Columns

• After talks between President and Premier, Grade 6 reforms deferred, but Harini insists the process continues
• Grade 1 reforms to be unveiled on Jan 29; SJB’s no-confidence motion against Premier appears to lose momentum; Minister Wijepala says ‘bring it on’
• Chinese Foreign Minister’s stopover visit to be followed up by FM Herath’s visit to China; US ambassador Julie Chung departs

By our Political Desk

“A week is a long time in politics” is a famous phrase attributed to former UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson. This week’s decision by the government to partially postpone its chaotic and scandal-plagued education reforms showed just how true that statement is.

In the face of relentless pressure, an all-powerful government with an overwhelming two-thirds parliamentary majority and an executive presidency was nevertheless forced to walk back, at least temporarily, a project it had championed aggressively since last year.

Despite the firestorm of criticism created by the exposé that the Grade 6 English Language module textbook published as part of the new reforms contained an address of a gay chat website—and the discovery of multiple grammatical errors and other questionable content in modules designed for Grades 1 and 6—the government had remained defiant until early this week. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, addressing a public event on January 9, insisted that his government would go ahead with the reforms, describing criticism levelled against the education reforms as “baseless allegations” and “insults”. Despite this outward sense of defiance, government circles were becoming increasingly worried that they were losing the battle in the court of public opinion.

While government MPs were of the view that they could weather attacks from opposition parties, many were concerned by increasing protests from religious figures and trade unions over the reforms. The thinking was that it would be unwise to continue ignoring such protests given their potential to have a psychological impact on teachers, parents and students.

On Monday morning, President Dissanayake and Prime Minister and Education Minister Harini Amarasuriya also met with education sector trade union leaders, including those from unions affiliated to the government, to hear their concerns regarding the new reforms. When the President and the Premier met with other ministers later that day before the Cabinet meeting began, there was general agreement that things could not continue as they were. Addressing the ministers, President Dissanayake noted that while the government should not scrap the reform process, it could not afford to dismiss the protests when implementing reforms in such a sensitive field.

NFF leader Weerawansa and his supporters taking part in the Satyagraha outside the Education Ministry premises. Pic by M. A. Pushpa Kumara

Prime Minister Amarasuriya, who, in her capacity as Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, has faced the brunt of criticism regarding the reforms, told those present that while there were no major issues in rolling out the new reforms for Grade 1 students, implementing the reforms for Grade 6 would be far more problematic given the ongoing controversies, especially if teacher unions follow through on their threats to launch trade union action. If unions pull teachers from classes periodically for anti-education reform protests, it would negatively impact students, and the government would not be able to achieve the objectives it had set out to achieve through these reforms, the Premier pointed out.

One suggestion that was floated during the meeting was to postpone the implementation of the education reforms for Grade 6 by six months to facilitate a review of all the published modules, but this was deemed impractical since a curriculum is set for a whole school year. It was eventually decided at the Cabinet meeting to postpone the implementation of Grade 6 reforms until 2027 so that a comprehensive review could be conducted to ensure that all mistakes and problematic content in the modules could be identified and removed.

The decision could not have come at a worse time for the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) government. Even as Cabinet Spokesman Nalinda Jayatissa fronted the media on Tuesday to announce the decision to postpone the Grade 6 education reforms until 2027, a group of National Freedom Front (NFF) members led by their leader, former minister Wimal Weerawansa, were already engaged in a ‘Sathyagraha’ outside the Education Ministry premises in Battaramulla. A former propaganda secretary of the JVP until his breakaway from the party, Mr Weerawansa had launched his Sathyagraha demanding the withdrawal of the education reforms and the resignation of Premier Amarasuriya from the post of education minister. Mr Weerawansa and his supporters claimed victory after the Cabinet Spokesman announced that the Grade 6 reforms would be postponed, dismantling the makeshift tent they had erected outside the Education Ministry. He later told the media that they had ended the Sathyagraha because their primary demand for the withdrawal of the education reforms had been met. The secondary demand for the resignation of Dr Amarasuriya as Education Minister was no longer relevant since the decision not to move ahead with the reforms meant that her position had been rendered “powerless”, Mr Weerawansa claimed.

Mr Weerawansa’s claims are only partly true. The education reforms are still going ahead for Grade 1 and will be officially launched on January 29. Dr Amarasuriya remains as Education Minister. Also, the claim that her position has been rendered “powerless” by the government’s move to postpone the reforms for Grade 6 is rather a stretch. Nevertheless, the decision has certainly humiliated her on the national stage and perhaps caused damage to her reputation. After all, this was, in a sense, the first major reform initiative of the new government.

The PM was the public face of the education reforms, as well as their most ardent supporter and staunchest defender. While she acknowledged further mistakes had been identified in other modules following a review after the English Language module scandal broke out, she had still insisted, even up until late last week, that the reforms could still be implemented for both Grades 1 and 6 as earlier scheduled.

