Prime Minister highlights importance of maintaining quality of education

(March 27, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka inaugurated the First Meeting of SAARC Ministers of Education/Higher Education at the Colombo Hilton this morning.

The ministerial meeting hosted by Sri Lanka during its Chairmanship of SAARC was organised by the Ministry of Higher Education in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, the Prime Minister stressed that it is important in the face of rapidly increasing demand for higher education in the region for authorities to take necessary action to meet the challenge of maintaining the quality of education. He emphasised that assurance of quality is as important as providing access to higher education.

The proposal to host a ministerial meeting focusing on higher education policies in the SAARC region was made by the Sri Lanka delegation to the Fourth Meeting of the Committee of Heads of University Grants Commissions/Equivalent Bodies held in New Delhi in May 2008 on the direction of Minister of Higher Education Prof. Wiswa Warnapala.

Tracing the history of education in the region, Minister Warnapala, in his address, stated that the region, despite its wide diversity, has had a history of a traditional system of education. He recalled that the region is heir to a great intellectual tradition, a part of which was associated with the great centres of learning in Taxila and Nalanda. The modern education system including higher education institutions in the region, he said, was initially established based on the influence of colonial models and to suit the requirements of the colonial era. Stating that the human resource base of the SAARC region needs to be harnessed properly for the acceleration of economic and social development, he emphasised that it is in this background that higher education becomes important in the construction of knowledge economies. The minister stressed that the SAARC region, with its immense potential and intellectual resources, needs a new strategy and a new set of policies in higher education to make use of its valuable intellectual resources for its own development.

Secretary General of SAARC Sheel Kant Sharma said that the invaluable component in South Asia’s rich heritage is its vast human resource and that in order to ensure meaningful utilization of this resource, they need to be empowered with a well-designed education system so that they can respond effectively to the challenges in a globalizing world. Stating that ‘education’ entered the SAARC process as early as 1989, the Secretary General added that the first ministerial meeting on higher education policies and strategies is significant as it provides an opportunity to raise the SAARC process to a political level with a focus on, among other things, the SAARC Plan of Action on Higher Education which is on the agenda of the ministerial meeting. The meeting, he said, would also provide a useful opportunity to deliberate on re-shaping and re-modelling higher education policies in South Asia to increase the employability of youth and to meet the needs of the 21st Century. He stressed that policies and action points should be formulated so that higher education in South Asia can be more equitable, accessible, cost-effective and relevant to the local context as well as to changing global needs.

The Ministerial Meeting which will be chaired by Minister of Higher Education Prof. Warnapala was preceded by a meeting of Senior Officials chaired by Secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education Malini Peiris yesterday. The two day meeting is attended by representatives of all SAARC Member States.

Upon conclusion of the inauguration ceremony, the visiting SAARC Ministers and Heads of Delegation called on H.E. the President this morning at Temple Trees.

-Sri Lanka Guardian