January 29, Colombo (LNW): 30 per cent of four-year-old children in Sri Lanka do not attend pre-school education, Education Minister Susil Premajayanth disclosed unravelling a startling statistic.
Emphasising the critical importance of early childhood development, the minister expressed disappointment in the lack of global attention accorded to this issue within the Sri Lankan context.
Despite the acknowledged significance of early childhood development on a global scale, the Minister criticised the insufficient focus on this matter within the country.
He underscored the government’s purported goal of ensuring universal pre-school attendance for all four-year-olds before entering Grade 1.
While the minister’s statement recognises the necessity of bringing all pre-schools under a unified framework, it raises questions about the effectiveness of current policies and initiatives in addressing the evident gap in early childhood education.
The critique points to the need for more robust strategies and increased commitment from the government to prioritise and enhance early childhood development programmes across the nation.
