Govt. accuses previous Sinhala political leaders of creating a ‘state of infertility’

Noting that the destruction caused to Sri Lanka’s economy by the politicians who governed the country for 75 years has contributed to a decline in childbirths, the Deputy Minister of Vocational Education has accused Sinhala political leaders of creating a state of infertility.

Speaking in the Parliament last week, Deputy Minister Nalin Hewage revealed that the number of children enrolled in schools has declined by more than 35,000 over the past nine years.

“It is very sad. While 323,000 children have been enrolled in schools before, the number has now declined to 287,000. It was not only the economy that was affected by this crime. In 2015, 323,337 children have been enrolled in schools. Now, it is only 287,639. Within a period of nine years, the number of children enrolled in schools has declined by 35,697.”

Pointing out that the reason behind married people refraining from having children is the economic crisis, he alleged that former rulers have created a state of infertility in the country.

“There has been a decline in having children in this country. Today, people do not get married. Even if they get married, they do not have children. Even if they did, they do not have more than one child. This is the economy that you have created. You claimed that it is Mohammed who brought sterilizing kottu. It is our Muslim people who are engaged in sterilizing (women). But, it turns out that it is not the Muslim people who have been doing that, but the Mahinda Rajapaksa group, the Ranil Wickremesinghe group, and the Sajith Premadasa group.”

As was revealed by the Deputy Minister in Parliament, 92% of those who have failed the Ordinary Level examination remain in prison.

“Education is a massive tragedy. We think that education is the first, second, and third priority when it comes to building the country. We have limited land resources. But, the space available for education is limitless. Therefore, education is the only way to build this country. We are saddened by the fact that of the children who enter schools today, especially those studying in grades lower than 10/8, around 30,000 students drop out. I inquired about where these 30,000 are. A large share of them are in prison. By 2022, 30,311 persons were in prison. Of them, 64% had failed the Grade 8 examination, and 92% had failed the Ordinary Level examination.”

The Deputy Minister proposes to improve the vocational education sector for children who fail the Ordinary Level examination.

“Now, where is a programme to implement this? It is the job of the Ministry of Vocational Education. We will not let children drop out like this in the future. If poverty is the root cause, the government will take responsibility for it. Dropping out of school will not be allowed. We will direct children to two paths after Grade 9. If the mainstream path works for them, that is fine, and if they prefer vocational education, that too is fine.

The Deputy Minister had further revealed how the government had allocated funds for vocational education last year.

“In 2023, Rs. 25 billion had been allocated for the higher education sector. Generally, around 44,000 students receive higher education. When Rs. 25 billion is allocated for 44,000 students, only Rs. 4.3 billion is allocated for the vocational education sector, which has around 120,000 students. The latter has three times as many students as the higher education sector, but the amount of funds allocated is significantly less.

Deputy Minister Hewage further emphasized in Parliament that it is necessary to socialize students who fail the Ordinary Level examination by providing them with vocational education.