Participatory Development Essay

Part One
Introduction

Background of the Study The Participatory Development approach to the development, also called people-centred development, has its roots in both colonialist development efforts and the anti-colonialist movements of the 1950s and 1960s. Since 1970s, participatory development has become an established approach to development, partly in response to the failure of expensive, top-down, large-scale development projects, especially among small nongovernment organizations. The Participatory Development approach has increasingly become the centre of attention in the contemporary development discourse. In a broader context, this approach is considered not only as society-centred but also as democratic and people-centred. Further

The colonial powers began to expand the number of state-run schools and also Medical and law colleges were established in Sri Lanka. In addition to this, in the 1930s, the colonial pattern of education of Sri Lanka began to change through legislative reforms placed the Ministry of Education under the control of elected representatives. Moreover, the government directly controlled larger number of schools and teacher-training colleges. As part of a policy to promote universal literacy, educational system in Sri Lanka became free of charge particularly in government schools. In 1942 a committee was appointed by the British with Kannangara as chairman to report on the status of education in Ceylon. The committee made several recommendations on education in Ceylon including education should be free from the Kindergarten to the University, the mother tongue should be used as the medium of instruction in the Primary Schools, English should be taught in all schools from standard III and a curriculum for the child which would develop its ‘head, heart and hands’ should be introduced. In other words, the education of the emotions is as necessary as the education of intellect and practical ability for the well-being of the child. As Minister of Education, Kannagara was placed in charge of implementing the recommendations of the committee. Recommendations came into operation on 1 October 1945 and it made the education in Ceylon free of charge from primary level through the university level. Further, since the independence in 1948, the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) is maintaining a well-developed educational system. In order to assume full responsibility for education, the GOSL initiated to nationalize private and religious schools in 1960. It is revealed that the GOSL has given a highest priority to the education. The literacy in Sri Lanka has grown