“Bring Back Education Reform Immediately”: Parents Appeal Directly to President as Year 6 Cohort Pays the Price of Political Opportunism
By Staff Correspondent
Colombo — A growing chorus of parents, teachers, educationists, and civil society groups is urging the President and the government to immediately reinstate the stalled education reform programme, warning that political cowardice and extremist misinformation have already robbed an entire cohort of children of a critical learning opportunity.
At the centre of the controversy is the Year 6 self-learning module introduced under the broader education reform framework covering Grades 1 to 6. While the reforms for Grades 1 to 5 continue uninterrupted, the Year 6 component was abruptly suspended following a noisy campaign by opposition politicians, fringe religious groups, and self-styled nationalists with little or no grounding in education policy.
The immediate victims are an estimated 316,000 Year 6 students who have now lost access to a structured self-learning model designed to build confidence, independent thinking, and real-world problem-solving skills. Parents argue that this is not merely a policy delay but a generational injustice.
A Reform Derailed by Misinformation
The Year 6 self-learning model was never presented as a replacement for foundational literacy or numeracy. Rather, it was intended as a bridge — easing students away from rote memorisation and preparing them for analytical learning in secondary education. However, opportunistic critics portrayed the reform as an “experiment,” deliberately stoking fear among parents.
Leading the opposition were politicians who, parents note with irony, have no formal training in education and who themselves benefited from elite systems abroad while condemning modern pedagogy at home. “They shouted slogans, not facts,” said one parent leader. “They screamed about self-learning without ever reading the curriculum.”
Education officials acknowledge that minor implementation errors were identified, as is common with any new system. But instead of correcting and refining the model, the government of the day chose retreat over responsibility, effectively sacrificing an entire cohort to appease extremist pressure.
Sri Lanka’s Proud Educational Legacy — and Its Stagnation
Sri Lanka’s free education system, introduced in the 1940s, transformed the country into one of the most literate nations in the developing world. Subsequent reforms in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1997 expanded access and equity, producing generations of professionals, academics, and public servants.
Yet critics argue that the system has failed to evolve with the times. Today, Sri Lankan education remains overwhelmingly exam-centric, rewarding memorisation over comprehension and compliance over creativity.
From Ordinary Level to Advanced Level and even at university, success is measured almost entirely by the ability to reproduce textbook content. Those who fail O/L or A/L examinations are often left with no alternative pathways, effectively written out of social mobility at the age of sixteen or eighteen.
“This is an education system with no second chances and no parallel routes,” said a senior educationist. “It sorts children into winners and losers far too early, and then abandons the rest.”
The Cost of Rote Learning: Unemployment, Underemployment, and Brain Drain
Parents’ groups link the failure of education reform directly to Sri Lanka’s broader economic collapse. They point to a state sector employing nearly 1.5 million people, including an estimated 700,000 political appointees without relevant qualifications, as evidence of systemic dysfunction.
“Our education system produces people who pass exams to get government jobs, not people who create value,” said a teachers’ union representative. “That is why productivity is low and innovation is scarce.”
For those outside the state sector, options are grimly familiar: low-skilled migrant labour in the Middle East, informal work, or years spent idling in three-wheeler parks waiting for fares. Universities, too, are not immune. Studies by UK universities have repeatedly noted that many Sri Lankan graduates from national universities struggle with independent research, critical writing, and original analysis.
The root cause, critics argue, is simple: students are never taught how to learn on their own.
Self-Learning Is Not a Western Conspiracy
Supporters of the reform reject claims that self-learning models undermine culture or discipline. On the contrary, they note that such approaches are now standard globally, including in Asian education powerhouses.
Self-learning does not mean “no teachers” or “no structure.” It means guiding students to observe, question, research, and apply knowledge — skills essential for modern fields such as artificial intelligence, data analysis, entrepreneurship, advanced manufacturing, and financial management.
“This is how the world works now,” said a university lecturer. “If we keep producing textbook parrots, we will keep importing expertise and exporting labour.”
A Missed Opportunity Since 2019
Education reform is not a new idea. In 2019, then-State Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam attempted to introduce similar changes, but political instability and resistance from entrenched interests ensured they never fully materialised.
The current moment, parents argue, is different. The electorate delivered a decisive mandate to the National People’s Power (NPP) precisely because it promised systemic reform rather than cosmetic change.
“The majority voted for NPP because they wanted a break from fear-based politics,” said a parents’ committee spokesperson. “This is your test.”
A Direct Appeal to the President
Parents of more than 600,000 children, including those directly affected in Year 6, are now calling for coordinated letters, petitions, and public representations to the President demanding immediate reinstatement and refinement of the reform.
Their message is blunt: do not govern by appeasing extremists.
“Extremists have always opposed reform,” the statement reads. “They fear educated children. They prefer darkness to knowledge.”
The demand is not for reckless experimentation but for responsible courage — to fix what needs fixing and move forward, not retreat.
The Choice Before the Government
Sri Lanka stands at a crossroads. It can cling to an education system designed for a colonial-era bureaucracy, or it can build one suited to a knowledge economy.
Delaying reform will not protect children; it will permanently disadvantage them. The 316,000 Year 6 students have already paid a price for political opportunism. Parents insist there must not be another lost cohort.
“Our children cannot wait,” one parent wrote in an open letter to the President. “The future will not pause for extremists. Bring back education reform now.”
For the NPP government, the question is no longer technical. It is political, moral, and generational.