Spiraling costs of school closures in Sri Lanka

By Lynn Ockersz

Immense learning loss among the young, the likelihood of increasing school dropouts, the interruption of the school feeding programme and rising mental stress and confusion among children are just a few among the multiple ills that result from prolonged school closures in Sri Lanka, the Gamani Corea Foundation’s (GCF) 13th discussion session was told recently.

The above insights formed part of a comprehensive issues paper that was authored and presented at the session held at the BMICH on January 5th by educationist Dr. Damaris Wikramanayake. The reading and discussion of such issues papers feature on a monthly basis at the Sri Lanka Innovators’ Forum which functions under the aegis of the GCF.

The local education sector consists of four categories, the researcher initially indicated. They are: pre-school education, general education (consisting of primary and secondary education), higher education and vocational and technical education (TVET).

Quoting the ADB Wikramanayake said that the recent pandemic caused 71 weeks of full or ‘partial’ school closures in Sri Lanka. Drawing on UNICEF and UNESCO information she indicated that, ‘The closing of schools for just one day causes a loss of about 25 million learning hours and 1.4 million of teaching hours.’

Wikramanayake identified the most pressing challenges to be overcome in the local school system currently as: ensuring equal access, regular learning assessments, monitoring school atten

dance, evolving monitoring and evaluation procedures, supporting teachers, increasing education budgets and promoting social cohesion.

Referring to the issue of income inequalities among local students the researcher quoting sources said that the poorest quintile of students incurred 57% more losses than the richest quintile.

Other important observations made by Wikramanayake were as follows: ‘To recover learning it is important to get all students back to school and ensure they stay in school.

‘Focused learning in a few subjects like Maths, English or IT that provide a direct link to possible employment might persuade potential dropouts to stay in school. Dropping out of school is sometimes because students are bored and see no connection between school life and “real” life.

‘If students obtained a fail grade in English or Maths, had been absent for more than 20% of school days and faced the possibility of not being promoted, they are most likely to drop out. Intense work on a few select subjects would inevitably help them improve their grade and gain more confidence in themselves.

‘In 2018 Sri Lanka’s expenditure on education was 2.135% of GDP, while India spent 4.364% of GDP, the Maldives 3.912% of GDP and Afghanistan 3.2% of GDP. The highest expenditure in recent years was 2.7% of GDP in 2017. In 2019, expenditure on education was a mere 1.93% of GDP. This rose to 2.4% in 2020, despite the pandemic.’

A most engrossing and wide-ranging discussion followed the presentation of the paper. Some respondents from the public sector, among very many other matters, pointed to the destructive impact on students of the current ‘craze for As and Bs.’ Others pointed to the deleterious impact on the education sector of the present economic crisis and prolonged trade union action, besides highlighting the need for curriculum reform and ‘practical-based education.’ One speaker observed that the local education crisis really began with the Easter Sunday bombings.

Wrapping-up the discussion, Board Director of the GCF, Dr. Harsha Athurupane, besides discussing a range of other topical issues, indicated the need to include STEAM education in the local school curriculum. The ‘A’ in the well-known combination of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths or STEM, stands for Arts. GCF Chairman Dr. Lloyd Fernando wanted the audience to ponder long and deep on the fundamental question: ‘What is education?’