Daily Mirror: 08/03/2006" By Kelum Bandara
The Education Ministry said yesterday that Sri Lanka had now become a guinea pig for some foreign organizations to carry out education-related researches.
Ministry Secretary Ariyaratne Hewage told a news conference yesterday that he had observed several such organizations operating in the country, under the pretext of improving our education system, through various projects.
However, Mr. Hewage was reluctant to reveal the names of the organizations.
“These organizations have made Sri Lanka a research ground for projects to be implemented in their countries. They carry them out here as pilot projects. They have done this for the last four years,” he said.
He said that now that they had taken a decision to implement foreign funded projects only, under the ‘Education Sector Development Framework’, established by the Ministry, in terms of the country’s interests.
“Hereafter, when we seek foreign assistance for education projects, we will do it according to the parameters laid down by us to suit our values and interests,” he said.
The news conference had been organized to enlighten the media about the progress of the education sector during the last three months, under the education policy of the ‘Mahinda Chintanaya’ programme.
Commenting on the future plans, he noted that they would ensure equal access to education for all, under the new Government’s policy, by increasing the number of students entering secondary and university level education.
He said that plans were under way to improve the subject curricular, while training teachers to suit modern educational trends.
The provision of free mid-day meals for school children and initiatives to expand IT education in the schools system, were cited as great achievements during the last three months.
The Education Ministry said yesterday that Sri Lanka had now become a guinea pig for some foreign organizations to carry out education-related researches.
Ministry Secretary Ariyaratne Hewage told a news conference yesterday that he had observed several such organizations operating in the country, under the pretext of improving our education system, through various projects.
However, Mr. Hewage was reluctant to reveal the names of the organizations.
“These organizations have made Sri Lanka a research ground for projects to be implemented in their countries. They carry them out here as pilot projects. They have done this for the last four years,” he said.
He said that now that they had taken a decision to implement foreign funded projects only, under the ‘Education Sector Development Framework’, established by the Ministry, in terms of the country’s interests.
“Hereafter, when we seek foreign assistance for education projects, we will do it according to the parameters laid down by us to suit our values and interests,” he said.
The news conference had been organized to enlighten the media about the progress of the education sector during the last three months, under the education policy of the ‘Mahinda Chintanaya’ programme.
Commenting on the future plans, he noted that they would ensure equal access to education for all, under the new Government’s policy, by increasing the number of students entering secondary and university level education.
He said that plans were under way to improve the subject curricular, while training teachers to suit modern educational trends.
The provision of free mid-day meals for school children and initiatives to expand IT education in the schools system, were cited as great achievements during the last three months.
