Sunday Times 2
Why culture and values must anchor Sri Lanka’s education reform
View(s):- As global labour mobility tightens and education systems worldwide are re-examined, this article argues that Sri Lanka’s education reform must be anchored in history, culture, and shared moral values to prepare future citizens for both national responsibility and global engagement
By Duminda Perera (P.Eng., Ph.D.)
As countries around the world recalibrate their education systems in response to tightening borders, economic nationalism, and social fragmentation, Sri Lanka faces a critical question: what kind of citizens do we want our children to become?
For decades, globalisation shaped education policy across much of the developing world. The assumption was simple — equip young people with technical skills, and global labour markets would absorb them. That assumption is now being challenged.
Across North America, Australia, and Europe, immigration policies are becoming more restrictive. Canada, long seen as an open destination for skilled migrants, has begun tightening pathways amid pressure on housing, infrastructure, and social services. The United Kingdom has raised salary thresholds for skilled migration and narrowed post-study work options. Similar trends are evident elsewhere, driven by domestic political pressures and economic uncertainty.
These developments matter for Sri Lanka. They suggest that future generations may face fewer external opportunities, not more. Education reform must therefore respond not only to global ideals but also to global realities.
Beyond preparing children to leave
For many years, Sri Lanka — like many developing countries — implicitly designed its education system to prepare students for opportunities abroad, while tacitly accepting brain drain as a source of remittance income and a partial response to domestic unemployment. And to be fair, Sri Lankans have excelled globally, securing positions in prestigious foreign institutions, multinational companies, and international organisations.
But the future will not look the same.
Preparing children for external opportunities is no longer a sustainable strategy. The more urgent challenge is this: how do we educate young people to thrive within Sri Lanka, contribute meaningfully to national development, and still remain capable of engaging the world?
The answer does not lie in abandoning global engagement. It lies in grounding it.
Identity, values, and the formation of character
As a Sri Lankan who has lived and worked abroad for more than two decades, I have observed a consistent pattern across borders. What truly distinguishes Sri Lankans internationally is not technical knowledge or professional certification. Those are widely available and increasingly standardised worldwide.
What sets Sri Lankans apart are their qualities — humility, adaptability, patience, empathy, and a strong sense of community responsibility. These traits make Sri Lankans trusted colleagues, reliable professionals, and valued members of diverse societies.
These qualities are not acquired at university. They are cultivated in childhood.
Primary education is where character takes shape. Alongside literacy and numeracy, children absorb an invisible curriculum — how to treat others, how to resolve conflict, how to respect difference, and how to balance individual ambition with collective responsibility.
In Sri Lanka, this moral grounding has evolved over more than 2,500 years. Buddhism, with its emphasis on compassion, non-violence, restraint, and mindfulness, has profoundly shaped social behaviour. Alongside it, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity have contributed enduring values of duty, charity, discipline, service, forgiveness, and respect for human dignity.
This plural religious and cultural heritage has been one of Sri Lanka’s greatest strengths. It nurtured coexistence not as an abstract slogan, but as a lived social practice.
National identity without exclusion
Any discussion of national identity understandably raises concerns. History shows that when identity is framed narrowly or defensively, it can fuel division and intolerance.
That is not the vision being advocated here.
A healthy sense of national identity is not about elevating one group over another, nor about retreating from the world. It is about belonging without hostility, pride without arrogance, and rootedness without rigidity.
Children who understand their own history, culture and ethical traditions are often better equipped — not worse — to engage respectfully with others. In global business, diplomacy, and multicultural workplaces, individuals who are secure in their own identity tend to navigate difference with confidence and empathy.
Cultural grounding enhances global competence; it does not diminish it.
History as continuity, not nostalgia
Teaching history in primary education is not about romanticising the past or promoting ideological narratives. When taught responsibly, history provides continuity and perspective.
Learning about ancient irrigation systems in Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa, for example, introduces children not only to Sri Lanka’s civilisational achievements, but also to ideas of sustainability, environmental management, and collective responsibility — lessons that resonate strongly with modern challenges.
History, taught well, tells children that they are heirs to a civilisation that valued cooperation, knowledge, and humanity long before modern development models emerged.
Educating for a changing future
The choice before Sri Lanka is not between nationalism and globalism, but between short-term educational thinking and long-term national planning. Education reform is not a laboratory experiment where results appear quickly. Its real impact unfolds over a decade or more, shaping the values, attitudes, and civic behaviour of entire generations.
For this reason, education policy demands exceptional seriousness. Decisions taken today by governments, curriculum authorities, and education experts will define the nation’s character far into the future. Even small misjudgements in primary education can have consequences that are difficult — sometimes impossible — to reverse.
As new and sensitive social topics emerge globally, curriculum reform must proceed with cultural awareness, age-appropriateness, and broad societal dialogue rather than rapid transplantation of external models. Education policy must reflect local realities while remaining informed by global experience.
What might this look like in practice?
Primary students could learn about Sri Lanka’s ancient irrigation systems and construction wonders, alongside modern environmental science, linking heritage to innovation. Religious education could emphasise shared ethical principles — compassion, honesty, and responsibility — across Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, and Christian traditions. Local and regional history and community practices could be integrated into learning, helping children see education as connected to real life rather than abstract instruction.
These are not ideological choices. They are investments in social cohesion.
A strategic national investment
As global competition intensifies and labour mobility tightens, moral capital is becoming a strategic asset. Trust, ethics, and social stability are increasingly valuable in domestic and international contexts.
Sri Lanka’s kindness, simplicity, and peace-loving reputation — widely recognised worldwide — are rooted in its cultural, religious, and historical values. These qualities cannot be manufactured quickly or imported through policy.
If these foundations are weakened at the primary education level, they may not survive at all.
Education reform, if taken lightly, can quietly erode national cohesion. If approached with care, wisdom, and foresight, it becomes one of the most powerful tools for national sustainability.
Sri Lanka’s future will depend not only on how well our children compete, but on who they become — as citizens, as neighbours, and as human beings. That is why culture and values must remain at the heart of education reform.
(Dr Duminda Perera is a disaster risk reduction and water security specialist, trained as a civil engineer and hydrologist. He has over 15 years of international experience in flood risk management,
water security, and early warning systems in Sri Lanka and abroad, including
within the United Nations system.)