Modernising the school curricula

There has been a lot of talk about Sri Lanka's education system with many pointing out that it's outdated and lacking in purpose and direction. Many calls have been made over the years to modernise the school curricula to meet the present demands and goals.

The attention of the government has now been focused on transforming the school curricula to cater to national and international educational requirements and preparing the students to successfully face modern day demands.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Education took preliminary steps in 2007 by implementing a new curriculum for grades six and ten; this new curriculum is currently being carried out successfully and has already produced commendable results.

As the second stage of this programme, the Ministry will implement a new curriculum for grades seven and eleven next year.

A new curriculum is to be implemented for grade eight in 2009 while for grade 9, implementation will be in 2010.

Meanwhile, the curriculum for grades one and two in the primary section had been revised from this year. Special training programmes in relation to primary education will also be organised by the Ministry soon.

National Safety Day

You may remember December 26 been declared as National Safety Day last year in remembrance of all the victims of the tsunami and to implement measures to minimise the destruction and damage caused by disasters, both natural and man-made.

It was implemented to create awareness among the public on safety from disasters.

This year too, commemoration ceremonies will be held on December 26 and the main event will be held in Ratnapura. A two-minutes silence will be observed from 9.25 to 9.27 a.m. as a mark of respect for all victims of disasters.

Conserving archaeologically important places

A programme has been initiated by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and National Heritage to conserve archaeologically important places in the Southern Province.

A grant of Rs. 700 million has been provided for this purpose by the government of the Netherlands. Funds have been allocated to the different institutes coming under the Ministry to carry out restoration work.

Accordingly, the Central Cultural Fund will handle the restoration project of the historic Galle Fort and warehouse complex in the city, while the restoration and renovation of the underground drainage system of the fortress has been undertaken by the Galle Municipal Council.

The Galle Heritage Foundation has taken on the responsibility of restoring the private houses in the Galle Fort. The latter project, which is estimated to cost around Rs. 51.4 million, has already commenced.

Promoting tourism activities within the Fortress compound will be carried out by the Sri Lanka Tourist Board. The Ministry will carry out the restoration of the Katuwana Fort, at a cost of Rs. 50 million.

Christmas and peace

The real meaning of Christmas is peace. In this highly commercialised era, this message has sadly got mixed up. However, it's not totally lost as shown in this Christmas card put out by the St. Sylvester's College, Kandy.

What's so special about this illustration depicting Christmas and peace is that it has been drawn by a Buddhist student.

This ballpoint drawing is the creation of Prabudda Amarakoon, a Year 13 student of the school.

We wish our readers a Merry Christmas!