The new education reforms for Grade 6 were due to be officially launched on January 21. The announcement that those reforms were being pushed back until 2027, which came only a week before they were due to kick in, has also led to consternation and anger among teachers as well as parents whose children are in Grade 6. Over the past year, school authorities and Grade 6 teachers had been making preparations to teach the new modules from January, 2026. School timetables were changed on multiple occasions until it was finally decided that instead of eight periods consisting of 40 minutes each, students would have seven periods of 45 minutes each. Teachers and principals had also been attending multiple seminars on teaching under the new module system, while schools had conducted briefings for Grade 6 students and their parents. Various module textbooks had also been distributed among students of some schools. All of a sudden, however, schools are now being forced to revert to the old timetables of eight 40-minute periods and teach Grade 6 using the school textbooks from the old syllabus.

Instructions by the Education Ministry to teach Grade 6 students using old textbooks from last year have created a serious headache for schools. Since the decision to postpone the new reforms by a year was announced, principals have been issued instructions to collect old textbooks and distribute them among the incoming students for Grade 6. No serious attempt had been made earlier to collect the old textbooks due to the belief that they had been rendered obsolete due to the introduction of the new module-based system. As such, now there are fears that some schools may not have enough of the old textbooks to distribute among the students.

Though the Education Ministry has stated that arrangements have been made to print more of the old textbooks and distribute them among schools, authoritative sources say the process of printing and distributing the books will take at least several more weeks. Education Ministry officials are now scrambling to see if there are any leftover Grade 6 textbooks printed under the old syllabus in their stores to be distributed to schools in the coming week.

Meanwhile, some parents and teachers are also organising counter-protests demanding that the government continue with the new reforms for Grade 6. A demonstration in support of the new reforms took place outside the “Isurupaya” Education Ministry premises on Friday. Another is due to be held outside the Education Ministry tomorrow. More are being organised outside zonal education offices in major towns. While those who are organising these rallies in support of the new reforms say they are not affiliated with the NPP or the JVP, there is no doubt that they have the blessings of the government. “We believe these counter-demonstrations are important because they show that there is also another side to this story. We hope they will assist us to defeat efforts being made by various parties to scuttle these reforms,” a senior government minister said.

Groups affiliated with the government have also been organising several rallies to counter attacks against Premier Amarasuriya. Even as opposition politicians were engaged in a campaign to collect signatures for a public petition in Matugama last Saturday (10), a group of women led by NPP MP Nilanthi Kottahachchi held a demonstration in the same town denouncing what they claimed was harassment and a misogynistic attitude towards women. They were critical of the personal attacks against PM Amarasuriya in the wake of the English language module scandal. Similar pro-government rallies were also held near Isurupaya whilst former Minister Weerawansa and his supporters were holding the Sathyagraha.

Some of those who attended the meeting with the President and the Premier on Monday say the government had paid the price for its own arrogance in arbitrarily rushing through the reforms without making proper preparations or engaging in wide-ranging consultations with all stakeholders. “The modules had only been printed for three months, or a single term. The teacher guides have also been printed only for the first term, and the trainings too had only involved what is being taught during the first term. There were no preparations before that. There was no proper discussion regarding this crisis.

What we want the government to do is to discuss this matter properly and implement the reforms afterwards,” says Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) General Secretary Joseph Stalin.

Deputy Labour Minister Mahinda Jayasinghe was also present at Monday’s discussion in his capacity as General Secretary of the Ceylon Teachers’ Service Union (CTSU). While he was careful not to criticise the government, Mr Jayasinghe noted that unions had identified “many issues” regarding the education reform process. “We support the government’s decision to postpone the reforms for Grade 6 until 2027.”

Mr Jayasinghe acknowledged that the last-minute decision to postpone the reforms could create problems for Grade 6 students as well as teachers and principals but said he believed these issues could be resolved quickly. “On the other hand, it is clear that we cannot proceed with these reforms if serious doubts are created about them within society. It is the teachers and principals who have to take the lead in implementing these reforms. If they also have doubts regarding these reforms, it will be very difficult to continue with them because they need to be confident regarding the reform process,” he pointed out. He said the breathing space given by the move to delay the reforms would allow the government to carry out a comprehensive review of the reforms, correct any mistakes and also improve infrastructure facilities needed to make the reforms a success.

Prime Minister Amarasuriya, meanwhile, broke her silence regarding the education reform issue on Friday. While addressing a meeting in Madampe with education officials and school principals of the Chilaw Education Zone to brief them on the future course of education reforms, she put up a brave face, saying that the reforms would continue. She urged those present not to talk about the education reforms “in the past tense”, noting that the reforms will still be launched for Grade 1 students on January 29 and that the textbooks under the new syllabus will be distributed among the students on that date. “Education reforms are necessary for the country, and it is what the people want. It is what we need to give the children of our country,” she insisted.

The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), which had been leading efforts to collect signatures among opposition parties to submit a No-Confidence Motion (NCM) against the PM in her capacity as Education Minister, claims its efforts contributed greatly to the government’s decision to walk back the reforms.

