Prof. Mahim Mendis says: Brain Drain Driven by Global Demand for Lankan Talent

Prof. Mahim Mendis, PhD (NUS), Senior Lecturer in Mass Communication at the Open University of Sri Lanka and Chief Academic Adviser at the Rainbow Institute of Communication and English, speaking to Ceylon Today, said academics have no reason to impart outdated knowledge that has little practical relevance.

He stressed that university curricula continue to evolve in line with globally relevant knowledge and that Sri Lankan graduates with the right competencies are highly sought after both nationally and internationally.

According to Mendis, the country’s brain drain occurs largely because developed countries are opening their doors to skilled Sri Lankan professionals.

Q: Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, in an international conference held last week in Colombo, said that Sri Lanka’s education system is excessively competitive and examination-driven, arguing that students are often trained to pass examinations rather than to think, create and solve problems. Do you agree with that diagnosis, and what is fundamentally wrong with the way Sri Lanka currently educates its children?

We haven’t elected a Government for the Prime Minister to repeat what is already well known to the people. Her statement is only partly correct. Examinations are competitive in every country. The problem is that Sri Lankan children do not compete on a level playing field. Human and physical infrastructure differs enormously between schools, placing a massive burden on lower-income children who must seek external assistance according to what their families can afford. If students cannot think, create and solve problems, the Government must also examine the quality of teacher training and whether classrooms provide an environment conducive to learning

Q: Sri Lanka has had free education as a major pillar of social mobility for decades. But the Prime Minister has also acknowledged that the ability of families to spend privately on tuition and other forms of education is increasingly influencing educational outcomes. Has free education, in practice, become less equal than it was intended to be?

Free education remains one of Sri Lanka’s greatest social achievements, but free education does not automatically mean equal educational opportunity. The real failure is the inability of the Government to ensure even minimum benchmarks from early childhood to tertiary education, particularly in human resources and physical infrastructure. The State must ensure that a child from a less privileged family has access to education of a standard that allows him or her to compete fairly with children whose parents can spend heavily on tuition and other educational opportunities

Q: If Sri Lanka is moving from an examination-oriented system towards skills-based and practical education, what should replace the culture of the Grade 5 Scholarship Examination, O/L and A/L as the dominant measures of a student’s ability and future?

The best type of education Sri Lanka requires should be decided by the most eminent educationists, irrespective of political or ideological affiliations. It should be a good combination of theoretical and skills-based education. The problem with the Grade 5 Scholarship Examination is largely created by the failure of the Government to establish a level playing field island-wide. Consequently, the examination becomes a matter of almost life and death for families. Education must identify and develop knowledge, creativity, aptitude, character and practical competence.

Q: The Government has begun introducing the new reforms at Grades 1 and 6, with changes to curricula, teacher development, infrastructure and assessment. Is starting with these grades sufficient, or does Sri Lanka need a much more simultaneous reform of the entire education pipeline?

Sri Lanka urgently needs holistic reform from early childhood through school, university and vocational education. Starting with Grades 1 and 6 may be useful, but it cannot transform the entire education pipeline. A Government with a short mandate should prioritise reforms that can achieve meaningful outcomes. Lack of consultation and consensus has made many stakeholders, including senior university academics, sceptical. We all know what Dr. C.W.W. Kannangara intended to do in education, whereas the present reforms remain insufficiently understood by the people.

Q: There is often a major gap between announcing education reform and implementing it inside classrooms. What are the biggest obstacles—teacher capacity, resources, political interference, examination culture or resistance from parents—that could prevent these reforms from achieving their intended results?

Parents cannot be the biggest obstacle because they are concerned about the future of their children. The greater obstacle is unplanned and unsustainable change without first ensuring adequate human and physical infrastructure in all nine provinces. No reform can materialise if teachers are inadequately trained by experts or classrooms operate in environments unsuitable for learning. The Government should therefore get the urgently needed fundamentals right first: train teachers properly, equip schools adequately and create a conducive learning environment. Examination culture matters, but reform cannot succeed if basic conditions remain weak.

