A commendable step

The increase in the allocations for health and education in the present Budget is a positive development considering the importance of these sectors to the general well being of the country.

Opening the Budget debate for the Government in Parliament MP Basil Rajapaksa responding to an Opposition member who complained at the steep rise in the Defence expenditure noted that the Education and Health Budgets too had been increased by 29.3 per cent and 23.4 per cent respectively.

The MP also said that the rise in the Defence Budget should be viewed in the context of the achievements of the Forces during the past two years. A rose in the Defence Budget is inevitable given the importance of protecting the country’s sovereignty.

That additional provisions are made for education is indicative of the Government’s intention to raise the standards of education in the country with a view to producing a generation of educated citizens who could hold their own in any environment.

A country is usually judged on the education levels of its populace and the Government has no doubt taken this view to heart in giving pride of place to education in its Budget.

It should now lose no time in mapping out a blueprint to raise the quality levels of our education system keeping in mind the changing trends in the world.

Some of the methods adopted today are moribund and there is a need to overhaul certain school curricula which do not meet with current requirements. It is our proud boast that we are a country with the second highest literacy rate in Asia.

However, this is only “literarily speaking” while in the area of skills development we are far behind other developing countries. Our education set up still has no relevance to the demands in the job market.

We are only producing graduates in their numbers who can hardly fit into the present environment. There is an urgent need to catch up with developing trends and accent laid on IT skills, the key that would open the avenues to new frontiers of knowledge.

True, it is difficult to change the status quo lock, stock and barrel. Besides, there are bound to be resistance to wholesale change in certain quarters who would want our traditional systems retained.

Above all the Government should take the necessary steps to improve the quality of our teachers and strive to remove imbalances in opportunities for education by bringing all rural schools on par with their city counterparts.

Granting extra allocations for education would be in vain if students are compelled to seek the assistance of private tuition negating the concept of the country’s free education.

Every endeavour should be made to remove the disparities in the in the education sector that set some segments apart from others. Grievances of the teaching profession too should be looked into.

The Government should also address the downfall of University education which has today become a slur on the entire educational edifice of the country.

Today Universities have become hot beds of student activists pursuing their political agendas. The Government should take steps to remove the bad reputation earned by these institutes of higher learning among the public which has left many talented students shun University education.

The raising of financial allocation to the Health Sector in Budget 2008 should also viewed in the backdrop of the Government’s avowed policy of upgrading rural hospitals and the accent laid on the preventive health.

While these are commendable moves that Government should also do something about the steep rise in the prices of essential drugs. A scheme should be devised to make it possible for certain deserving elements such as widows or aged pensioners and those in the low income categories to purchase drugs at concessionary prices.

Meanwhile it should drilled into Government doctors that their primary duty lies in the treatment of patients at Government Hospitals rather than engage in private practice. No amount of extra financial allocations would be of use if patients do not receive proper care by Government doctors.

Also some of our hospitals, particularly in the rural areas, are in need of refurbishing while some others lack even the basic facilities. The new allocations it is hoped would be utilised towards addressing these issues.