A chronological dossier of policy papers, parliamentary debates, presentations, gazettes, acts, circulars, teacher-training instruments, modules and textbooks issued from September 2024 onwards — with direct links to the canonical sources.
moe.gov.lk, nie.lk, parliament.lk, documents.gov.lk and similar Sri Lankan government domains. Every document below therefore links to its canonical, authoritative URL on the publishing institution’s own server — which is in fact the preferred practice for a reference of this kind, since cached local copies risk going stale as gazettes are corrected and modules are revised. To create a fully offline archive, save this HTML file and then use wget, curl or a browser’s “Save… PDF” on each link below. A suggested wget command appears in the final section.
A short account of how the NPP came to power and why education was, from the first cabinet meeting onward, treated as a flagship portfolio.
On 21 September 2024, Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the National People’s Power (NPP) — an alliance led by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) — was elected the ninth executive president of Sri Lanka, ending decades of dominance by the UNP–SLFP duopoly and their offshoots. He was sworn in on 23 September 2024. Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, a sociologist and former academic at the Open University of Sri Lanka, was appointed Prime Minister the following day — only the third woman to hold the office — and, unusually, was also given the education portfolio. In the parliamentary general election of 14 November 2024, the NPP won 159 of 225 seats, a supermajority unprecedented for any third party in Sri Lankan history. Amarasuriya was re-appointed as Prime Minister and as Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education on 18 November 2024, taking charge of a combined portfolio that had previously been split.
The NPP inherited an education ministry already in the middle of an externally-financed, decade-long reform programme designed under the Wickremesinghe administration with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Whether to bin it or to deliver it — minus the parts the NPP had attacked while in opposition — became the first major policy question of the new government. The Ministry Secretary, Mr. Nalaka Kaluwewa, told The Morning in late July 2025 that the framework had already been in place when the new government took office, that a review had been conducted, and that implementation was now under way. The implication, much debated since, is that the NPP’s reform is in substance a continuation rather than a rupture — though the government’s ministers insist on the rupture and most parents, teachers and academics agree that the operational scope has widened sharply.
A reader who treats the 2026 reform as a clean break will not understand its content. Below are the pre-2024 instruments — some still partially in force, some superseded, all referenced in current ministry documentation.
The 10-year framework that explicitly orients Sri Lankan education towards Vision 2048, drafted by a 25-member committee including representatives of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, the World Bank and the ADB. The NEPF supplies the conceptual vocabulary (“transformative change”, “competency-based credentialing”, “21st-century skills”) that the NPP’s 2025 reform documents recycle. It remains the umbrella policy on which subsequent reforms now formally rest.
The Task Force’s report, prepared during the Covid period, proposed the broad architecture later inherited by both Wickremesinghe and Dissanayake administrations: a competency-based curriculum, school-based assessment, vocational pathways from Grade 9, and a 12-year schooling structure.
The first attempt to re-architect secondary education along competency rather than content lines. Aborted at the implementation stage in 2019–2020 but pilot-tested in selected schools from 2024 onwards, and now folded into the 2026 rollout. The piloting was documented in the “1st Interim Report — Piloting of the Curriculum Transformation” released in 2024.
The 1978 Act remains the principal statute governing all state universities. Section by section, it is now being amended by the NPP government, beginning with the appointment and removal procedures for deans and heads of departments (see Chapter VIII).
Governs the 822 state-funded Buddhist monastic colleges (piriven). Under explicit review by the present government following the Mahanayake Theros’ July 2025 representations on the role of pirivena education in the new reform.
Establishes the NIE as the apex curriculum body. The NIE is now developing all 2026–2031 modules, teacher guides and the new National Diploma in Teaching framework.
The expiring sector plan. A 2026–2030 successor is under preparation in parallel with the new reform. The 2020–2025 ESDP still governs MOE budgeting cycles in the transitional year.
What the NPP campaigned on, and what the formal manifesto pledged for the sector.
The NPP’s presidential manifesto, released in Colombo on 26 August 2024, dedicated a chapter to education that diagnosed the system in unusually blunt language: high dropout, severe resource inequality between national and provincial schools, and a curriculum disconnected from the labour market. Its headline pledges were:
The English, Sinhala and Tamil editions are hosted on the party’s policy site. The education chapter is the single longest section of the manifesto after “Economy”.
