Education Minister Susil Premajayantha said the education system which is constantly aiming at providing children mostly with knowledge needs to be changed to suit the needs of the contemporary world and must be brought on par with those in developed countries giving utmost priority to develop the skills of children.
The prime objective of the education transformation process will be implemented in the near future to create skillful, versatile inventors with balanced knowledge, attitudes and innovative skills.
The Minister was the Chief Guest of the art competition certificate awarding and prize-giving of Thurstan College recently.
The Minister said that Thurstan College’s ‘ Perception 23’ art exhibition can be regarded as a unique practical opportunity to take the knowledge gained from the subject beyond that and pave the way for prospective future inventors.
Various problems arose in the education sector and students faced untold hardships in the past few years when the schools remained closed. Therefore, it is highly commendable of organising an art exhibition called ‘Perception 23’ with the participation of all the national schools to enhance the children’s mental condition, he said.
Minister Premajayantha said it is imperative that school drop- outs should be provided with vocational training and skills.
All possible steps are now being taken in collaboration with related institutions to fulfill that need. We should make sure that every child receives some kind of vocational training or education and it is the responsibility of the parents to persuade their children to enrich their lives with some professional qualification so that they can become resourceful citizens in the country.
Even at a time of an economic crisis, the Ministry of Education has come forward to put into action the proposed transformational change in education which would create new inventors with skills and talents giving them an opportunity to learn the subject, artificial intelligence as the next phase of information technology.
Notwithstanding many crises, school uniforms and textbooks were provided and the Advanced Level Examination was also conducted successfully, the Minister said.