Opposition is not against education reforms, but against vulgarization says Sajith

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa says that the opposition is not against education reforms but strongly opposes what he described as the “vulgarisation” of education under the government’s proposed changes.

Premadasa has made these observations during a “Husma” programme at the Kitulgala Base Hospital where he had donated medical equipment worth Rs. 3.3 million. He has noted that the opposition had never objected to reforms at Grades 1 and 6 but had raised concerns over the inclusion of content that he claimed was inappropriate and harmful to the education system. “We are not opposing education reforms. What we oppose is the attempt to vulgarise education. The opposition has always called for transformative change in education, not its degradation,” he has said.

Responding to recent remarks by Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, the Opposition Leader criticised the government for attempting to implement education reforms without proper consultation or a structured process. He alleged that the reforms were being pushed forward in a disorderly manner, without green papers, white papers or meaningful stakeholder discussions.

“There is no proper framework. Instead of green papers or white papers, there is only a PowerPoint presentation. That is not how national education reforms should be carried out,” he has noted.

Premadasa has also accused the government of ridiculing previous opposition-led initiatives aimed at improving education, including proposals to strengthen English language education and expand access to Chinese, Japanese and Hindi language learning.

He has observed that while curriculum development requires extensive groundwork, such efforts appeared to be absent in the current reform process, resulting in serious shortcomings, the process had been handled properly, controversial and inappropriate elements would not have found their way into the proposed syllabus.

The Opposition Leader has further noted that his continued involvement in donating medical equipment to state hospitals was aimed at easing the suffering of patients and improving healthcare outcomes, and that although he had previously served in government, this was the first time he was contributing to national development while in opposition.

“All these efforts are aimed at improving the quality of life and increasing the life expectancy of our people,” Premadasa has added.