An independent scorecard following the NPP’s manifesto pledges, including the education chapter. Updated to mid-2025.
Articulated by the Prime Minister in the Ministerial Consultative Committee on 7 March 2025, and repeated in every subsequent presentation.
Every dated decision, document and debate from the change of government to the present.
Win 55.89% in the second-round count. First peaceful transfer of power to a third party in Sri Lankan history.
An interim, three-member cabinet is appointed. Dr. Harini Amarasuriya named Prime Minister on 24 September and given a broad ministerial portfolio that temporarily includes Education, Science and Technology.
A supermajority that for the first time in Sri Lankan history puts a non-UNP/non-SLPP/non-SLFP government in command of the legislature.
Amarasuriya re-appointed Prime Minister and given the consolidated portfolio of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, ending the previous separation of these ministries. Dr. Madhura Seneviratne becomes State Minister.
Amarasuriya joins the caucus, in which education-policy gender objectives are first set out.
Bill presented to Parliament by the Prime Minister in her capacity as Minister of Education. First reading completed; second reading scheduled for February.
The largest education allocation in nominal terms in Sri Lankan history is announced: preschool meal allowance raised from Rs 60 to Rs 100, an additional Rs 100 million for preschool teacher allowances, Rs 80 million for selected Early Childhood Development Centres, plus reform-implementation funding.
The Prime Minister chairs the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Education in Parliament and formally announces that reforms will roll out in 2026, organised around five pillars (syllabus, human-resource, infrastructure, public engagement, assessment).
The PM announces that new syllabi will be introduced for Grades 1 and 6 from 2026, for Grade 10 from 2028; that the first O/L under the new scheme will be in 2029; and that vocational subjects will be introduced from Grade 9.
Amarasuriya outlines vocational subject streams for Grades 10–11; A/L vocational schools to be expanded from 609 to 1,000 by 2026; a five-year teacher development programme; technical assistance from the Asian Development Bank.
The full 27-slide strategy is presented in Parliament. This is the first comprehensive public document under the NPP government and remains the most-cited single source. (See Chapter VII.)
A condensed version of the parliamentary deck is uploaded for distribution to Provincial Departments of Education for cascading.
President Dissanayake addresses Parliament for the first time on education, defending the reform and warning opposition MPs “not to provoke the masses” on the consolidation of small schools.
In response to public concern, the PM clarifies that the subjects of aesthetics and history have not been removed.
The PM and the Ministry Secretary brief the Anunayaka Theros of the Malwathu and Asgiri Chapters at the Sri Dalada Maligawa on the reform’s implications for pirivena education and religious instruction.
The Inter-University Student Federation, Ceylon Teachers’ Union and others meet to formulate a common response. Most unions ask for more consultation rather than outright opposing the reform.
Senior staff meet at NIE Maharagama under the PM’s chairmanship to plan the cascade training schedule for the 2026 rollout.
The PM meets the Bishops’ Education Committee of the Colombo Archdiocese. The principle of inclusive education — including for children with disabilities and those in low-income households — is reaffirmed.
The Parliamentary Sub-Committee on Education Reforms convenes; the PM tables the formal concept paper that has been under preparation since March. Same session announces a unified preschool curriculum from 2027 and a training programme for ~19,000 preschool teachers commencing 25 November 2025.
The PM convenes academics, the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA, chaired by Prof. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri), and civil-society organisations at the University of Colombo Senate Hall.
Announces 106 new learning modules for Grades 1 and 6; printing to finish by 15 November; teacher-training cascade 99% complete on the ToT (Trainer of Trainers) tier with ~10,000 master trainers; parent-awareness programme set for December.
Notification calls applications for the 2025 intake to all 19 National Colleges of Education, simultaneously admitting two cohorts (the 2023 and 2024 A/L batches) to clear the COVID-era backlog.
State Printing Corporation completes the first-term Grade 1 and Grade 6 module run; distribution to schools begins.
The first piece of NPP higher-education legislation, addressing the appointment and removal of deans and heads of departments.
