‘Curriculum useless for tomorrow’s jobs’

Sri Lanka’s education curriculums were incapable of equipping students to pursue employment in expanding fields of technology and commerce, noted Tilak Marapana, President’s Counsel and former attorneygeneral.

“We seem to be hanging on to archaic subjects and irrelevant syllabuses,” he said in a speech at the annual prize-giving at the St. Thomas’ Preparatory School in Kollupitiya on Friday. “It is a defect in the system.” Mr. Marapana also extolled the values of simple goodness, a virtue that carried the attributes of humanity, compassion and honesty.

“Many parents want their son to be ‘great’. They are quite content if they could force him to cram and get good grades at exams so that he ends up in a good job. Others instill false values in their children that money is everything. With a good job or with plenty of money they imagine that their son would be a great man,” Mr Marapana said.

Today, regrettably, greatness was measured by wealth and position and even a crook or a bootlicker could end up “great”. If people lack goodness, they would be like the new-rich and powerful who have forgotten their past and end up with no future.

Addressing the gathering, the school headmaster, Mr N.Y. Casie Chetty said education could only march forward in a climate of peace, stability and security and drew reference to the “violence that was witnessed in June”.

A large number of students were awarded prizes for their accomplishments in the year 2013 and P.D.P.N Wickramasinghe bagged the J.T.R. Perinpanayagam Memorial Gold Medal for Best All-round Student.