Whither Education.
Posted on July 28th, 2024
Sugath Kulatunga
Education system in Sri Lanka has not kept abreast with the needs of the country and the developments in the fast-developing countries in the rest of the world. Countries like South Korea and Taiwan revamped their education systems around1980 to meet the demands of their economies. We have not even taken notice of the advances in Education policy in our neighbor Tamil Nadu. Education was the key driver of their development. The gave Vocational and Technical education higher priority over general education. Since the Kannangara Reforms in Education in 1947 we have not serious attention to Education policy. In Sri Lanka (SL) there was no political will to learn from the developments taking place in the world and make radical changes in our Education Policy.
Today there is much discourse in the country on STEM education which was the focus in the USA over 40 years back in 1980. Today the discussion has gone beyond STEM of adopting STEAM to include Arts. In SL we have had a heavy dose of Arts and further emphasis on Arts is bound to take away the attention on STEM.
There is also an active ongoing campaign on smart (Suhuru) classrooms. There was the program to establish 1000 ??? All these promotions are centered at the present School system and curriculum development.
Today we have two persons eminently suited to hold the Education portfolio. Perhaps this is a best ministerial combination on education in the recent history of our Cabinet. They have promised radical changes in the Education Policy. SL also has a comprehensive document of the National Education Policy. But still we have not made education to give some kind of training in the nature of a preparation for the life after school where the educational system should be closely related to the present needs and conditions. it has also to be planned with due regard to all possible lines of future development and country’s advance and should definitely contribute to accelerating the pace of the advance.” (Adapted from Kannangara Education Reforms Report of 1947 (KERR))
Kannangara report further stressed that It is obvious that a uniform education will result in wastage of the nation’s energy, money and human material. Educational provision has therefore to be differentiated with reference to the future careers of the pupils and the contribution to social and individual well-being they are capable of”. KERR recommended practical schools and had a separate Chapter on Technical and Vocational education (TVE) which would comprise not only professional education but also University and technological education. KKER had a separate Chapter on Technical Education”. All present education policy makers are urged to closely study the Kannangara Reforms Report.
While SL as far back in 1947 proposed in the KERR is that education should be planned with due regard to all possible lines of future development and recommended Technical and Vocational education but chose to disregard the KERR. Countries in the Far East adopted that path30 years later. Education was the driving force with which these countries developed competitiveness and excellence. These high performing countries in the Far East considered education reform as the foundation of economic development and social advancement. They focused on developing human capital in science and technology and vocational skills as pivotal to economic development. Taiwan and South Korea were both agricultural economies like SL in the early 1980, with low per capita earnings. Taiwan is an Island smaller than SLwith a similar population. Before 1980s it was a predominantly an agricultural economy. Today they are high tech powerhouses leading the world in a number of high tech industries. It has a per capita income of 36, 000 dollars. At the beginning of the 1980s, Taiwan increased the ratio for senior vocational schools and general high school to 7:3. By 2012 there were 155 senior vocational schools, 14 junior colleges, and 77 universities/colleges of science & technology, totaling 246. It is the education system that has sustained the significant development of this small nation making The revanue of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM), the world’s largest chipmaker in 2023 was was $70.599 Billion.
In just a few decades, South Korea transformed itself from an underdeveloped nation to an industrialized country exporting high-technology products (Domjahn 2013, p. 16). Much of this development has been attributed to improvements in the country’s education system. Various South Korean and international scholars (Ellinger and Beckham 1997; Han 1994; Kim 2000) have credited the nation’s economic success to an efficient education system that provides the quality workforce.”Education is a primary driver of South Korea’s long-term development strategy and a high priority for policy makers. There is strong alignment among South Korea’s growth strategy, labor market needs, and education policies. Every 5 years, the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology updates and improves the national curriculum, taking into account changes in the economic and national conditions (Severin and Capota 2011”.
The importance given to education in Korean society is an effective way of achieving a workforce that is prepared for the twenty first century knowledge society. Education is part of South Korea’s long-term vision of preparing its population for future labor markets and closing the gaps in access to quality education. For this reason, for decades, h Korea has included technology in education”. (South Korean Soc Sci J (2014) 41:135–151 DOI 10.1007/s40483-014-00190
In both these countries Education policies are aligned with market needs and also geared to future needs. They go to the extent of identifying emerging technologies and adopt policies and systems to meet the human capital needs to serve those technologies.
China adopted a Law on Science and Technology in 1993 with a view to promoting science and technology, assigning priority to the development of science and technology and bringing the role of science and technology as the primary productive force into full play in socialist modernization drive .
What is called for in SL is a complete overhaul of the education system to meet the needs of the 4th industrial revolution. It has to go far beyond changing the curriculum in the school syllabus or multiplying Suhuru classrooms but increase the ratio of TVE intake at senior school level and establish institutions of TVE without delay. We need not wait for the generosity of India to bring an Indian Institute of Technology to the country.
In SL in 2024, 427,000 students sat for the Advance Level Examination out of which 45000 may be admitted to the State Universities. It is likely that around 20,000 join private Universities or go to foreign universities. Assuming that another 40,000 join existing technical and vocational training institutes there is still a student population of around 320,000 without the prerequisites to enter the job market. In addition, a few batches of graduates whose qualifications do not match the demands of the market join the educated unemployed multitude. There is a dire need to expand TV Training to cater to at least 350,000 youth and make them fit the needs of the market. In Taiwan by 1980 they had 276 vocational and technological institutes. Tamil Nadu has 475 ITIs spread across the state providing vocational training. We should have at least one TVE institute in every district.
It was encouraging that a few months back President RW presented an educational system capable of addressing forthcoming global challenges while being aligned with contemporary technology. He highlighted the critical role of science and technology in various sectors of the world economy. He pointed out that areas such as artificial intelligence, robotics, energy storage, blockchain technology, and genome science have advanced and we must embrace these emergent technologies. This calls for a fundamental overhaul of our education system. He said that a proliferation of universities specializing in these domains is imperative. The problem with the President he believes in implementing these bright ideas through statutes like the recent Law on Economic Transformation. He would have done better by implementing the City University project of Gotabaya, which were to be established covering all districts with the aim of producing talented graduates equipped with the cutting edge technology, targeting the job market.
Now that the President is obsessed with connectivity with India and profit from the lessons of experience of fast developing Tamil Nadu we should focus on their know-how in education. Tamil nadu offers the largest pool of technically qualified professionals in the country. The annual intake of 573 engineering colleges at Under graduate level is 2.6 lakh students. out of this around 37% students (~90,000) specialize in IT, Computer Science, Electronics & Telecommunication. Post graduate courses like mca (master of computer Applications) specially designed to suit the needs of IT-BPO industry have an intake of around 18,000 students. IcT academy of Tamil nadu has been established on PPP basis for furthering Industry-Academia interface.
As the State makes efforts to grow its focus sectors and create new capabilities in sunrise sectors, a skilled and efficient workforce is a pre-requisite to achieve this vision. The State already has the highest number of technical universities in the country and more than 2400 colleges across various courses. Tamil Nadu has a total of 475 ITIs spread across the state providing vocational training. Nearly 85% of the state ITIs are privately owned, which demonstrates the contribution of the private sector in the skilling ecosystem. The State has nearly 2 million students who enrol for higher education on an annual basis and adds nearly a million students to the workforce every year.
SL also needs to spend more funds on R&D and innovatiton and tap China and South Korea to bolster our research capacity on emerging technology.
Sugath Kulatunga