Q: If school education is being redesigned to produce students who can think critically and work creatively, shouldn’t the same transformation happen inside universities? What is wrong with the current university curriculum in Sri Lanka?

University academics currently serving Sri Lanka are highly qualified, many having studied at the highest seats of learning in the world. But universities and academics cannot perform magic with students arriving from schools without adequate libraries, laboratories and even lavatories. Many students also enter university without the English and soft skills required for higher education. University curricula are subject to UGC benchmarks and objective assessment. Academics have no reason to impart outdated knowledge of no practical use. Curricula continue to change in line with globally relevant knowledge. Sri Lankan graduates with adequate competencies are greatly sought after nationally and internationally. Brain drain occurs because developed countries open their doors to them.

Q: Many Sri Lankan university programmes were designed around the needs of an earlier economy. How urgently do universities need to review their curricula against emerging areas such as artificial intelligence, digital technology, cybersecurity, renewable energy, logistics, advanced manufacturing, healthcare and the blue economy?

Universities must continually review their curricula against emerging knowledge and national needs. However, the more immediate problem is capacity. University departments do not have adequate staff, and the incumbent Government has frozen academic cadre positions. The academics who remain are carrying an excessive workload, while regressive taxes on remuneration can encourage qualified people to leave. The system therefore cannot do justice to artificial intelligence, digital technology, cybersecurity, healthcare, logistics or the blue economy with too few academics. Modernisation requires investment in qualified people, as much as technology.

Q: Should every university degree contain compulsory components such as internships, industry projects, communication skills, digital literacy, data analysis and entrepreneurship—or would that risk turning universities into vocational institutions rather than places of intellectual inquiry?

Universities around the world have the mandate to produce graduates in their chosen fields. The skills listed are important, but many should largely have been imparted before students enter university. Internships and industrial projects are already part of Sri Lankan university education. Our national universities produce doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers and ICT professionals who are recognised nationally and internationally. Universities should not become merely vocational institutions. Their role is also to develop people who can question assumptions and exercise judgement.

Q: Sri Lanka has a recurring problem of graduates possessing qualifications but lacking the skills employers say they need. The World Bank has identified gaps particularly in areas such as language, critical thinking and professional skills. Is the problem the curriculum itself, the way universities teach it, or the disconnect between universities and industry?

University education is meant for students who have benefited from a sophisticated secondary education system that develops critical thinking, language ability and moral development. So again we return to square one. We should not undermine the mandate of universities by allowing poverty-stricken primary and secondary education to remain the foundation for higher education. If students arrive without English, communication skills and critical thinking, universities must compensate for weaknesses created much earlier. Stronger university-industry links are valuable, but employers should not expect universities to correct every weakness in the national education system.

Q: How much freedom should individual universities and academics have to redesign their curricula? Does Sri Lanka’s highly centralised higher-education structure make it difficult for universities to respond quickly to changes in the labour market?

Universities are able to redesign curricula in the best interests of national development. University councils and faculty boards also have representatives from the industry. The greater difficulty is the lack of the human and physical infrastructure required to implement change effectively. We are currently deprived of the minimum staff requirements needed to sustain the highest quality education. Curriculum flexibility is meaningful only when qualified academics are available to teach, research and develop programmes. Give universities adequate capacity and accountability, and they can respond effectively to the labour market.

Q: Should university funding be partly linked to outcomes such as graduate employment, research output, industry partnerships and innovation? Or would such a model undermine disciplines whose value cannot easily be measured in employment statistics?

Universities need to produce expertise for all fields, not only those where immediate employment statistics look attractive. If funding is linked too heavily to employment statistics, the country may be deprived of expertise required for moral, cultural and spiritual development. A university is not simply a factory producing workers for the current labour market. It is also responsible for knowledge, citizenship and intellectual development. If a graduate is unemployed, we should ask whether the economic system has created sufficient opportunities to absorb the expertise being produced. Economic development and higher education must work together.

Q: There are concerns that Sri Lankan universities continue to produce large numbers of graduates in fields where employment opportunities are limited. Should the State intervene more directly in determining which degree programmes universities expand or reduce?

