INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
to sharing knowledge on issues relevant to Sri Lanka, alongside catalysing a long-term engagement among the government, international
experts, and other stakeholders to support strengthening the national innovation ecosystem.Delivering opening remarks, the Prime Minister Dr
Harini Amarasuriya emphasised the need for innovation for overcoming economic crisis and the middle-income economic trap and noted that the
government is committed to setting the policy directions, partnering effectively with the private sector and promoting innovation by active
involvement throughout the innovation chain.Furthermore, the Prime Minister stated that even though Sri Lanka has a strong foundation for
that for decades, there has been an underinvested attention drawn to higher education and research
a leading, innovative, sustainable, resilient state or society? The answer lies in our investment choices
this heavy investment and attention on general education, a highly unequal educational landscape has been created in the country where there
despite our heavy investment in education? Not only does this mean that our system has become unnecessarily competitive, our education
system, and too exam-focused, it has also meant that our educational opportunities, our quality educational opportunities, have become
has been based on a series of unexamined assumptions, which I think we need to really re-examine and re-imagine
For instance, if I consider just a couple of those assumptions that we have long taken for granted, our education policy, when it even comes
to general education or our investment in higher education, just takes for granted statements such as this
And why are they unemployable? These are assumptions, okay? Why are they unemployable? Because they lack soft skills in English
research and development, and investing strategically in higher education.The event was attended by the Country Director of Sri Lanka
Resident Mission ADB, Takafumi Kadono, Secretary to the Prime Minister, G
Pradeep Saputhanthri, Secretary to the Ministry of Higher Education, Education and Vocational Education, Nalaka Kaluwewe, and officials and
Faculty members representing the Universities of Sri Lanka.
