University of Colombo’s Professor Nirmal Dewasiri slams the government’s move to make history and civics non-compulsory in schools while religion remains mandatory. In a fiery video, he calls out Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, demanding a public debate over the logic behind the reforms.
The government’s proposed education reforms are under fire as Professor Nirmal Dewasiri of the Department of History at the University of Colombo voiced sharp criticism in a video shared on his social media platform.
Professor Dewasiri warns that if the current administration proceeds with implementing these changes as planned, it will face widespread backlash.
His criticism is aimed at the controversial decision to make history and civics non-compulsory subjects in Sri Lanka’s school curriculum. He emphasized his strong opposition to the move, demanding to know the rationale behind it.
In particular, he questioned why religion remains a compulsory subject, while core disciplines like history and civics are being sidelined.
Expressing his frustration, Dewasiri issued an open challenge to Education Minister and Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, inviting her to a public debate to defend the reforms.
He further accused the government of introducing policy amendments without proper reasoning or logic, calling the entire approach senseless and poorly thought out.
His remarks have sparked significant conversation online, with the video quickly gaining attention across platforms.
In my opinion History, as a subject taught in schools to children and young people, is at the root of much future prejudice and intolerance when those young people become adults. History is one of the most insidious subjects deployed in the service of inculcating predetermined agendas on a populace.
Leaving that aside, the Prof. is hardly unbiased in his pronouncements anyway.
History is always biased towards those who wield the most power. Mahawamsa is a classic example.it is india centric as indian powerhouses surpressed the people throughout the ages. For example the mahavamsa says tanks were built by kings. Literally a king is an idle rich individual who is incapable of digging a single hole. Tanks existed 1000s of years before Vijaya. Plus india had no history of tanks. Another fact, is that the oldest bow and arrow found any where in the world,outside of Africa,is in Sri lanka -not india. If this is true then ,the whole idea that most things flow from india ,has to be reviewed. There is a danger that we are going to continue to be india’s little brother if history is taught without questions being askef