WHY NOT SRI LANKA? සිංහල

Starter Kit. Idea 325 of 500. Cluster 16

English tutoring by video for the districts, at a price a family can pay, with a test at the end

Back to the idea

Written for this site as a starting point, not from the book. Rules and fees change: ask the bodies named below before you spend money.

The mechanism, from the book

177,000 qualify every year and 45,000 get a place. The other 130,000 are a market that nobody has built for, and the polytechnic is not a second choice when it leads to a job.

The first step

Run a free 4-week English conversation course by video for 10 students in one district, recruited through a school teacher, and give a simple test at the start and end. Show the results to their parents and ask what they would pay monthly for the next course. Parents who pay after seeing the score change are the proof.

Who pays first
A parent in a district town who knows English decides jobs and cannot find a tutor nearby, and pays monthly for a measurable result.
What leaves today
Students outside the cities lose jobs and places for lack of English, so their ability is never converted into earnings.

Ask first

  • Data Protection Authority. Ask what consent you need from parents before teaching children by video.
  • the Divisional Secretariat. Ask which schools and groups in the district families already trust for classes.

Check before you spend

Parents' written consent for children on video, a safeguarding plan you follow on every call, and which recognised test you will use at the end.

Find out these three numbers

  1. What monthly price can a district family pay for English?
  2. How much did the test scores change over the four weeks?
  3. How many students can one tutor teach well by video?

A comparison from the book

The British inheritance. Chapter Two

"English is the asset Sri Lankans most like to claim and the one that holds up least"

Families know English matters; a test at the end shows them the gap is really closing.

The test

Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?

WITH500BUSINESS IDEASTO STARTTOMORROW

From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.