UNESCO. General Conference; 30th; Records ... - unesdoc - Unesco

Civil and Political Rights. We firmly believe that dialogue is the best form of conflict resolution. To solve the
present armed conflict in the northern part of my country, our government issued a package document three years
ago offering proposals for devolution of power from the centre to the provinces and sought a dialogue and a
broad debate in the country.
35.3 Madam President, the world community has condemned terrorism in the most unequivocal terms. Yet
terrorism goes on unabated. It is therefore equally important that we all support international efforts to suppress
and deny financial support to the terrorist groups who resort to crimes including massacres of innocent men,
women and children all over the world. Madam President, terrorism is anathema to a culture of peace.
35.4 I welcome the Youth Manifesto 2000 signed here in our presence by children representing the whole
world, including two from Sri Lanka. The six areas that this Manifesto deals with - if we all work with
commitment - could help bring about peace and make the earth a better place to live in. Therefore, as soon as I
return home, Madam President, I shall commend this Manifesto to the Sri Lanka Parliament.
35.5 Our commitment to UNESCO’s major programme Education for all throughout life is total and we
support the action plan and the strategies being adopted for the biennium. In this respect, I should proudly say
that Sri Lanka, despite being a developing country, has some unique achievements in the field of education in the
Asia-Pacific region. With the exception of the pre-schools, education is free from kindergarten to the university
in Sri Lanka and it has remained so throughout our 51 years of independence. I am happy to say that nearly 43%
of the pre-school age group is now enrolled and we are monitoring the pre-schools with guidance and curriculum
support. Attendance at primary level records over 95% of the children of the relevant age group. We have no
gender discrimination at all at the school level or in any other educational institution. Sri Lanka continues to
pursue vigorous policies to modernize the curriculum and teacher education and to achieve a better teacherstudent
ratio in our system. We are also striving to remove the existence of regional imbalances of achievement
in education. I am proud to say that we have silently achieved a remarkable level of student participation in our
schools, applicable to all ethnic groups in all regions of the country. Our government has ensured, with assistance
from national and international organizations, the provision of better quality buildings, libraries, science
laboratories, workshops and other amenities to a large number of schools irrespective of their ethnic
environments. With great advances that we have made in the formal schooling system, we will embark shortly
also to establish an open-school or open learning system to provide a second chance for drop-outs, failures, the
disabled, housewives and minor employees of state and private sector establishments. The quality of any system
of education depends largely on the teaching cadre. Being myself a university teacher for nearly 34 years, I
honestly believe in improving the economic and social conditions of the teachers to evolve a quality education
system in my own country. Sri Lanka has provided substantial increases in salaries and also has created a Service
Commission for the Teachers; it is now in the process of reorganizing teacher education by the establishment of a
National Teacher Education Authority.
35.6 Our commitment to the promotion of learning for all throughout life and learning for the sustainable
development of our society remains total and absolute. The right to education of every Sri Lankan child, and
hopefully every adult, will be within our reach in the new millennium. In the sphere of higher education, our
government has expanded higher educational opportunities and new institutions have been established in various
regions of the country. In the matter of education, Sri Lanka wishes to share an idea with the distinguished
delegates of this conference. We have an unbroken system of education in the country with a history of nearly
2,500 years. Our country has been a centre of Buddhist education and has been in touch with numerous
universities in India like the famous Nalanda University of the ancient period. In order to cherish this tradition,
and educate our children and the general public to understand and appreciate this long history, an education
museum has been opened in the National Institute of Education. With UNESCO’s assistance and guidance, we
wish to make this unique venture a useful institution to both students and scholars and also to expand it to a
research centre on education.
35.7 We also welcome, Madam President, the Declaration and the recommendations adopted at the World
Conference on Science in Budapest. Besides efforts to popularize science and make the study of science
accessible to everyone, the Ministry of Science and Technology is now actively engaged in the promotion of
research into indigenous science and technology. The encouragement given for the establishment of science
parks, mobile science exhibitions and seminars targeted at rural communities is expected to improve the
knowledge of science among disadvantaged sections of our communities. The publication of research findings
and the recording of available scientific knowledge in our national languages is important for reaching the
unreached. In regard to the heritage, Sri Lanka is fortunate to have inherited a rich legacy. We would appreciate
it if a major collection of old manuscripts that are now stored in ancient Buddhist temples are preserved for
posterity, recorded and studied under UNESCO’s Memory of the World programme. One of the largest and most
complex of UNESCO’s programmes in archaeological management has been the international campaign for
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