Sri Lanka - Institut de statistique de l'Unesco

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Out-of-School Children in Sri Lanka: Country Study preparedness and response programme are supported by UNICEF. Capacity-building programmes for educational personnel to implement these activities also have been conducted. These programmes have yet to reach all schools but are being implemented in at least 200 schools with the support of GIZ. They need to be further integrated into the curriculum to be truly effective. The destructive impact of conflict on political, economic and social stability and on lives and human development including denial of access to education has also stimulated initiatives to undertake preventive measures. Causes that predispose conflict are perceived to be factors such as ethnic disharmony in a multicultural society, the absence of cross-cultural understanding, lack of tolerance and acceptance of diversity, and lack of respect for the rights of all communities. It has been noted too that education policies and programmes have not promoted a concept of national harmony. Hence, a National Policy and a Comprehensive Framework of Actions on Education and Social Cohesion and Peace 2008 has been developed and a Social Cohesion and Peace Education Unit established in the MOE to implement the programme with technical and financial support from GIZ. The programme includes curriculum inputs in school and teacher education to develop an appropriate school culture, co-curricular activities and social integration (MOE, 2008c). However, there is no evidence as yet that this policy has been integrated into the programmes of most schools (MOE et al., 2010). It is urgent for children in Dimensions 2 and 3 that primary and secondary schools in conflict-affected districts are repaired and rehabilitated as quickly as possible. Furthermore, political, governance, capacity and financing barriers impacting children affected by conflict and natural hazards must be addressed effectively through specific policies aimed at ensuring these children firstly have adequate access to school and secondly are able to obtain a high-quality education once they are there. This is an area where social protection measures aimed at conflict-affected families can be extremely useful when linked with education. Political will Political will at the highest level has long been manifested in Sri Lanka, as stated earlier; since the transition to political independence and during the post-independence years, policy-makers have ensured the formulation and implementation of free education and health services in state and state-assisted institutions. This stance has been unhesitatingly reiterated in recent years. The priority attached to education and health policies is seen to have brought around 95 percent of the country’s children into school and to have provided the most economically disadvantaged segments of the population with overt social protection. However, the incidence of poverty, although reported to be declining, has militated against the optimal use of these liberal policies, and some children in the most vulnerable families, as have been seen in this study, continue to be deprived of access to education and to be exposed to economic and sexual exploitation. Furthermore, two trends in the implementation of policies have diluted their positive impact from the perspective of governance. The absence of strong commitment has been noted among a proportion of state officials engaged in translating these policies into proactive implementation at the local level. Furthermore, apathy in implementing direct social protection programmes has resulted in failure to protect children from abuse and in violation of their right to fulfilling and stress- and violence-free lives. 66
Out-of-School Children in Sri Lanka: Country Study Birth certificates Although over 97 percent of children in Sri Lanka have a birth certificate, the lack of one was sometimes given as a reason for children in Dimensions 2 and 3 being out of school. Circulars have been repeatedly sent to schools to address this issue, instructing principals to admit children without birth certificates on the basis of an affidavit from the certification of the village officers (Grama Niladhari). Politicization There is a trend for politicization of appointments, promotions and transfers of educational personnel and officials and allocation of financial and physical resources that exacerbates disparities in the provision of education and welfare services. Politicization within the education sector is a problem that has been acknowledged by policy-makers. For example, the Mahinda Chintana: Development Framework 2010 intends to expand the distribution of primary and secondary schools according to divisional requirements, and has defined objective criteria, based on a school mapping exercise, to ensure that the selection process is adhered to and politicization is eliminated. Devolution In 1987, under the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, authority was devolved to the provincial level on the basis of three lists of responsibilities: national/central, provincial and concurrent. The policy of devolution, however, has gaps, creating overlap and confusion at the local level, and re-examination of the guidelines is needed to ensure their efficient implementation. Coordination of programmes Absence of effective coordination is seen in three areas of programme operation: within the education sector, between sectors and with donors. It was noted earlier that mechanisms have been created for coordination at the local level, e.g., the Compulsory Attendance Committees to implement the compulsory education regulations, and the District Child Development Committees functioning under the Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Affairs. While these committees are expected to have representation from state agencies involved in NFE, social services, probation and child care, labour, child rights promotion, the Samurdhi programme and the Grama Niladhari (state officials in the lowest administrative unit), meetings were reported to be irregular and collaboration to be limited. In extenuation, local officials said that they could not afford the transport costs incurred by participation in meetings. Planning and implementation of programmes A breakthrough in the traditional centralization of planning and plan implementation towards a participatory approach was partially achieved with the introduction of the ESDFP. The objective has been to transform the planning process through a bottom-up approach, with Annual School Development Plans being prepared at the school level in cooperation with local stakeholders and the community as an initial step. While this innovation has been set in motion and the preparation of Annual School Development Plans has been incorporated in the planning process, there have inevitably been ‘teething problems’ as a result of the lack of capacity in schools and local education offices to cope with the new procedures. 67
Page 1:
Ministry of Education
Page 4 and 5:
© United Nations Children’s Fund
Page 6 and 7:
Message of the Hon. Deputy Minister
Page 8 and 9:
Message of the Secretary to the Min
Page 10 and 11:
Message of the Director of Educatio
Page 12 and 13:
Acknowledgements CENWOR would like
Page 14 and 15:
Acronyms 5DE Five Dimensions of Exc
Page 16 and 17:
● ● Children in Dimension 4 are
Page 18 and 19:
Framework of Actions on Education a
Page 20 and 21:
● ● ● It is critical to devel
Page 22 and 23:
Out-of-School Children in Sri Lanka
Page 24 and 25:
Page 26 and 27:
Page 28 and 29:
Page 30 and 31:
Page 32 and 33:
Page 34 and 35:
Page 36 and 37: Out-of-School Children in Sri Lanka
Page 93 and 94: CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMEN
Page 109: Out-of-School Children in Sri Lanka
Page 136 and 137:
Page 138:
show all

Sri Lanka - Institut de statistique de l'Unesco

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?