universities and to add fee-charging courses to increase the number of state university places; but both these are controversial among some Sri Lankans.
Vocational and tertiary education Prof. Dayantha Wijeyesekera , the Chancellor of Sri Lanka’s University of Vocational and Technical Education, outlined the history of vocational education in Sri Lanka which dates back many centuries. The annual intake to grade one
annually is around 327,000 and of them 173,000 gain minimum qualification for higher education and have to be provided access to tertiary education. He said Sri Lanka has 15 universities, several degree-awarding institutes coming under the purview of the University Grants Commission and an Open University to cater to the needs of tertiary education. In Sri Lanka, professional education institutions too come under the tertiary education system. All matters pertaining to tertiary
and vocational education are tackled by the National Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission which was established in 2009 and is vested with powers to register, accredit and award quality management to tertiary and vocational education institutes. Sri Lanka’s National Vocational Qualification Framework is similar to that of Britain but not identical. Dr Wijeyesekra pointed out
that Sri Lankans are obsessed with obtaining university degrees and stressed the need to change the mind-set of parents and students. He highlighted a need for the support of Parliamentarians for this purpose.
Health and wealth Shri Kaptain Singh Solanki, MP, of India noted that even though the per capita income of Sri Lanka remains low, it has been able to achieve impressive health indices. He did not agree with the notion that wealthier countries are healthier as wealth means materialism and health means spiritual wellbeing. Prof. Fonseka
said that Sri Lanka had now indeed become a middle income country but it has not forgotten the message of Buddhism and its core values of loving, kindness and compassion. Hon. Zitto Kabwe, MP, from
Tanzania, while endorsing the view that the state must support the healthcare system, queried how governments can raise colossal amounts of funds to pay the health bill. Further, he opined that the capacity of some African countries to support the people is very low and asked how it is being done in Sri Lanka. It was pointed out that Sri Lanka does not rely on the western system of medicine alone. It also has thriving indigenous, Ayurvedic and homeopathy systems of medicine which are highly cost-effective and people are free to access these systems.
The Commonwealth connection Hon. Dato’ Devamany Krishnasamy, MP, from Malaysia added a new
252 | The Parliamentarian | 2012: Issue Four
dimension to the discussion when he asked what measures would be taken to enable young Parliamentarians to contribute to the decision-making process as regards health, education and other key sectors of their respective countries. He wanted to know how the Commonwealth was going to represent the needs of the young and how could Members network in the Commonwealth to achieve this goal. It was pointed out by the
participants that the setting up of youth Parliaments, as has been done in Sri Lanka, and increasing mobility and closer collaboration and co-ordination among Commonwealth countries would be helpful in this regard. The moderator, Hon. Chandima Weerakkody, MP, offered the Sri Lankan model for education support which he said has recently been enhanced through funding for 1,000 fully-equipped secondary schools and 5,000 primary schools to feed into them.
Hon. Abdool Razack Peeroo, MP,
of Mauritius focused on the changing perspectives of the 21st century. He recalled that the overriding
theme of the 18th meeting of Commonwealth Education Ministers was “Education in the Commonwealth: Bridging the Gap as we Accelerate towards Achieving Internationally Agreed Goals”. While laying the emphasis on bridging the gap in education among developed Commonwealth countries and developing Commonwealth countries, he queried how the CPA could help to transfer knowledge of developed CPA Parliaments and Members to less developed and developing CPA Parliaments and Members. It was proposed that the Commonwealth of Learning could be a solution to this. Some were of the view that the same technology used in developed countries could not be used in developing countries as the individual needs and abilities of countries, and their own domestic market requirements, should be taken into
Dr Sunil Jayantha Navaratne speak- ing at the workshop. From left to right: Fellow discussion leaders Prof. Dayantha Wijeyesekera, Prof. Carlo Fonseka and Moderator Hon. Chan- dima Weerakkody, MP.