Approximately 19,000 preschool teachers begin training on the new Early Childhood Education Curriculum Framework, ahead of the 2027 unified rollout.
The official policy document supersedes the PowerPoint slides as the formal reference. Released just three months before implementation, it draws criticism from FUTA for late publication.
The PM tells Parliament that Rs 7.04 billion / 2.04% of GDP is allocated for education, the highest in many years. Rs 300 bn for MOE plus Rs 120 bn for higher education had been approved at finance-ministry stage in August; an additional Rs 3 bn is ring-fenced for reform implementation.
The PM presents the bill in Parliament.
End of the period set by Secretary Kaluwewa for completion of in-service teacher training for the 2026 rollout.
Implementation begins nationwide. School day extended; classroom periods now 50 minutes; seven periods per day instead of eight; longer break intervals. Activity books for Terms II and III begin distribution.
The first-term Grade 6 English module is found to contain a reference to an inappropriate external website. The CID launches a formal investigation; the PM publicly defends the broader reform while ordering corrective action.
Passed with amendments. The opposition does not divide the house.
The Federation of University Teachers’ Associations publishes a substantial collective critique — conceding the need for reform but objecting to the haste, the late release of the policy document, the thinness of social-science content, and the Grade 9 career-interest test.
The Speaker, Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne, endorses the certificate; the bill becomes Act No. 2 of 2026.
Ministry confirms distribution of activity books to all schools by 30 April; provincial directors instructed to finish any remaining teacher-training sessions by 16 May.
Preschool unified curriculum scheduled for 2027; Grade 10 new curriculum for 2028; first O/L under new scheme in 2029; first A/L under new scheme in 2031.
The substantive written instruments. Each is the canonical reference for one slice of the reform.
The formal roadmap. Co-authored by the National Education Commission, the Ministry of Education, the National Institute of Education, the Department of Examinations, the Department of Educational Publications and the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission. Sets out the five pillars, the grade-by-grade implementation calendar, the assessment architecture, and the financing model. The most authoritative single source on the reform; supersedes the PowerPoint decks for technical reference.
The draft concept paper on which the November policy document is based. Hosted on the MOE site as a stand-alone download. Useful because it spells out the rationale and assumptions more openly than the polished final policy.
The successor to the expiring 2020–2025 ESDP. Drafted with technical assistance from the Asian Development Bank; a complete draft was scheduled for September 2025.
A single national curriculum for all preschools, scheduled for nationwide adoption in 2027. Currently being cascaded to approximately 19,000 preschool teachers in training programmes that began on 25 November 2025.
The pilot evaluation that underpins the curriculum decisions in the 2025 policy paper. Carried out under the Wickremesinghe administration and continued under the NPP, in selected schools.
The reform reached the public first through slides, not laws. Three decks circulate widely.
The single most influential document of the reform. Outlines the 2026–2029 transformation roadmap, the new grade structure, the GPA system, the seven-subject O/L, the Grade 9 career-interest test and the vocational pathways. Originally distributed inside Parliament; later circulated publicly through education portals.
The provincial cascade version of the parliamentary deck. This is the deck the Ministry expected each Provincial Department of Education to use when briefing zonal directors, principals and senior teachers in turn.
The branded summary deck used on the MOE’s website and in stakeholder meetings. Less detailed than the July 11 parliamentary deck but more accessible.
The legislative output of the new government in the education and higher-education sphere, so far modest but significant.
The first NPP statute affecting the sector. Amends the Universities Act, No. 16 of 1978 in four broad respects: (i) faculty boards may now elect a Dean from among Senior Professors, Professors, Associate Professors and Senior Lecturers (Grade I); (ii) the University Council is empowered to remove a Dean before the end of their term; (iii) term limits are imposed on the Dean’s office; (iv) the procedure for appointing — and removing — Heads of Departments of Study is revised and made explicit, with parallel term limits. Passed without a vote, with committee-stage amendments.
The NPP manifesto pledged a fresh, comprehensive Education Act to replace the patchwork of statutes from 1939 onwards. As of May 2026 no bill has yet been gazetted; preparatory work is being done by the National Education Commission together with the Legal Draftsman’s Department.
The first appropriation under the NPP, embedding the increased education allocations described in Chapter XIV.