The State should be cautious about directly determining which degree programmes universities should expand or reduce. Universities cater to students in harmony with the education they have received at secondary level. If the large mass of students has not had equal access to educational opportunities at school level, universities will inevitably reflect that ground reality. Government should provide employment information and encourage universities to adapt, but academic decisions should not become political responses.

Q: The World Bank estimates that nearly one million young people will enter Sri Lanka’s workforce over the next decade, while only around 300,000 jobs are projected to be created. If those numbers hold, can education reform alone solve Sri Lanka’s youth employment problem?

Irrespective of employment demands, a country becomes civilised only if it possesses an educated citizenry. Without education, there will be increasing normlessness and lawlessness. Government must ensure a level playing field in access to quality education. But if nearly one million young people enter the workforce while only around 300,000 jobs are projected, those responsible for economic development, including Government and the private sector, have failed. Educationists are not responsible for creating jobs. Sri Lanka needs accelerated economic development at central and provincial levels.

Q: The Government says vocational and technical education should have the same dignity and recognition as university education. What would have to change for parents and students to genuinely regard a technical qualification as equal in status to a conventional university degree?

Not all youth are inclined to enter university. Some will choose vocational skills development, while others will pursue university education. Both sectors are equally honourable. There should be adequate public education to change the social attitude that a university degree is automatically superior to a technical qualification. Vocational education must also provide high-quality training, competent instructors, modern facilities and genuine employment opportunities. If society is expected to respect technical qualifications, the State must demonstrate that these qualifications provide knowledge, skills, dignity and opportunity.

Q: Are Sri Lankan universities preparing young people to create employment rather than simply search for employment mainly overseas? Should entrepreneurship be embedded across university curricula rather than confined to specialised business programmes?

Educated youth should be able to make sense of their learning and their lives, including recognising opportunities for self-employment. Those who excelled as entrepreneurs in any country were not necessarily recipients of entrepreneurial education at university. Entrepreneurship is about making sense of self-employment through a chosen field. It should certainly be encouraged, but making it a compulsory university subject will not automatically create entrepreneurs. Universities should give young people critical thinking, communication skills and the ability to recognise opportunities. Whether they become entrepreneurs, professionals or employees should remain a matter of individual choice.

Q: With AI increasingly changing the nature of entry-level and middle-skilled jobs, what skills should a Sri Lankan undergraduate possess by the time they graduate that may be more valuable than the degree certificate itself? The ILO has warned that young workers are particularly exposed to changes brought by AI, while high-skilled sectors such as technology and healthcare are expanding?

Sri Lankan undergraduates should graduate with a strong personality, communication ability and confidence to compete in the marketplace. These qualities may be more valuable than the degree certificate itself. But, as stated earlier, this depends heavily on primary and secondary education. If students enter university with a strong foundation in language, critical thinking, moral development, creativity and social skills, they will be better prepared for global demands. AI will change occupations, but people who can think, communicate, exercise judgement, work with others and continuously learn will remain essential.

Q: The Prime Minister has said Sri Lanka’s education system was historically an important mechanism of social mobility, but that private spending is increasingly determining educational success. Is Sri Lanka moving towards a two-tier education system — one for children whose families can afford tuition and international or private education, and another for everyone else?

As the Prime Minister is well aware, it is her fundamental obligation to ensure that the public education system is well equipped to compete with private education. Private spending will always create some differences because privileged families can purchase additional opportunities. The State must guarantee meaningful minimum standards in every public school. If a child from a lower-income family can receive excellent teaching, facilities, language education and opportunities within the public system, education can continue to function as a powerful instrument of social mobility.

Q: How do we reform education without allowing private tuition to simply adapt to the new examination or assessment system and reproduce the same inequalities in another form?

There would be far less need for private tuition if the Government fulfilled its obligation to ensure that schools are properly equipped with human resources and physical infrastructure. Private tuition has expanded because parents believe the ordinary school system is insufficient for their children’s future. If we merely change examinations while leaving these weaknesses untouched, private tuition will adapt to the new assessment system and reproduce inequality. The answer is to make the public school system sufficiently strong that parents do not feel compelled to purchase additional education to compensate for deficiencies in the classroom.

