Education reforms mess up; passing the buck to officials 

The Government messed up on the education reforms as far as the new modules are concerned and now is on the warpath against those who rejected the shoddily and hastily put together textbooks.The scapegoats for the mess up so far have been all Government officials, first the National Institute of Education (NIE) Director General Prof. 

 Manjula Vithanapathirana, who apparently decided to  temporarily step down from her position until the conclusion of the inquiry into the controversial Grade 6 English module.

The latest heads to roll are those of the National Institute of Education (NIE) Deputy Director General Darshana Samaraweera and two other officers who have been interdicted after an internal inquiry. A  separate CID investigation is ongoing is what the public have been told.

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya who is the Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education Minister nor the Education Ministry Secretary Nalaka Kaluwewa have been questioned about how the text book in question went into print and how a serious mistake in the text was noticed only after 350,000 copies of the book were printed at a cost of over Rs. 60 million. 

The fact is the Government including President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is aware that the new curricula matter was mishandled by the Education Minister and her Secretary. This is why after being arrogantly adamant that  the Government would  proceed with the grade six new module from this year onward whatever anybody says, there was a sudden change of heart and it was decided to postpone its implementation till 2027. But instead of being magnanimous and admitting the mess up, those in Government are directing their anger and frustration at some in the Opposition as well as the trade unions and members of the public who called out the Government on this matter. It would be wise for those in Government now holding seminars to prop up support for their reforms  to remember that those who  opposed the grade six module were largely parents who have children in lower grades and are worried about the kind of information that gets into their children’s hands. No one is ready to allow their 11–12-year-old children to access gay chat room websites .

After one year in office, incumbency fatigue sets in even if a year ago voters gave the NPP a two-third majority in parliament. 

Those in Government however seem unable to fathom that being in office also means there is going to be many opposing its policies or decisions. It’s something that mature political  parties in power understand but the JVP led NPP’s comrades don’t seem to take kindly to any opposition. It is a ‘my way or the highway’ kind of attitude.

In the past few weeks, each time a protest meeting was held against the Government, the party has organised counter protests made up largely of its card-carrying party members to try and turn the tide. Such protests are given more than enough publicity through the state media. On the education reforms matter, counter protests are being organised daily with calls  for the implementation this year when the Government itself has decided that there are mistakes in the books printed and there is the need for further scrutiny of the new modules.

Blaming officials  every time the political authority messes up is becoming a pattern followed by a dash to the CID. Not so long ago there was the case of the  Prisons Commissioner General Thushara Upuldeniya who was removed over the pardon of a prisoner under the presidential pardon system However neither the Secretary to the President nor the Justice Ministry Secretary, both of who sign off on the list of those to be pardoned faced any censure.

Prime  Minister Amarasuirya took wing to Switzerland this week leading the Sri Lanka delegation to the World Economic Forum in Davos. It will give her a brief respite from the heat built up over her role as Education Minister. But as Minister, she will need to do more to pass the buck to officials . Education Reforms should not be taken lightly and certainly not be done at the fancy of a particular political party.