Preschool education gets science-based overhaul

Colombo, June 18 (Daily Mirror) - Sri Lanka is introducing major reforms to preschool education with a new science-based curriculum designed to improve the quality of early childhood learning across the country.

The Women and Child Affairs Ministry said the changes are based on scientific research showing that the first few years of a child's life are the most important for learning, behaviour and emotional development.

Experts say that during early childhood, a child's brain forms more than one million new neurons every second, making it the most important stage of development. The government also warned that negative experiences and toxic stress during this period can have lifelong effects, increasing the risk of physical and mental health problems later in life.

Officials said Sri Lanka's current preschool system focuses too much on teaching alphabets, numbers, languages and mathematics, while giving less attention to play-based and activity-based learning, which are essential for healthy brain development.

To address these issues, the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs, the Ministry of Education and UNICEF launched the National Curriculum Framework for Early Childhood Education in November 2025. The framework was developed with support from experts in education, health, child welfare and child protection.

The government said islandwide Training of Trainers (ToT) programmes are now in their final stage to help preschool teachers implement the new curriculum across the country.

Officials said the reforms will improve the quality of preschool education and create a more child-friendly learning environment based on internationally accepted scientific standards.