Q: Sri Lankan universities have historically been heavily politicised. Can universities genuinely cultivate independent and critical thinkers while student politics, party politics and ideological divisions remain part of campus life?

All leading universities in the world have a mature political environment because their students form part of the country’s intelligentsia and should be sensitive to social, economic, political, cultural and moral injustices. We know how American universities such as Harvard and Columbia have responded to policies of the Trump administration, and how Indian students have mobilised over statements by those in power. Universities should cultivate independent and critical thinkers, not politically passive people. Their reasoning will often reflect particular ideologies, but they should have freedom of choice. The danger is coercion and denial of freedom of thought.

Q: What should be done about the culture of ragging, intimidation and other forms of campus violence? Can we talk seriously about producing responsible citizens while students themselves may experience university as an environment of fear or hierarchy?

Institutions are a mirror reflection of the society they represent. This is true of legislators, clergymen, law-enforcement officers and even prisoners. While moral education and soft skills should be essential in school education, there should be zero tolerance for violence, whether physical or emotional. University authorities must enforce clear rules and due process. We cannot seriously speak about producing responsible citizens while students experience university as an environment of fear or hierarchy. If a country cannot function in harmony with the due process of law, it is a collective tragedy. Campus freedom must be accompanied by responsibility and respect for dignity.

Q: There is a need for greater regional engagement on education reform. What can Sri Lanka realistically learn from India, Bangladesh, Nepal or other South Asian countries that have experimented with curriculum reform, vocational education or university-industry partnerships?

In this age of globalisation, Sri Lanka should be bold enough to enter into international partnerships at regional and global levels. India, Bangladesh, Nepal and other countries offer valuable experiences in curriculum reform, vocational education and university-industry partnerships. These countries have pursued positively aggressive policies in promoting their educational systems internationally. Sri Lankan students are heavily attracted to South Asian universities, while the Government has failed to create a progressive regulatory framework for quality private education. We should learn from what has worked, adapt it to Sri Lanka and participate in the global knowledge system.

Q: Could Sri Lanka use its strategic position in the Indian Ocean to develop specialised higher-education programmes in areas such as maritime studies, shipping, port management, marine science, ocean governance, logistics and blue-economy industries?

Yes. Sri Lanka is well placed to use its strategic position to develop specialised higher education in maritime studies, shipping, port management, marine science, ocean governance, logistics and the blue economy. Our geography gives us an advantage, but we need the vision and investment to convert it into knowledge and human resources. It is ironic that Sri Lanka has not even maximised its potential to emerge as an international centre of excellence for Theravada Buddhism, while Buddhism is the state religion. Strategic advantages become valuable only when a country develops the institutions and expertise necessary to use them.

Q: If you could change only three things in Sri Lanka’s education system over the next five years, what would they be—and what is the one reform you believe successive governments have avoided because it is politically too difficult?

Firstly, I would make English the language of education from primary to tertiary levels, while ensuring that the national languages, with their rich literature, are properly taught as subjects by well-trained teachers. I was instrumental in creating a full English-medium degree in Humanities and Social Sciences through the Open University of Sri Lanka, taking English-led education to the doorstep of people island-wide in 1992, when English-medium social science degrees were not available countrywide. The programme was launched despite vehement opposition by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and remains widely sought after today.

Secondly, I would professionalise teaching, with at least a regionally competitive remuneration package capable of attracting talented people.

Thirdly, I would accelerate physical infrastructure development to create a conducive learning environment in all schools.

In my view, the reform successive governments have avoided because it is politically difficult is the recruitment of teachers to national schools on meritocracy, including opening vacancies internationally where expertise is scarce.

I sincerely hope the Prime Minister and Minister of Education will not leave room for the Sri Lankan citizenry to charge her with empty rhetoric, and that senior advisers will be selected for expertise and national interest,  rather than party loyalty.

Ceylon Today Link: https://ceylontoday.lk/2026/08/16/dr-mahim-mendis-says-brain-drain-driven-by-global-demand-for-lankan-talent/