Sri Lanka's bitter, April 8 -- year war continues to cast shadows of grief, loss, and sectarian tension over an ethnically diverse population of Sinhalese Buddhists, Tamil Hindus, Muslims, and Catholics. As the country attempts to navigate the post-conflict period, there is no more urgent task than restoring inclusiveness and social cohesion to public life. The schools are a key to meeting this challenge, and it has been a mandate of governments past and present to reform the education system to foster greater tolerance and ensure that inter-communal conflict and violence do not recur.

The introduction of classroom subjects on civic education in 2008 seemed promising, but it has not resulted in any meaningful improvement in inter-communa...