Moving towards high performing education sector in Sri Lanka
Introduction
Source: http://www.ips.lk |
Education
has a positive effect on people and society. It helps to expand the economy and
reduce the poverty level. Further, education promotes the health and wellbeing of people. Countries need to have a high quality of the education system to achieve the above benefits. When the Sri Lankan education system is considered, it faces many challenges. Pertinent issues in the field are Lack of training and development for teachers, low quality of the education, lack of
responsiveness to the labor market demands, less focus on technical/vocational
training, outdated curriculums and low budgetary allocation, (Gnanawansa,
2017). The dismal performance of the education sector is a barrier to uplift the
country to higher state and to face the challenges in the 21st
century.
Performance
management
Performance
management can be defined as the systemic improvement of people, team and organizational performance, (Armstrong, 2006). The objective of the performance management system is to improve the overall performance of the
individuals and the business processes. Measurement of performance is important
because it facilitates to identify the success areas and areas that need improvement.
Further, it forms the basis for proving feedbacks, (Armstrong, 2006).
How to upgrade the education sector to high performing culture
It
is the quality of the teacher that drives the quality of the education system. Many countries that
have a high-quality education system has given attention to improve the
performance of teachers.
1. Attract the best talent as teachers
This is the
starting point. Many countries with a high-performance education system such as
Singapore, have a mechanism to recruit the best people as teachers,
(Arunathillake, 2014). Their selection process is stringent. They select
qualified people with teaching ability and leadership qualities as teachers.
Teachers’ wages are higher in parallel with other professions. Therefore, best
performers tend to select teaching as their carrier, (Arunathillake,
2014). When we look at Sri Lanka, it recruits trainees from the National Colleges of Education (with National Diploma in Teaching) and
graduates from the National Universities. The selection process is not that
stringent, (Abayasekara and
Arunathillake, 2018). Sri Lanka also recruits
teachers in an ad hoc manner sometimes without adequate qualifications, due to
the political influences. Another issue is the low wages of teachers compared
to other professions, therefore best performers do not select teaching as their
carrier. The country needs to formulate policies to attract the best performers to the education sector by examining the best practices in the world.
2. Training and development
High performance cannot be achieved by merely selecting the best
performers. It is essential to have continuous training and development
programs to gain new knowledge and improve their skills. Multiple avenues are
available for training and development such as allow adequate personal time for
self-studies, mandatory continuous professional development (CPD) programs and
peer reviewing of teaching activities, (Stewart, n.d.). These methods are
practiced in many countries with a high-quality education system and to some
degree in Sri Lanka. A systematic teacher development program shall be incorporated into the education system to ensure teachers are equipped with the skills that suit the 21st century.
3. Performance
appraisal and motivation
Promotion
based on performance is one of the key aspects of improving teacher engagement and motivation. The provision of high wages and incentives for working in remote areas will increase the engagement and the motivation of teachers.
To
conclude, there are many areas to address when focusing on improving the
quality and the performance of the education sector in Sri Lanka. High
performing educational culture is required to elevate Sri Lanka to a higher
position in the global arena.
References
1. Abayasekara A
& Arunatilake N., 2918. Improving the quality of education in Sri
Lanka. [Online] Available at: https://www.globaldev.blog/blog/improving-quality-education-sri-lanka [Accessed 30 May 2019].
2. Armstrong M., 2006. Human resource management. 10 ed.
London: Kogan Page Limited.
3. Arunatillake N., 2014. Quality of Teachers Does Matter in Sri Lanka: Lessons from the Best Education Systems. [Online] Available at: http://www.ips.lk/talkingeconomics/2014/11/17/quality-of-teachers-do-matter-in-sri-lanka-lessons-from-the-best-education-systems/ [Accessed 30 May 2019].
4. Gnanawasa M., 2017. A study of a few recognized educational issues faced by Sri Lanka at present. [Online] Available at: https://apiar.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/6_APCAR_MAR_2017_BRR739_education-35-42.pdf
[Accessed 30 May 2019].
[Accessed 30 May 2019].
5. Stewart V., n.d. How Singapore developed a high-quality
teacher workforce. [Online]
Available at: https://asiasociety.org/global-cities-education-network/how-singapore-developed-high-quality-teacher-workforce
[Accessed May 30, 2019].
Available at: https://asiasociety.org/global-cities-education-network/how-singapore-developed-high-quality-teacher-workforce
[Accessed May 30, 2019].
5 Comments:
Good review.as far as Sri lankan education sector is concerned, Teachers are paid less amount. Talent people can't be attracked without better compensation plan. Though they have a degree or diploma in teaching they are getting small salary compared to other field. Therefore better teachers can't be recruited as well as the service, effectiveness of exsiting teachers can be utilized.
Thank you Ruwan for your comment. Yes it need to improve the wages of teaches to get the maximum contribution from them
Good article Sudarshana. When we look at the Sri Lankan context wages of the teachers are lower than the other professionals. In that case, the teachers focus more attention on tuition to make their living better.
Thank you Tharindu for the comment. Yes low wages is one of the key reason why Teachers do tuition, as a result time available for personal development and further studies diminishes.
I found that site very usefull and this survey is very cirious. I ' ve never seen a blog that demand a survey for this actions. very curious...
personalsuccess
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