Embeds the highest-ever education allocation, with separate ring-fences for reform implementation, ECD centres, and higher-education infrastructure.
Subordinate legislation is where the reform actually bites the school system. The gazette numbers below are those currently identifiable; the MOE’s circular library is the authoritative point of reference.
The bill text as gazetted before its tabling in Parliament. Available through the Government Publications Bureau.
Calls applications for admission to the 2025 intake to the 19 National Colleges of Education. For the first time, the gazette admits two cohorts simultaneously — from the 2023 and 2024 A/L cycles — to absorb the COVID-era backlog. Sets out merit-based, district-quota selection.
Sets the structure of the school day under the new reform: 50-minute periods, seven periods per day, extended break intervals. Tamil-medium and Sinhala-medium versions are issued separately, as is a guidance note for primary classes.
The parallel guideline for the primary section, addressing how Grade 1 will be timetabled under the new reform together with continuing Grades 2–5.
Sinhala and Tamil editions distributed to all principals. Defines the first-day procedures under the new reform and clarifies what schools are and are not expected to begin in January 2026.
Procedure for the issuance of vouchers for the purchase of locally-manufactured shoes by students of (a) schools with fewer than 250 students, (b) estate schools with 251–500, (c) schools for children with special needs, and (d) lay/clergy populations at pirivenas. Quality oversight by the Sri Lanka Institute of Textile and Apparel.
Adjusts the procedure for admitting students to Grade 6 on the basis of the Grade 5 Scholarship results, in line with the changed Grade 6 curriculum. Forms part of the wider review of the Grade 5 Scholarship Examination (a partial school-based-assessment component is being added).
Re-issued classification used by the Teacher Service to regularise the recruitment, placement and transfer of teachers across the network. Foundational to the human-resource pillar.
A standalone circular restating — with sharper language — the long-standing rule against teachers conducting paid private tuition during school hours, and adding monitoring obligations on principals.
http://documents.gov.lk/files/egz/<year>/<month>/<number>_E.pdf for the English version (S for Sinhala, T for Tamil). The MOE’s own circular index at moe.gov.lk/en/circulars/ is paginated.
The largest single operational programme of the reform.
The teacher-training architecture is built around two cascades. The first — Training of Trainers (ToT) — is conducted directly by the National Institute of Education and produced approximately 10,000 master trainers; according to Secretary Kaluwewa’s briefing of 6 November 2025 it was “99% complete” at that point. The second is the in-service training of the active Grade 1 and Grade 6 teaching force (some 24,000 teachers across 12,626 Grade 1 and 11,291 Grade 6 classrooms), targeted to finish by 31 December 2025. The 19 National Colleges of Education are running an emergency double cohort (the 2023 and 2024 A/L batches) under the November 2025 Vidyapeeta gazette to bring forward fresh trained graduates for 2027 onwards.
Cascade-model master training. ToT manuals and module presentations are issued separately by subject (Sinhala, Tamil, English, Maths, Science, Technology for Life, ICT, Religion, Aesthetics, History, Health & Physical Education, and the Grade 6 Further-Learning subjects).
Delivered through provincial cascades. Examples on the record: zonal awareness sessions at Kalmunai Al Asraq Vidyalaya and Ampara D. S. Senanayake Vidyalaya (August 2025).
Province-by-province training in advance of the unified preschool curriculum’s 2027 launch.
Three-year pre-service course delivered across the 19 NCOEs. The revised version aligns the NDT with the new general-education curriculum the graduates will eventually teach.
Announced in Parliament on 9 July 2025. Annual in-service training for teachers appointed to A/L vocational streams; aligned with industry trends and the expanding network of vocational A/L schools (from 609 to 1,000 by 2026).
The textbooks and teacher manuals that physically arrive in classrooms in January 2026 and beyond.
