Over 500 schools picked to implement 13-year compulsory education
View(s):More than 500 schools will be provided with facilities to implement the compulsory 13-year education system, a senior Education Ministry official said. The programme will be the final phase of the plan to provide 13 years of compulsory education to children and prevent them dropping off after the G.C.E. (O/L) Exam.
Additional Secretary (Reforms), Education Ministry, YAND Yapa told the Education Times that in the first and second stages, the facility was provided to 197 schools in various parts of the island. “We will have the capacity to increase the number by 200-300 more schools if the requirement arises,” he said.
Mr Yapa said that with the implementation of the programme, they believe, of the students who sit the O/L Examination and do not qualify to sit the A/L Examination, about 50 per cent will be inclined to continue their school education. Under the programme to ensure 13 years of education, some 27 subjects have been introduced and all necessary text books have been prepared, while a section of the teachers have already been trained.
He added that 2,000 more teachers were being trained, while some teachers will be from the Vocational Training Institute and some others, such as for fashion training, will be from relevant institutions. Under the programme, after two more years of education, students could receive NVQ Level 4 certification. Mr Yapa explained that in 2017, 80,000 failed the O/L Examination.
Some of the applied subjects to be introduced are courses related to health and social services (child psychology and care, health and social care, physical education and sports), socio-cultural studies (performing arts, event management, arts and crafts), designing (interior, fashion, graphic, art, web and landscaping), environmental studies (applied horticultural, livestock product, food processing, aquatic resources, plantation product), agro and food technology, technical studies (construction, automobile, electrical and electronic, textile and apparel, metal fabrication, aluminium fabrication, software development) and tourism and hospitality. – Damith Wickremasekara