Monday Jan 05, 2026
Monday Jan 05, 2026
Monday, 5 January 2026 04:46 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Prime Minister and Education Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya
Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath
The Government will press ahead with its planned education reforms, Prime Minister and Education Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya said yesterday, outlining a phased rollout of the new curriculum with the start of the 2026 academic year.
Speaking at a media briefing at the Department of Government Information, she said the revised curriculum for Grade 6 will be introduced on 21 January, while new learning modules for Grade 1 students will commence on 29 January, following the reopening of schools today.
The Prime Minister said parallel programs have been organised to help students transition to the new system, alongside awareness initiatives for parents to explain the changes and expectations under the revised framework.
She added that guidance has been provided on key areas such as subject selection and adapting to new teaching and learning methods, stressing that the reforms have been designed with a holistic view of the schooling process.
On teacher preparedness, Dr. Amarasuriya said 7,181 training-of-trainers programs have been conducted, covering approximately 132,580 teachers. Training has now been completed for about 93% of teachers who will deliver the new curriculum.
The Prime Minister also said steps have been taken to ensure the required infrastructure is in place to support the implementation of the reforms across schools.
Speaking at the same briefing, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said the internal committee appointed to examine the disputed Grade 6 textbook module has completed and handed over its report.
Herath added that the Government would move ahead with necessary action in line with the committee’s recommendations in the period ahead.
Prime Minister Dr. Amarasuriya said it was easy to uncover who was behind the fiasco and that the CID was investigating the matter, but it was harder to uncover the reasons behind it. “We need to await the outcome of the CID investigation, but we have suspicions of a conspiracy behind this to bring the Government into disrepute and derail the education reforms we are proposing,” the Prime Minister said.
