by Lakshmi de Silva
A large number of International schools are
being opened across the country, some of them as BOI projects.
But there is no uniform standard of teaching in these schools
and some are also run in corrugated zinc sheet sheds. In view of
this the government is considering bringing in educational
standards to these schools, Minister of Education Susil
Premajayantha said.
There were only around ten thousand students in
International schools a decade ago, but the number has increased
up to 210,000 now. The number of International Schools was also
increasing but the Education Ministry had no control or say over
running of these, schools the Minister said.
There are some International Schools affiliated
to certain foreign Universities preparing students for
examinations. One such school in Colombo District was preparing
students for medical degrees awarded by a Tanzanian University
and once students sit that examination and pass out as medical
graduates they will have to face the same problem faced by
medical graduates who had obtained Russian University Degrees,
he said.
At present there was no law to find out whether such
qualifications are of internationally recognised standards or to
insist that local schools should prepare students for recognized
examinations. Therefore, this matter will taken up in Parliament
to ensure that standards are maintained by such schools so that
students will obtain recognised qualification, he said.
