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Protests
against move to register int’l schools Director, Private Schools, at the Education Ministry, M. Mundigala however said there is going to be only a monitoring scheme on international schools. "We are in the process of drafting the scheme for monitoring international schools under which the standards of the international schools would be assessed," he said. In its report issued in 2003 the National Education Commission had recommended that international schools should be registered under the Education Ministry. However, this never became a reality due to public protests, sources said. At present students from these schools sitting the London A/L exam are not eligible to enter local universities. However, now the Education Ministry is said to be planning to introduce another examination apart from the local A/L to qualify for university admission. The local A/L would become a mere qualifying exam with the exam to be introduced becoming the university entrance examination, which international school students could also sit. The exam is said to be viva voce (interview) by faculty deans. "Under this scheme, international school students will also be able to get into local universities by facing this examination." a university don said. "The international schools are run on money. They are not really international schools, but private schools. Their students can succeed at the interview and enter the university. Why can't they sit the normal A/L exam and enter the university in the proper way if they want?" he asked. At present international schools are registered under the Companies Act. Most of them are run by single owners and are maintained according to the owner's standards. However, one business tycoon is reported to own 17 such schools. Education sector unions accuse the government of trying to get rid itself of the burden of free education. "It is trying to give over education to the international school sector, which is run by a number of businessmen. Then the government can rid itself of the burden," Duminda Nagamuwa, convenor of the Inter University Students' Federation said. Trade unionists are also of the opinion that the right to education for every person will cease to exist with money becoming a major factor. Meanwhile an alliance on protecting the country's education was set up on May 1. The alliance, named the National Centre for Protecting Free Education is comprised of university lecturers, teachers' unions, principals' unions, medical faculty unions, educationists, doctors, engineers, artistes and priests. The centre is to continuously protest against what it terms the Education Ministry's wrong education reforms and moves to recognise private universities. |
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