Under the new reform, traditional textbooks for Grades 1 and 6 are replaced by modules: shorter, term-bound, activity-driven booklets, each accompanied by a teacher guide. The Ministry has prepared 106 modules for the first term of 2026 across the two grades. Distribution began in November 2025 and continued through April–May 2026 (Terms II and III). The NIE publishes these in three media — Sinhala, Tamil and English — though as of the date of this dossier some English-medium and ICT modules were still marked “available soon” on the NIE distribution portal.
| Subject | Type | Sinhala | Tamil | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foundational literacy & numeracy | Module + TG | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Environmental Activities | Module + TG | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Religion & Values | Module + TG | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Activity-based integrated learning | Module + TG | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Track | Subject | Term 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Essential (Anivarya) | First Language (Sinhala / Tamil) | Modules 1–3 |
| English | Module 1 (subject of the January 2026 controversy) | |
| Mathematics | Modules 1–3, in Sinhala / Tamil / English | |
| Science | Modules 1–3, in Sinhala / Tamil | |
| History | Modules issued in Sinhala / Tamil | |
| Religion | By denomination | |
| Health & Physical Education | Module 1 | |
| Technology for Life | Modules 1–3, Sinhala / Tamil | |
| ICT | Modules 1–2 (rolling release) | |
| Further Learning (Wædidura Igenum) | Aesthetic / Performing arts pathway | Module 1 |
| Second National Language | Module 1 | |
| Practical / vocational orientation | Module 1 |
The official module library on the NIE distribution site. The Modules section of Channel NIE is the canonical front-end; aggregators like PastPapers Wiki and Paper Book mirror them with download links per subject and medium.
Companion guides for every module. Issued in all three media. Indexed at the NIE’s Selected Teacher Guides page.
The state body responsible for the print run of school books. Now also handling the modular series under contract with the State Printing Corporation.
The most visible single change for parents and students.
Under the reform, the examination architecture is restructured as follows:
| Element | Old system | New system (from 2026/2029/2031 as indicated) |
|---|---|---|
| Grade structure | Grades 1–13 | Grades 1–12 (17 years of schooling total, including preschool) |
| Grade 5 Scholarship | Pure external exam | Combination of school-based assessment + simplified external exam; deliberately less competitive |
| Junior secondary | Grades 6–9 | Grades 6–8 (junior); a new Grade 9 Skills Test from 2029 (literacy, numeracy, career-interest) |
| GCE O/L | Grade 11, 9 subjects, A/B/C/S/F grades | Grade 10, 7 examined subjects (5 compulsory + 2 electives) within a 14-subject curriculum, GPA-based grading; first sitting under the new scheme in 2029 |
| GCE A/L | Grade 13, 3 subjects, Z-score | Grade 12; first sitting under the new scheme in 2031; academic and vocational pathways; new “Education” subject added (announced for 2027 transition) |
| Failure | Three S grades or one F at O/L = no A/L stream | No fail grades; every candidate placed on either an academic or a vocational pathway |
| Assessment mix | ~100% summative external | School-based assessment (continuous) + external examination on 7 subjects |
The agency responsible for conducting all national examinations. Under the reform it issues the new GPA-based marking specifications and the assessment instruments for the Grade 9 Skills Test.
Routine annual notices, but worth flagging because the 2026 sitting is the last under the old syllabus before the 2029 sitting under the new.
The portfolio was consolidated under one minister in November 2024; the legislative output below reflects this.
See Chapter VIII. The first reform statute touching higher education — restructuring how Deans and Heads of Department are chosen and removed, and capping their terms of office.
Being drafted with the ADB. Targets: integrate vocational subject streams into Grades 10–11 across all schools; expand A/L vocational schools from 609 to 1,000 by end-2026; introduce a four-year vocational pathway from Grade 9.
The buffer body between the Ministry and the 17 state universities. Issuing circulars under the new amendment Act on the procedures for dean and HOD elections, and on the term-limit transitions for currently-serving incumbents.
The investigation that the PM has repeatedly cited as illustrating “political interference and personal interests” in past higher-education governance. The findings were a stated motivation for the Universities (Amendment) Act.