“Our NCM created a situation where various organisations and religious leaders, including the Maha Sangha, came out into the streets to protest these reforms. They tried to bring in unsuitable things to the curriculum, and our efforts forced them to backtrack. They are being forced to backtrack on many things they have begun due to their arrogance,” said SJB General Secretary Ranjith Maddumabandara.

He also claimed that the NCM against the PM was not dead and that it would be submitted “at the appropriate time”. He said the SJB’s own “expert committee” was reviewing the modules printed under the new education reforms and that the party will reveal more details soon.

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam, however, believes that the scandal surrounding the inclusion of the web address of an adult website had overshadowed far more serious issues related to the new education reforms. He said education experts the party has spoken with had raised concerns that the new reforms, which he said are modelled on the system being followed by countries such as Finland and Denmark, are taking the country’s education reforms away from the British and Commonwealth education standards it had been following up to now. “We don’t really know how recognised our education standards will be once we get to a point where students sit their O/Level and A/Level exams after following this new module-based system. No one has given an explanation with regard to this. Under the current system, those who sit our A/level exams can apply directly to foreign universities, as their qualifications are recognised internationally. Will their qualifications still be as recognised once we adopt this new system?”

Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath dismissed these concerns, noting that the introduction of a module-based system does not mean the country has deviated from the British and Commonwealth education system. “Students are still being given 13 years of compulsory school education, while O/Level and A/Level exams will still be held as usual. These concerns are groundless.”

A criminal investigation is still proceeding to identify persons responsible for the inclusion of an adult website address in the Grade 6 English Language module. The Criminal Investigation Department’s (CID) probe will take at least a couple more months to complete, Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala said, adding that this too had influenced the decision to postpone implementing the Grade 6 reforms until next year. “The opposition is trying to use this issue as cover to oust the PM as Education Minister. We have no plans to do so or to scrap the reforms,” said the minister. He also noted that the government was ready to face the NCM against Dr Amarasuriya should the opposition submit it but claimed they no longer seem interested in the matter. “We even suggested dates (to the opposition) on which we could debate their NCM. We conveyed that we are even ready for a two-day debate on the matter but are yet to hear back. The government won’t be deterred by such attacks. We won’t allow anyone to scuttle these reforms,” he asserted.

Away from the controversies surrounding the education reform process, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made a transit stop in Sri Lanka on Monday on his way home from a four-nation African tour. Accompanied by the Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Qi Zhenhong, he held talks with Foreign Affairs Minister Vijitha Herath during the stopover in Colombo, where not only did they exchange pleasantries and enjoy a drink of the local speciality, thambili, but also discussed further Sino-Lanka cooperation. Mr Herath also handed over a letter from President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to the Chinese Foreign Minister. In the letter, the President thanked China for the assistance rendered during Cyclone Ditwah and sought further Chinese assistance for the ‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka Fund’.

The two also discussed global developments, with the Chinese FM emphasising the need for countries in the Global South to stand together, particularly at a time the world is facing an uncertain future. He said that groups such as BRICS should be strengthened. Sri Lanka has in the past expressed interest in joining BRICS, having submitted its application to join the group, but threats by US President Donald Trump that countries which side with the BRICS alliance will be hit with an extra 10% tariff seem to have dampened the initial enthusiasm to join the group.

While the Chinese FM stopover in Sri Lanka was brief, a formal meeting between him and his Sri Lankan counterpart is likely shortly for further discussion on strengthening relations.

Meanwhile, Julie Chung, who served as the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, left this week, winding up an extended term in Colombo. As part of her final engagements, she met President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, three former presidents, and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa.

After her meeting with the President, Ms Chung, who has been accused by some local politicians of interfering with domestic politics, especially during the ‘Aragalaya’ protests of 2022, wrote on her X account that the meeting was productive and the two discussed “advancing US-Sri Lanka security cooperation to promote a free Indo-Pacific region, including our fourth donated Coast Guard cutter, the upcoming transfer of 10 Bell helicopters, and shared priorities in maritime security, counter-narcotics, and disaster preparedness.” The President had appreciated the US support following Cyclone Ditwah, where the US provided $4 million in emergency aid and C-130J airlifts to deliver 188 tonnes of supplies.

Her other farewell calls were with former Presidents Ranil Wickremesinghe, Chandrika Kumaratunga and Mahinda Rajapaksa. During the meeting with Rajapaksa, she had praised the development that had been undertaken in the Hambantota district during Rajapaksa’s term as president, to which the latter had replied that many did not understand the importance of the port/airport development work he started. He also said the development activities in the district had been neglected by the ‘yahapalanaya’ government that took office in 2015.

With Ms Chung’s departure, the US Deputy Chief of Mission in Colombo, Jayne Howell, will serve as Chargé d’Affaires (acting chief of mission). Eric Meyer has been nominated as the next United States Ambassador to Sri Lanka by President Trump.

Mr Meyer is a career Foreign Service officer of the US Department of State and currently serves as the Senior Bureau Officer at the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs.