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UPI ID : enb@axis.com
What is this New Educational Reform all about?By Ceylon Today -July 23, 2025 By Sandaruwan YatikindaThe new educational reform, planned to be implemented in 2026, has already sparked widespread public attention and open debate.Reform is nothing new to Sri Lanka. Even in the times of Mahindagamanaya, various reforms have occurred in every sector in differing degrees. The field of education, too, has witnessed a range of reforms, especially during the times of Portuguese, Dutch, and British colonial rule. It is clear, upon examination, that most of these reforms were primarily aimed at spreading religion rather than advancing the nation or its people.The most significant reform in Sri Lankan education history was initiated by C. W. W. Kannangara, who served as Minister of Education. His reforms brought a revolutionary change to the education sector, most notably through the introduction of free education, which opened the doors of learning to thousands of children across the country.Subsequently, various governments attempted educational reforms through different education ministers. While some of these reforms helped to uplift the education system, others had to be withdrawn due to pressure from society.So far, most educational reforms have focused merely on curriculum changes. Neglecting or not paying adequate attention to other sectors in education has been a major reason for the failure of many such reforms.With the new government into power, the previously separate ministries of Education, Higher Education, and Vocational Education were consolidated under one Ministry and entrusted to the current Prime Minister, Dr. Harini Amarasuriya.Education experts have also acknowledged that the new educational reforms scheduled to be implemented in 2026, aims to produce socially responsible and economically productive students through practical strategies.The new educational reform is a significant transformation rather than a mere curriculum update. This reform targets the overall transformation of the education system through five key pillars, ensuring that every child who leaves school receives a quality education and a clear sense of direction for the future and enabling opportunities for students to enter the world of work or pursue higher education.Accordingly, the overall educational reforms will be based on the five key pillars of:Curriculum reform aligned with modern society and the job market.Human resource development tailored to the new curriculum and a technology-driven world.Infrastructure development to ensure a quality, attractive school system, along with administrative restructuring for efficiency.A new assessment and evaluation approach that replaces exam-centric pressure with personalised attention based on modern teaching methods.Awareness and dialogue campaigns for parents and stakeholders to better understand and support the reforms.Special attention is also given to early childhood development, with the goal of laying a lifelong learning foundation under the new educational reforms.School education will operate across four main stages and in the primary stage from Grades One to Five, the focus is on developing essential life skills necessary to support educational growth of the child. Quality education will be ensured for all children across the country, eventually phasing out the competitive scholarship examination from the school education system under the new reform.School education is planned to implement mainly through three stages considering Grade One, Grade Two, Grade Three and Four. Plans are in place to ensure correct use of the mother tongue, practical training in English and second language, enhancement of mathematical ability, fostering understanding and practice of religious and social values, introducing the basics of modern science, aesthetic education, health and physical education, and subject-related activities within a psychologically safe and stress-free learning environment. The second stage is the Junior Secondary Section, covering Grades Six to Nine. During this stage, children are prepared for their future. At this stage, the child will have the opportunity to learn the core curriculum, and a subject has also been included to provide students with a basic understanding of entrepreneurship and financial literacy. Opportunities are provided for students to engage in sports, social, and extracurricular activities and follow the respective subjects under the assessment process. Students are required to earn 30 credits from core subjects, 3 credits from elective subjects, and 2 credits from subjects related to career development making a total of 35 credits that each student must achieve. In Grade 9, a special skills-based assessment will be conducted and this provides an opportunity to identify students’ skill levels and to understand their potential future career paths.Based on this assessment and the students’ interests, they are granted an opportunity to select subjects for Grades 10 and 11, where the total number of subjects studied is seven including the mandatory and elective subjects all together. Students can select subjects from at least three out of the four major streams of the followings based on the skill assessment. The subject stream is as follows:STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)Humanities and Social SciencesManagement and EntrepreneurshipVocational SkillsAt this stage, students can select a total of seven subjects, comprising four subjects from the main academic stream and three subjects from other streams. When selecting subjects, it is mandatory for every student to select History, Aesthetics, and at least one vocational subject. A key feature of this system is the introduction of the GPA (Grade Point Average) method for assessment and evaluation, replacing the traditional competitive examination system. Another important aspect is that students will be given the opportunity to engage in field-based learning aligned with their intended future careers, allowing them to gain hands-on experience and a better understanding of their prospective career paths. All students who complete their school education will receive the NVQ Level 4 National Vocational Qualification Certificate, which provides them with the opportunity to easily enter the workforce after school. At the same time, all students will also have the opportunity to pursue a university degree. A key feature of the new educational reforms is that students will be able to continue their degree studies while being employed, if they so wish.Providing children with the proper benefits through the new educational reforms is not only the responsibility and duty of those involved in the education sector, but of all of us. To achieve this, the Ministry of Education, as well as all sectors within the education system, must work in close coordination, while support and commitment must be effectively ensured at the provincial, zonal, and divisional levels. For the new reforms to become a reality, the active contribution of principals and teachers, who work closely with students, is of great importance. Moreover, timely reform of our education system is a national necessity. In doing so, everyone must commit to working for the future generations, setting aside divisions of ethnicity, religion, and politics. It must be emphasised once again that if the 2026 education reform is not to become just another reform, the support, blessings, and commitment of the entire nation must be extended on behalf of the children of our country.Education, Reform, and the Battle for the Classroom.An exclusive interview with Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya.
Inside Trump’s Head-Spinning Greenland U-TurnPresident rules out using force to take control of Greenland and calls off promised tariffs on European nationsBy Alex Leary, Daniel Michaels, Bertrand Benoit and Robbie GramerUpdated Jan. 21, 2026 7:03 pm ET WSJ DAVOS, Switzerland—When President Trump arrived in the snow-covered Swiss Alps on Wednesday afternoon, European leaders were panicking that his efforts to acquire Greenland would trigger a trans-Atlantic conflagration. By the time the sun set, Trump had backed down.The about-face followed days of back-channel conversations between Trump, his advisers and European leaders, including NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, according to people close to the talks. The Europeans, who stood united in their opposition to Trump acquiring Greenland, employed a mix of enticements, such as offers to boost Arctic security, and warnings, including about the dangers to the U.S. of a deeper rupture in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.After a meeting with Rutte on Wednesday, Trump called off promised tariffs on European nations, contending that he had “formed the framework of a future deal” with respect to the largest island in the world.The exact contours of the framework are still in flux, but negotiations are expected to center on several areas, according to officials in Europe familiar with the discussions. They include a potential U.S. agreement with Denmark about stationing forces at bases in Greenland and expanded European efforts to boost security around the Arctic. The U.S. could receive a right of first refusal on investments in Greenland’s mineral resources—a veto aimed at preventing Russia and China from tapping the island’s wealth—and in exchange Trump would take tariff threats off the table, the officials said.Speaking to reporters, Trump called the framework “really fantastic,” but offered few details. He said he assumes Denmark, which controls Greenland, had been informed about the potential deal.NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and President Trump in Davos, Switzerland. EVAN VUCCI/APThe White House declined to comment on the details of the proposed framework and a Trump administration official said the scope of the negotiations hadn’t been set in stone. “If this deal goes through, and President Trump is very hopeful it will, the United States will be achieving all of its strategic goals with respect to Greenland, at very little cost, forever,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.There were early signals on Wednesday that Trump was open to a deal. During an hourlong speech at the World Economic Forum, the U.S. president said he wouldn’t deploy the military to take control of Greenland.It was a stark shift in tone for Trump, who just days earlier had declined to rule out using the military to secure ownership of Greenland and posted an image online of the territory with an American flag plastered across it.The pivot was a welcome relief to European leaders, who faced the prospect of economy-rattling tariffs and a standoff with Trump that could have threatened the stability of NATO. Last weekend, Trump said he would hit eight nations with 10% tariffs starting next month if a deal wasn’t reached to acquire Greenland. The tariffs would increase to 25% in June.In a Truth Social post Wednesday night, Trump said he would hold off on the tariffs so that his top advisers—Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff—could negotiate a deal on Greenland.“The day is ending on a better note than it began,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said.Some of Trump’s own advisers had privately harbored concerns that the president’s harsh rhetoric had made it harder to strike a deal with Denmark. In recent days, administration officials have discussed compromise proposals that would give the U.S. access to minerals and land for military bases, a Trump administration official said. Some outside allies of the president were concerned Tuesday after stocks fell sharply following Trump’s Greenland-related tariff threats.U.S. and European officials drew conflicting lessons from the Greenland episode. U.S. officials argued that Trump’s aggressive posture had forced European officials to the negotiating table after they had for months refused to indulge the president’s campaign to take control of Greenland. European officials contended that maintaining a united front of opposition could help convince Trump to reach a deal that fell short of acquiring the territory.Trump and Rutte on Wednesday “discussed the critical significance of security in the Arctic region” to the U.S. and other NATO members, according to an alliance spokesman. Talks about the proposed framework will focus on how NATO members