Ministry finalizing proposals to standardise pre-school education

By Rathindra Kuruwita

Minister of Education, Susil Premajayantha said yesterday (27) that a plan was underway to to standardise pre-school education in the country.

Addressing the media in Colombo, he said: “There is a lot to change in the system. There are a lot of gaps in our early childhood development education compared to international standards. We don’t really have many meaningful regulations.”

The Minister said that they are also paying a lot of attention to primary education.

“Early childhood development education and primary education were the most affected by COVID-19. We are working closely with international organizations to remedy the setbacks suffered by the children,” he said.

On Tuesday, Central Province Education Secretary Menaka Herath told journalists that only three percent of children studying in the fourth and fifth year classes in the Central Province have a satisfactory level of literacy.

The Minister told The Island that he has not studied the above research carried out by the provincial ministry.

‘However, we know that education was badly affected due to COVID-19. This was reflected in a report we did a few months ago as well. We need to do a lot to remedy the situation,” he said.