Shaleeka Jayalath
Shaleeka Jayalath is a seasoned educator and writer with a keen focus on learning beyond the classroom. She has partnered with Wijeya Newspapers Ltd. to produce a 12-part online series, The Education Hour with Shaleeka Jayalath, aimed at exploring innovative approaches to education. She has also written multiple educational articles for The Nation, between 2015 and 2016. Her extensive academic background is further reflected in her published works, including Algebra for O'Levels (Sarvodaya Vishva Lekha Publications, 1999), a comprehensive textbook designed for O-Level students. Shaleeka has contributed several insightful articles to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, including The True Meaning of Scenario Analysis (2005) and MCDA: Putting the Numbers into the Intangible (2003). Additionally, she co-authored a biographical piece on Mukta Wijesinha for Sam Wijesinha: His Parliament, His World (2012), edited by R.Wijesinha, which highlights the life and contributions of the distinguished parliamentarian. Her work reflects a commitment to advancing education and contributing to the broader discourse on analytical thinking and knowledge dissemination.
WEAPONISED INCOMPETENCE How laziness becomes a strategy and a culture
Weaponised incompetence is a phrase that has been quietly making the rounds in management circles. However, in mainstream discourse, it rarely receives even an honourable mention (perhaps
EXCELSIOR A TRIBUTE TO IMAGINATION
On the 2nd and 3rd of August, the Harold Peiris Gallery in Colombo 7 will host Excelsior, Sri Lanka’s first-ever photographic exhibition dedicated to pop culture archetypes. Curated and created by a group of local
WAS PEARL HARBOUR JUSTIFIED?
In history classrooms around the world, Pearl Harbour is taught as the defining moment that dragged the United States into World War II. The date, December 7, 1941, is etched into global
Who’s Really Lucky The Adopted Child OR The Parent?
There is a popular belief that adopted children are “the lucky ones” to be given the opportunity of being placed in a loving home. But in truth, parenting, be it for biological or adoptive children, has
The Lost Art of Teaching Reclaiming the Ancient Power of Questions, Stories, and Wisdom in the Modern Classroom
Long before standardized tests and neatly arranged classrooms, education was not about answers. Rather, it was about questions. Socrates, the father of Western philosophy, would stop Athenians in the
Teach The Talk Addressing Lgbtq+ In Schools With Sensitivity – Not Silence
In today’s blended world of cultural heritage, religious sentiment, and the fast-paced curiosity of teens, the topic of gender identity and LGBTQ+ issues is more relevant (not to mention, more sensitive) than ever. Three of the five major global religions maintain disapproval of homosexuality, creating deeply rooted social stigmas. This sensitivity, however, cannot be a reason to side line the conversations that curious, questioning young minds a
TRUTH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS WHY TODAY’S STUDENTS MUST LEARN TO THINK FOR THEMSELVES
The predominant (not to mention, extremely sad) paradox of our times is that despite unprecedented access to knowledge, most students (and increasingly adults too!) seem far less capable of original and critical thinking as compared to Gen X teenagers several decades ago. Search engines, social media feeds, and now everyone’s new best friend ChatGPT have placed answers (quite literally!) at teenagers’ fingertips, making questioning redundant, and
What Are We Teaching Our Children About Revenge?
Revenge is a feeling we all know too well. It creeps in the moment we feel wronged, betrayed, or taken for granted. But why do we need revenge in the first place? Is it because things did not go
Building Cultural Capital Empowering Sri Lankan Youth Through Art and Identity
In a world increasingly shaped by globalisation and rapid technological advancement, grounding our youth in their cultural heritage has never been more critical, especially when it comes to
WHY BOTHER STUDYING?
“Why am I even studying this? What’s the point?” These are questions that echo in classrooms globally (especially when the lives of school and college dropouts such as Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Sir
THE GLOBALISATION OF INDIFFERENCE WHO PAYS THE PRICE?
In 2013, Pope Francis warned the world of a crisis, far more subtle and far more dangerous, than war, poverty, or disease, which he referred to as “the globalisation of indifference” - a slow turning away of
Neurodivergence Is Not Laziness!
Whether we like it or not, neurodivergence is real and needs to be accepted. It is not an excuse for poor grades or bad behaviour. Rather, it is a legitimate, clinically recognized spectrum of cognitive functioning
The Journey Inward The Resilience Our Students Are Never Taught
It is common practice for us to tell children to aim high. We celebrate ambition, reward achievement, and praise those who reach the top. But we rarely ask what happens when the climb gets hard - when the path is unclear, the goal slips away, or the mind begins to falter.
Bridging the Inter-Generational Gap
In an increasingly chaotic, acronym-driven society, ruled by YOLOs (“you only live once”) and FOMOs (“fear of missing out”), where parents pronounce “delulu” (“delusional”) as “dilalla” and assume it to be a reference to a girl named Delilah, the divide between generations has
By Dividing Classrooms, Are We Dividing Our Nation?
Sri Lanka’s geo-strategic location in the Indian Ocean has over the centuries given it a diverse ethnic makeup. Today, we fancy ourselves to be a multicultural utopia, and refer proudly to our multicultural
Education Preparing Children for the Full Circle of Life
Education is far more than the pursuit of grades. It is about preparing students for life itself, with its joys and challenges, and sadly, the unavoidable reality of the life cycle: birth, aging, and death. But while it is at
EdTech 21st Century Education or A Trojan Horse?
Educational Technology or EdTech is a concept that has evolved over the years. From referring to the use of overhead projectors in lecture rooms (unheard of by today’s Gen Zs!) to taking the
The Missing Ingredient in Parenting Why Dads Can’t Stay on the Sidelines
In the 1950s, Talcott Parsons, a functionalist sociologist, argued that both the father and the mother had well-delineated roles to play within the family. Parsons viewed the father as the ’’instrumental leader,’’
Is rote learning destroying our ability to Think & Grow?
For years, students in Sri Lanka following the national curriculum have been taught to ace their O-level and A-level exams by memorizing textbook content and even marking schemes provided by the Department of Examinations.
