Only 15% of pre-school children possess the level of relevant education: Susil

By Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama   

According to a survey conducted, it has been found that only 15% of pre-school children possess the level of pre-school education corresponding to the level of education of the first grade, Education Minister Susil Premajayantha said. 

Accordingly, the minister emphasized the importance of formulating the national pre-school policy and said that he would focus on the efficient and effective implementation of those policy decisions along with the new education reforms.   

Addressing a meeting at the Education Ministry he said children who enter the first grade of primary education enter schooling from different pre-education levels with a number of varieties of about five types of pre-schools.   

A national policy on pre-school education should be prepared urgently in order to remove the adverse educational disparities that arise in accessing school education from the pre-school education level, he emphasized. 

 
“In line with the responsibilities assigned to the Ministry to formulate and implement a national policy on preschool education, prepare the policy in conjunction with the new education reforms by focusing on the matters outlined as measures to be taken in the National Policy Statement on Preschool Education submitted for the approval of the Cabinet,” the minister said.  He also mentioned that the teachers engaged in primary education should also receive formal teacher training and be enriched not only with knowledge but also with the development of attitudes and skills in a way that is suitable for the international level.   
In future, all the teacher training colleges will be integrated into a single teacher training university to send teachers to the school system as graduates.  Accordingly, by 2028, there will be no untrained and uneducated teachers in the field of education, the Minister said.