Are 'local' international schools really international?

By Sarath Wijesinghe

Parliament recently debated on the quality of international schools operating in Sri Lanka, when the Education Minister Susil Premajayantha has stressed the need to set guidelines to oversee them. That means currently, the international schools are not guided or governed by the Ministry of Education. In fact all the other schools are controlled and guided by the Government. The amount of funds spent is enormous and there are avenues for any average citizen to study in government schools.

There are some traditional private schools registered in the department as church schools, pirivenas and private schools. The international schools are different from traditional private schools. They have created an image of being international. International means existing or occurring between nations or agreed or used by all or many nations or matters with international standards and international flavour.

Rate of literacy in Sri Lanka is one of the highest in South Asia. This is a great achievement for us. When other nations are depending on business and other ventures our parents tend to invest on children, and on their education. In Sri Lanka the citizens are guaranteed free education. The citizens have constitutional guarantee and in fact compared to any other South Asian country, Sri Lankans standards are the highest.

Sri Lankans are respected all over the world as an educated nation. Students from villages have reached the highest positions in Sri Lanka and all over the world as a result of the free education we enjoy for which the government spends a large portion of the national economy.

Today there are international schools all over the country. International Schools are private schools that cater mainly to children who are not nationals at the host country, often the children of the staff of international businesses, international organizations, embassies, missions, or missionary programmes.

Foreigners

There are international schools in other parts of the world in Middle East and even in France, where there are international schools for foreigners to educate their children. But in Sri Lanka the word international school is misused by money making business community. We are informed that one international school has 22 branches all over the country with inadequate staff, old and feeble principal and no facilities at all but charging exorbitant sums. This writer was informed that one school charges Rs 170,000 for a term where there are no basic facilities for extra curricular activities.

International schools generally use curricular based on countries like the United Kingdom, the United States or/and international curricula such as the IB, diploma program. Most schools use English as the medium of instruction but schools using French and Russian exist as well. Unfortunately in Sri Lanka students are not taught Sri Lankan history, Sri Lankan way of life, Sri Lankan culture or our curriculum.

Some schools teach local subjects in English using teachers who have a very limited knowledge of English. How many international schools in Sri Lanka follows these subjects, standard and our morality? It is a known fact that there are shortages of good teachers not only in English but in all other subjects. Then how come all these mushroom schools recruit their staff to teach the students whose parents are finding extreme difficult to pay their exorbitant school fees.

Generally, international schools elsewhere teach the main subjects that schools in America or England do viz, English Maths, Science, Humanities, Foreign languages, Drama, Art, Music, Physical Education, Information Technology and Design Technology. Most international schools offer private tutoring and extra curricular activities such as school play, athletics, and a school mascot with well educated teachers.

I do not think any international school in Sri Lanka maintains this required traditional standards though they are ready to charge high fees from parents.

The first international education in Sri Lanka was founded in 1911 to educate the children of international professors at Robert College. Robert this community school was the first school to be established. The name of the school was converted Istanbul Community School in 1979.

The international schools worldwide have formed ISA Schools Association which enjoy consultative status at UNESCO. The International School Association was founded under Swiss Law in 1951 and as such is the most senior organisation in the world in international education.

It is time that the Education Departments or the CAA to demand the International Schools to obtain fellowship of ISA in order for them to use the prestigious cover international school. In Sri Lanka do we maintain international standards in international schools? Are they really international schools? Are they competent to use the word 'International'? Some schools are registered under Companies Act and some under registration of Persons. Most are not registered at all. They charge enormous sums from parents and the quality of the education in some schools are minimal.

Collecting funds

Though expected to teach English and subjects in English medium the knowledge of the teachers of English and the subjects are thoroughly substandard. There is no control over the schools and the quality of education and the standard of most schools are questionable. They are become business ventures and not places to educate our future generation.

Some schools go to the extent of collecting funds from the parents for building funds, as is being done by government schools. Most schools are giving wrong messages and publicity to parents giving them high hopes in order to attract the children and income for the business ventures.

Most of the schools are subscribed by newly rich or those who invest on their children going through great hardships to meet the exorbitant payments direct and indirect.

Most schools have given high hopes to parents that they are linked with foreign universities and international networks. The parents too are living with high hopes and rarely questions the credibility of the schools fearing their children would be targeted and penalized. This is a sorry and unacceptable state of affairs because a fair section of the children who should be trained to take reigns of our future is being guided by a mis-guided group. Our history is not taught instead some schools teach the English history and Kings of England. Our culture and religions are not taught and promoted.

Extravagant life styles cheap values and bad habits are part and parcel of these schools. It is time for the government to monitor schools because there are so many schools just one Hamlet and one teacher in rural areas and international schools have better standards than most of rural government schools thereby inequality is promoted. The schools produce persons who know about Thames and Nile River but not Mahaweli River. There is information that the Education Ministry is planning to bring about a Bill to Parliament to register all educational institutions including International Schools under the Education Ministry.

This is a very salutary proposition and steps should be taken as early as possible to implement this. Until such time there is a proposition for the CAA to take steps under Consumer AA Act No 9 of 2003 in which all the services have come within the ambit of the Act, as the parents and the students are consumers as described in the Act "as actual or potential user of any goods or services made available for a consideration by any trader or manufacturer".

(The writer is a Solicitor, Attorney-At-Law- Convener - Committee for International Law and International Relations, the Chairman, Consumer Affairs Authority)

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