Sri Lanka gets $100 mn from World Bank to modernize general education system
Posted on July 25th, 2018
Courtesy NewsIn.Asia
Colombo, July 25 (newsin.asia) – Sri Lanka will get a 100 million US dollar concessionary loan from the World Bank to diversify and upgrade the general education system in the country to global standards, the Finance Ministry said in a statement Wednesday.
The General Education Modernization Project (GEM) will modernize and diversify the curriculum of general education in keeping with the transformation taking place in Sri Lanka’s society and economy, the statement said.
Greater emphasis will be on strategic subjects that are key for economic development such as English and Mathematics.
Learning material for English language and Mathematics will be developed digitally and the focus will be on children from schools located in more disadvantaged regions.
Sri Lanka has made impressive progress in expanding access to education. However, to reach the status of an Upper Middle-Income Country, it needs to further improve the overall learning outcomes,” Idah Z. Pswarayi-Riddihough, World Bank Country Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives said.
July 27th, 2018 at 6:33 am
This looks very impressive – a progressive step towards upgrading Sri Lanka’s educational system. Appearances however can be deceptive. The question whether a hidden agenda is behind this project arises because the Task Team Leader Harsha Aturupane is a Christian evangelist.
Modernizing education is most welcome but is that Aturupane’s only s only objective? Or is it ALSO going to be a Trojan horse to weaken the younger generation’s knowledge of the country’s Buddhist heritage and its history by focusing almost exclusively on economics, technology and mathematics.
Aturupane is a pastor well-known for promoting education from a Christian perspective. Why should such a person play a key role in this educational reformation in a predominantly Buddhist country? Any person who is to play such a role should be well grounded in the country’s history, its traditions and identity – not anyone whose knowledge of history begins in the colonial era or from 1948.
If such is the case and the government turns a blind eye to it, Sri Lanka will one day end up almost like the West Indies which are often perceived as having no traditional culture or a strong national identity. Music, song and dance and cricket characterize the ‘culture’ of the West Indians (African Caribbean People).
Harsha Aturupane’s Christian evangelist background is clearly reflected in the following invitation the Cathedral Institute and Formation issued five years ago:
“Cathedral Institute for Education and Formation Cordially invites you to the Bishop Cyril Abeynaike Memorial Lecture to be delivered by Dr. Harsha Aturupane on “Education in the Context of Global Economic Trends: a Christian Perspective” On Wednesday 22nd May 2013 at 5.30 pm At the Diocesan Chambers, Cathedral premises, 368/03,Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 07 Regrets only Tel: 2696208/2684811/4740260.
Please click on the following link and stroll down to the last item on the last page.
http://christchurchgalkissa.com/pdf/newsletter-may-august-2013.pdf
Aturupane is engaged in Missionary work, trying to make Buddhist children weak Buddhists by changing the school curriculum like in the Colonial era Missionary schools where Sinhala language was not allowed to be spoken and Sinhala Literature was never taught because Sinhala Literature was full of Buddhist nuances.