Sugath Kulatunga

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya has made an univocal statement that  Vocational education should be a respected choice, offering a clear pathway from school to higher education while contributing directly to the economy.” It is most encouraging to note that the government is considering ‘’ vocational education to be no longer be viewed as a secondary option but as a prestigious pathway to a bright future and economic growth.” This is an enlightened view taken on vocatinal education after over 75 years since Kannangara Educational Reforms of 1947 which recommended Practical Education”. Kannangara Report 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.  During the inerim period the approach was mainly to incorporate technical education into the School Curriculum.

What the country needs is a complete overhaul of the education system like how the East Asian Tigers did with their education systems. 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.

Countries in the Far East adopted that path 30 years earlier. 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 Taiwan isa  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   

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284831895

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 4^th 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. This predicament is boung to repeat every year.  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. In all these countries policie on education, indudtries and technology are intelinked. In SL there is no policy on any of them.

In addition to the TVE system followed by the Far Eastern countries Sri Lanka should learn from the Dual System of TVE in Germany. It is widely recognized as one of the most effective systems for developing skilled labor. The Dual system  combines theoretical education at vocational schools with practical, hands-on training in companies. This ensures the availability of well-trained personnel in a wide range of skills to various industries.

The task for the Prime Minister is enormous. The clientele is over 300.000 in a year and is increasing but the ifrastrucure is lacking. The country cannot afford to wait fpr new infrastructure for training of massive clientele. Meanwhile ther is idle space in exosting institutions and space available during weekends and holidays. The task must be tacled before it overcome the establishment.