can work together to ensure Arctic security, the spokesman said. More-specific negotiations between Denmark, Greenland and the U.S. will aim to ensure “that Russia and China never gain a foothold—economically or militarily—in Greenland,” the spokesman said.Rutte has drawn mockery for his sometimes-fawning approach to Trump. At NATO’s summit in June, he referred to the president as “daddy” and has repeatedly lavished praise on him. But Trump and Rutte have built a strong working relationship, U.S. and European officials said.Members of the audience during Trump’s speech in Davos, Switzerland. MARKUS SCHREIBER/APIn his speech earlier Wednesday, Trump delivered pointed criticism of longtime U.S. allies as representatives from those countries looked on. He described Europe as unrecognizable from an earlier era and headed in the wrong direction. He rebuked Denmark as ungrateful. He said Switzerland wouldn’t have a country if not for the support of the U.S. And he mocked French President Emmanuel Macron for wearing aviator sunglasses at the event.But Trump also sought to de-escalate, calling for immediate negotiations to discuss the U.S. bid to acquire Greenland. “I don’t have to use force,” he said. “I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force.”Trump suggested that NATO members have an obligation to support the U.S. acquisition of Greenland because of America’s central role in bolstering the trans-Atlantic alliance. “We give so much, and we get so little in return,” he said.Members of President Trump's administration listen to him speak Wednesday in Davos, Switzerland. CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES“We want a piece of ice for world protection, and they won’t give it,” Trump said of his desire to acquire Greenland from Denmark. “You can say yes, and we will be very appreciative. Or you can say no, and we will remember.”Trump was met with a muted response from the room of global elites that packed the main conference hall for his speech, drawing some light applause but also many blank stares and spurts of nervous laughter as he made some of his most-strident claims.Leaders of the European Union’s 27 countries are set to meet in Brussels on Thursday evening for a hastily organized summit. While they no longer need an immediate game plan for a trade war, they now must assess battered trans-Atlantic relations.Europeans had been seeking ways to bolster Arctic security while showing Trump that they aren’t ceding Greenland. France on Wednesday proposed extending Danish-led multinational military exercises now ongoing in Greenland.Trump’s advisers said he had been emboldened by the U.S. operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. In the aftermath of the raid, Trump has put renewed emphasis on his efforts to exert control over the Western Hemisphere.Trump’s Greenland ambitions triggered an unprecedented diplomatic crisis for the U.S.’s closest NATO allies, who are already grappling with Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and geopolitical competition with China. Some of Washington’s closest historic allies have questioned how much longer they can count on the U.S.“Every day we’re reminded that we live in an era of great-power rivalry,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said during a speech at Davos earlier this week. “That the rules-based order is fading. That the strong can do what they can, and the weak must suffer what they must.”“That the rules-based order is fading. That the strong can do what they can, and the weak must suffer what they must.”Canadian Prime Minister Mark CarneyIn Davos, those tensions were at times on display behind the scenes.Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, walked out of a Tuesday dinner during a speech by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, in what some attendees viewed as a sign of mounting tensions in trans-Atlantic relations. Lutnick, addressing an invitation-only dinner of VIP guests, blasted Europe’s energy policies and criticized what he described as the continent’s declining competitiveness on the world stage, according to people who attended.Some guests at the dinner applauded Lutnick’s remarks highlighting the U.S.’s power in comparison with Europe, and others booed, attendees said. “We have no comment to add,” an ECB spokesperson said by email Wednesday morning. A Commerce Department spokesperson said that “during Secretary Lutnick’s three-minute speech, no one left hastily. Only one person booed, and it was Al Gore.” Gore, the former U.S. vice president, responded by saying that he listened to Lutnick’s speech and “didn’t interrupt him in any way.”
ENB வாசகர்கள், அன்பர்கள், ஆதரவாளர்கள், தொண்டர்கள்,தோழர்கள், மக்கள், மானுடர் அனைவருக்கும் புரட்சிகர புத்தாண்டு வாழ்த்துகள்.
