A special unit will be set up to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education next year, said Education Reforms, Promotion of Open Universities and Distance Learning State Minister Susil Premajayantha. At present 76 percent of the country’s education, both secondary and tertiary is not based on science or technology, the Minister said at the committee stage debate on the Appropriation bill. He said the unit will be set up at the Ministry in a few weeks time and next year will be dedicated to promoting STEM education.

Even arts and commerce subjects will have science or technology incorporated. “The country’s education system failed to change after the second industrial revolution and the third industrial revolution in information technology. We need to be prepared for the fourth digital revolution. We have had many syllabus changes but governments could not bring reforms to the education system, ” Minister Premjayantha said. “A programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Programme.

PISA measures 15-year-olds’ ability to use their reading, mathematics and science. STEM education was introduced two decades ago with more than 90 countries following and witnessing success such as Singapore, Finland and Vietnam. Unfortunately, we do not have it. In the near future, the country’s education system will see changes in this area,” he said. “Our present education system has no space for innovation. Innovation cannot be just a subject for a student who has performed poorly at the Ordinary Level examination or as an Advanced Level subject,” he added. Minister Premjayantha requested all parliamentarians to attend tomorrow’s workshop on the proposed education reforms and give their ideas and suggestions.

“The National Education Commission is in the final stages of compiling the new education policy and has obtained public views as well. I plan to bring it to Parliament and pass it as an Act,” he said. Transforming the present system of general education, reforming higher education sector and vocational education system to cater to trends in the labour market, will be among top priorities of the main ministry and four state ministries. The Education Ministry will focus on strengthening rural and isolated schools, while accelerating the 1000 national schools programme next year, Education Minister Dinesh Gunewardena said in Parliament.

The Minister said there are 1,500 schools in the country with less than 50 students and 2,962 schools with students less than 100. “These schools will not be closed down, but given more financial allocations to encourage students to attend schools in their respective areas,” Minister Gunewardena said. He said being able to solve the two-decade teacher salary anomaly issue is a huge victory for the education sector. “The government is amidst a financial crisis. But this did not stop the allocation of an extra 32 billion rupees to solve salary anomalies,” he said.

The Minister said professional education opportunities will be created to the education service in order to ensure quality education. “We do not want to further delay state examinations as this will result in delayed university intake and academic years in universities,” he said. Women and Children’s Development, Pre-School and Primary Education, and School Infrastructure and Education Services State Minister Piyal Nishantha said measures have been taken to provide computer resource centres to all children’s homes in the country to ensure distance learning and exposure to technology.