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Presidential poll candidates’ manifestos woo Education sector
View(s):From introducing a new Education Act next year to admitting 100,000 students annually into State Universities by 2020, are among the plans for Primary to Tertiary Education in President Rajapaksa’s manifesto for the forthcoming Presidential elections.
His manifesto, ‘Lova Dinana Maga’, stated that a Presidential Commission will be appointed to bring about a permanent solution to the failure in the Maths subject at the Ordinary Level exams.
He also pledged to build University Colleges in each of the 25 Districts and provide Higher Education for 7,500 students who have failed to gain university entrance at the 2015 Advanced Level (A/L) exams.
It said that the Education Act approved by the All-party Parliamentary Select Committee will come into force in 2015.
Pre-school Education made compulsory for all students, implementing early childhood National Education Policy, a fully equipped Resource Centre in Colombo for students with special needs, strengthening Mahindodaya schools policy, mobile bus school for street children who have not been rehabilitated and Education facilities to children who undergo lengthy treatment at outstation hospitals, similar to Educational facilities at Lady Ridgeway Children Hospital and Cancer Hospital, are some of the Education plans stated in his manifesto.
Establishing a National Postgraduate University, introducing a University village system with living quarters for Lecturers, are also included in President Rajapaksa’s manifesto.
The manifesto states that each District will have one premier National school by 2020, with the first one in Nuwara-Eliya next year. His opponent Maithripala Sirisena vowed to increase the allocation for Education to 6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Among his plans are to strengthen Primary and Secondary schools, then gradually remove Primary and Secondary classes from main schools to avoid demand, introducing A/L Science in the Tamil medium to Plantation sector schools, Education Loan for those passing A/Ls to pursue Higher Education, increasing Mahapola scholarship to Rs 5,000. (NF)