2023-12-04
News Categories : News
The Ministry of Education disclosing the proposed new educational reforms Stated that it is intended to reduce school grades from 13 to 12.
This was disclosed on 01.12.2023 at the time of presenting the progress of the year 2023 and plans for the year 2024 for the budget of the Ministry of Education by Hon. (Dr.) Susil Premajayantha for the Hon. Minsiters and Members of Parliament.
Accordingly, the educational authorities stated that through the proposed new education reforms, every child will be given the opportunity to finish school in 17 years. Accordingly, pre-school education is classified as 4 years old, primary section 1-5, junior section 6-8 and senior section 9 to 12.
While it has been proposed to give a certain percentage of marks from school-based evaluations and a certain percentage from exams for the grade 5 scholarship exam, the Ministry of Education has also proposed to simplify the grade 5 scholarship exam and eliminate competition.
Furthermore, through the proposed new education reforms, the Ministry of Education has proposed to conduct the general level examination in grade 10 and the advanced level examination is scheduled for grade 12. It has also been decided to reduce the number of subjects for O/L’s from 9 to 7. Officials representing the Ministry of Education stated that among those 7 subjects, it has been proposed to make it mandatory to study three new subjects; Information and Communication Technology (ICT), technical and professional skills and religious and values.
The officials of the Ministry of Education, who pointed out that more than eighty thousand (80,000) students fail in the ordinary level examination in a year, have suggested that no child will fail through the new education reforms and that all children who passed the ordinary level examination should be given the opportunity to study vocational training courses.
For that, A-level subjects have been classified into two categories as academic education and vocational education and a path has been prepared for every child to obtain a degree. The Ministry of Education also pointed out that two new subjects have been added under academic studies by increasing the current subjects from 6 to 8. Furthermore, the officials of the Ministry stated that the children will receive the opportunity to obtain education through 10 subject areas under practical studies and through that, the children will get the opportunity to obtain degrees by going through vocational fields.
The Ministry pointed out that administrative restructuring is also taking place in the education service. The number of existing educational zones will increase from 100 to 122 and the total number of ten thousand one hundred and twenty-six (10,126) schools will be classified as cluster schools of one thousand two hundred and twenty (1220). All the existing national schools will be a flagship school in a cluster of schools as flagship schools at the provincial level.
Officials of the Ministry said that 517.05 billion rupees have been allocated for the Ministry of Education in this year's budget for the year 2024. Of this, two thousand million rupees have been allocated for providing school textbooks, six million rupees for school uniforms, and two thousand five hundred million rupees for providing school shoes to seven hundred twenty-eight thousand four hundred and eighty (728,480) children. About 1.07 million school children are currently being given lunch and the same number is ready to be given to 1.5 million children in the year 2024, the Ministry of Education officials said.
Sate Minister of Education Hon. A. Aravindh Kumar, Minsiters and Members of Parliament, Secretary to the Ministry of Education Mr. Nihal Ranasinghe, Commissioner General of Examinations Mr. Amit Jayasundara, Senior Advisor of the Ministry of Education Prof. Gunapala Nanayakkara and a group of high officials of the Ministry of Education were present at this occasion.
2026-08-18
The Hon. Speaker of Parliament Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne endorsed the certification today (18) on the Animals (Amendment) Bill and the National Water Supply and Drainage Board (Amendment) Bill.The Bill to amend the Animals Act, No. 29 of 1958 was presented to the Parliament of Sri Lanka for First Reading by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation on 21.07.2026 and was passed by Parliament on 06.08.2026.The primary objective of this amendment is to broaden the legal definition of the term “animal” in Section 38 of the principal Act. In addition, by redefining the term “animal”, the amendment ensures that goats, pigs and sheep are brought within the scope of the provisions of Part II of the Act. Further, the relevant definitions have been clarified in relation to Part IV of the Act to include sheep, goats, pigs and poultry.The National Water Supply and Drainage Board (Amendment) Bill was presented to Parliament for First Reading by the Minister of Housing, Construction and Water Supply on 21.07.2026 and was also passed by Parliament on 06.08.2026.The amendment modernizes the National Water Supply and Drainage Board Law, No. 24 of 1974, and strengthens the powers and functions of the Board relating to the provision of water supply and wastewater management services.The responsibilities of the Board have also been expanded to include water and wastewater management services in industrial estates, industrial parks and community-based organizations. In addition, the amendment makes provisions for expanding employee insurance schemes, technical services, training services, laboratory services and consultancy services to support more effective and sustainable water and wastewater management.Accordingly, the Animals (Amendment) Bill has been enacted as the Animals (Amendment) Act, No. 19 of 2026, while the National Water Supply and Drainage Board (Amendment) Bill has been enacted as the National Water Supply and Drainage Board (Amendment) Act, No. 20 of 2026.
2026-08-18
The Twenty-Second Amendment to the Constitution Bill, which includes provisions to extend the retirement age of judges of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal, was presented to Parliament today (Aug. 18) for First Reading.The Bill was referred to the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Governance, Justice and Civil Protection, and provisions of the Constitution allow for the opinion of the Supreme Court to be sought in relation to the Bill.Accordingly, any party wishing to challenge the constitutionality of the Bill may file a petition before the Supreme Court within 14 days from the date on which the Bill was presented to Parliament.If such a petition is filed, the Supreme Court is required to consider the matter and communicate its determination to the Speaker within 21 days.Meanwhile, the Judicature (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to amend the Judicature Act, No. 2 of 1978, was also presented to Parliament today for First Reading. The Bill proposes to extend the retirement age of judges of the High Court, Magistrates’ Courts and all other courts.
2026-08-17
A programme aimed at educating students of the Sri Lanka Law College on the legislative process was held at Parliament.The programme included discussions on the legislative process, Parliamentary procedures and traditions, and other matters relating to the business of Parliament. A question-and-answer session was also held. Afterwards, the students took part in a tour of the Parliament premises, including the Chamber.At the request of the Human Rights Movement of the Sri Lanka Law College, the programme was organized by the Public Outreach Section of the Department of Communications of Parliament. Assistant Secretary General of Parliament Mr. Hansa Abeyratne, Director (Legislative Services) Mr. M. Jayalath Perera, Assistant Director (Administration) Mr. Kanchana Herath, and Assistant Director (Administration) Mr. Shantha Fernando participated in the programme.
2026-08-14
Parliament’s Official Website Also Wins Gold Award for Best Government WebsiteThe official website of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, www.parliament.lk, recently won the Overall Silver Award for the Best Website Overall at the “BestWeb.lk 2026” Awards Ceremony.It is also noteworthy that the Parliament’s official website won the Gold Award in the “Best Government Website” category.The “BestWeb.lk 2026” Awards Ceremony, organized by the LK Domain Registry, was held on 12 August 2026 at the Monarch Imperial in Sri Jayawardenepura.More than 350 websites competed this year across 24 categories. The websites were evaluated based on a range of criteria, including technical implementation, performance, design, content, security, and other additional features.The Parliament’s official website has previously won awards at this competition on several occasions. This year’s participation is particularly significant as it marked the website’s return to the competition after a seven-year hiatus, following the launch of its revamped website.A large gathering of distinguished guests, experts, academics, as well as award winners and representatives of nominated websites, attended the awards ceremony. Mr. G. Pradeep Saputhanthri, Secretary to the Prime Minister, participated as the Chief Guest.This recognition reaffirms the Parliament’s continued commitment to strengthening its digital presence and providing Parliamentary information to the public through its official online platform in an accessible, reliable, and user-friendly manner.
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