Money, in the end, is the test of any reform.
| Year | MOE allocation | Higher education | % of GDP for education | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | — | — | ~1.8% | Last full Wickremesinghe year |
| 2024 | — | — | ~1.8% | Transition year |
| 2025 | Largest in nominal history at the time | Increased | ~2.0% | First NPP budget; preschool meal allowance Rs 60 → Rs 100; preschool teacher allowance +Rs 1,000; Rs 80m for selected ECD centres; financial progress 18% mid-year, 69% by December |
| 2026 | Rs 300 billion (target) | Rs 120 billion (target) | 2.04% | Additional Rs 3bn ring-fenced for reform implementation; new ECD centres, hostels, medical-faculty labs, digitalisation |
The first NPP budget. Education-relevant content is in chapters on social development, human capital and youth.
Delivered November 2025. The PM’s subsequent parliamentary statement on the Education vote sets out the allocation under the four pillars of equity, quality, governance and evidence-based policy.
Independent professional analysis of Budget 2026, including the education sector allocations and incentives.
A reform of this scale touches every constituency in the country. The dossier of meetings, briefings and debates is itself a primary source.
A balanced reference must record the substantive objections from across the political spectrum. The reform has critics on the left (rushed and pro-market), on the cultural right (perceived erosion of Sinhala-Buddhist identity), and on the technical centre (insufficient consultation, weak rural readiness).
The signatory statement of state-university teachers. Concedes that reform is needed and welcomes the budget increase, but flags: the late release of the formal policy document (November 2025, three months before implementation); thin treatment of social sciences and humanities relative to the curriculum’s declared aspirations; the inappropriateness of a binding career-interest test at age 14; and the lack of attention to histories of minorities and marginalised communities.
The most thorough academic critique to date. A PhD candidate in education at the University of Massachusetts argues that the reform unsubstantively repackages the 2019–2024 stack that the NPP had previously called “fit only for the dustbin”, that the framing of education as employability-driven contradicts the manifesto’s own humanistic commitments, and that the reliance on expert opinion forecloses democratic deliberation.
Critique from the socialist left: argues that the reform implements the IMF-aligned NEPF and accelerates privatisation while restricting education spending to 1–2% of GDP. Useful for the documentation of business representation on the original NEPF drafting committee.
Critique from the cultural-nationalist position: argues that the reform diminishes the place of History, Buddhism and Sri Lankan civilisational identity in early-grade education. Useful as the most-cited articulation of this objection.
Argues that the Universities Amendment passed too quietly and without serious debate inside or outside Parliament — a sign, the author claims, of how diminished higher-education has become as a political concern.
Useful long-form reportage on the Grade 6 English module incident and on what teachers and parents in rural schools say about the readiness of their schools to implement the reform.
Useful for the broader context of education reform within the NPP’s overall first-year performance.
The forward path is set out in the November 2025 policy document and the July 2025 parliamentary deck. The dates are commitments, not yet achievements.
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2026 (Jan) | New syllabus implemented for Grades 1 and 6. Modules and teacher guides distributed in all three media. |
| 2026 (Apr–May) | Term II / III activity books distributed; provincial training gaps closed. |
| 2026 | Number of A/L vocational schools expanded from 609 to 1,000. |
| 2027 | Unified preschool curriculum operational nationwide. New “Education” A/L subject phased in. |
| 2028 | New Grade 10 curriculum begins. |
| 2029 | First Grade 9 Skills Test (literacy, numeracy, career interest). First GCE O/L sitting under the new curriculum. |
| 2031 | First GCE A/L sitting under the new curriculum. |
| 2036–2037 | The 2026 Grade 1 cohort leaves school after 13 years under the new architecture — the long horizon Secretary Kaluwewa highlighted in the November 2025 press briefing. |
| 2048 | The target horizon of the NEPF: “a fully developed Sri Lanka.” |
A practical recipe for fully offline preservation, followed by the full bibliography of canonical hosts.
Save this HTML to a folder, then run wget with all the URLs that appear in this document. A simple recipe:
# Extract every URL in this file grep -Eo 'https?://[^"]+' sri_lanka_education_reforms_2024_onwards.html \ | sort -u > urls.txt # Mirror with a polite delay and a real user agent wget -i urls.txt \ --content-disposition \ --adjust-extension \ --no-clobber \ --wait=2 --random-wait \ --user-agent="Mozilla/5.0 (research-archive)" \ -P ./pdfs/
This will pull down whatever the host actually serves at each link — some are landing pages, some direct PDFs. Open ./pdfs/ and prune as needed.