crisis the authorities as
well as ordinary citizens of this country should understand the ground
realities, global trends and new ways and means to ensure a meaningful
free education system.
From admission of students to grade one to sit national examinations
the issues remain unsolved. There is a huge competition to admit
students to a few popular schools in the country. While they become
popular the rest of the schools are known as unpopular. Hundreds of
rural schools are closing not because of lack of teachers or WB
recommendations, but because there are no students.
Rural schools face a lack of qualified teachers. One major reason for
the poor results of Mathematics and English is due to lack of qualified
teachers. On the other hand most of the teachers are not dedicated
compared to the early generation of teachers.
Last year's low O/L results have raised many issues in the school
system. Firstly, the crisis in the education administration is very
serious. Media reports said that on any given day 40,000 teachers are on
leave.
It is a well-known fact that many school teachers neglect their
school work for the sake of private tuition. Every teacher in this
country enjoys three months of paid leave during the school vacation
while teachers also enjoy annual, casual and maternity leave.
After the salary anomalies were rectified some time ago they also
draw a substantial salary, but in most instances the dedication is sadly
lacking.
When teachers practising this noble profession are not dedicated and
take leave haphazardly they cannot cover the syllabus, which results in
students failing the examination. Most parents send their children for
tuition but if you don't get a dedicated teacher who will understand the
student and teach accordingly it can also be a disaster.
According to the study of the O/L results 90% of the students have
not attempted the compulsory geometry related questions in the
Mathematics question paper. It was revealed at a discussion that some
mathematics teachers have requested students not to answer the geometry
questions, as it is difficult.
We can only assume that teachers who made such requests are
themselves not competent to teach geometry. When the wrong person is
appointed to the wrong place we only see deterioration. In most
instances people with the minimum qualifications apply and will be
recruited because they have fulfilled the minimum qualifications
requirements.
In the event a teacher who has fulfilled the minimum qualifications
teaches a subject the parents will have to keep their fingers crossed.
According to the well researched book World is Flat written by Thomas
Friedman the keys to the globalised world are Mathematics and Science.
Sri Lanka immediately grabbed the free education concepts and
implemented them correctly. The state paid but there is no choice for
parents. There is no competition between schools or there were no two
kinds of schools to compete and therefore there was no improvement in
standards. Finally everybody loses.
To change the scenario dynamism and competition should come into the
system. But still the taxpayers should bear the cost of education. |