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Ministry of Education should divest itself from the present 373 national schools, not add 800 more. REASON: Ministry is trying to do the impossible task of managing schools across the country from Colombo, and failing miserably. How and why does MoE fail? Let me count the ways.
#1 REASON FOR FAILURE OF CENTRALIZATION IN EDUCATION: Ministry spends 95% of its budget on salaries having used schools as convenient places for stuffing unemployed graduates as untrained/unmotivated teachers, & political supporters as redundant non-academic workers.
#2 REASON FOR FAILURE OF CENTRALIZATION IN EDUCATION: Having only 5% left for operations, Ministry relies on parents & alumni to meet almost all operation costs, and in return assures places for their children by drastically limiting places for Grade 5 scholarship winners.
#3 REASON FOR FAILURE OF CENTRALIZATION IN EDUCATION: Ministry issues one-size-fits-all circulars - e.g. same school admission form for doctor parent in Colombo or chena cultivator; or rigid rules for inter-school contests - causing much grief and inefficiency at ground level.
#4 REASON FOR FAILURE OF CENTRALIZATION IN EDUCATION: Ministry does one-size-fits-all mega procurements and distribute, say, technology tools, only to have them end up as e-waste because schools got what the center ordered not what they wanted.
#5 REASON FOR FAILURE OF CENTRALIZATION IN EDUCATION: Mistaken notion that the center’s role is equal/uniform distribution, and uniformity is equity. WISE-UP! We have 10,165 schools of immense diversity. Empower provinces/zones to deliver per local needs. Set KPIs & monitor.
Enough false promises, & no more patch work solutions like trying to break the law and increase class size to 50. Remove ministry red tape. Identify what makes a school attractive and challenge provinces to meet targets for increasing those. Direct all funding to this priority.
