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| Sunday, 14 August 2005 |
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Breaking North-South barriers by Anthony Fernando It was one of those rare occasions in recent years when teachers and children of leading schools in the North had travelled down to Colombo to display their artistic talents and creative ability in the dramatic arts alongside schoolchildren from the South. In fact, as admitted by the Tamil teachers who accompanied the children from the North, this was their first visit to Colombo in over twenty years since the ethnic conflict broke out which had kept them apart for so long. Their participation, as perceived by many, signified a welcome change in bringing down the man made North-South barriers. The venue was the Tower Hall Theatre, Maradana, the scene of renaissance of Sinhala Drama in an era gone by, now refurbished and renovated with modern technology and sound effects to suit modern drama. The occasion was the islandwide drama competition organised by the Central Environmental Authority under the guidance of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources to mark World Environment Day 2005. The drama competition conducted in Sinhala and Tamil drew entries from a large number of schools in the island, including North and East. The preliminary rounds of the competition were worked off at Lumbini Theatre, Colombo in May this year. The dramas which won the first three places in the Sinhala and Tamil streams went on the boards of the Tower Hall Theatre on August 27, 2005 under the distinguished patronage of the Minister of Environment and National Resources, A. H. M. Fowzie and with the attendance of the Chairman of Central Environment Authority, Tilak Ranaviraja and Secretary Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, P. M. Leelaratne. Children of the Killinochchi Madya Maha Vidyalaya who secured the first place in the school Tamil drama competition with their drama entitled 'let us build a new world' and the students of Jaffna Hindu Primary School who won the second slot drew resounding applause from an appreciative audience from the South for their high standard of the performing arts. St. Xavior's College, Mannar clinched the third place. Their enthusiastic participation drew great appreciation and admiration from teachers and children from several leading schools from the South who gathered in large numbers which was seen by many as breaking new ground in promoting goodwill and understanding towards maintaining ethnic harmony. In fact the teachers and children from the North were so overjoyed by the occasion that they insisted on taking separate group photographs with Minister A. H. M. Fowzie and other distinguished guests as a memorabilia of what they termed as a 'historic visit'. Many teachers recalled that they had last visited Colombo when they were at a very young age and this was their first visit to Colombo for over twenty years. And giving the occasion due importance and recognition Minister Fowzie and other invitees, despite their busy schedules sat through over four hours watching the performances of the award winning dramas of the school children. The proceedings commenced with the singing of the National Anthem and the environmental song. Kingswood College, Kandy won the first place in the Sinhala drama competition with their rendering entitled 'Tsunami Ewith' while Anula Balika Vidyalaya, Galle won the second place with their drama 'Wanaya Surakimu'. The third place was won by Lumbini Maha Vidyalaya with the staging of 'Ali Minis Getuma'. There were prizes awarded for the best dramas in the open competition where drama groups presented their creations and cash prizes were awarded to the winners. Deputy Director General (Environmental Education) of CEA, Mrs. Lalitha Fonseka whose division organised the drama competition welcomed the participants and adverted to the fact that the competition drew entries of high standard. Chairman of the Central Environmental Authority, Tilak Ranaviraja who egged on all towards the successful completion of the competition adverted to the importance of developing environmental education in schools which would help instill in the young minds the need to adopt environmental safeguards when they grow up in their day to day lives. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources in his address lost no time in drawing attention to the significance of the participation of the Northern schools in the competition and said that their endeavour augured well for ethnic harmony specially in the present context of genuine attempts being made to forge peace. He stressed the need of educating every strata of society on the importance of maintaining a healthy environment for all particularly when there is rapid degradation of the environment due to increase in population and meet development needs. It is important that the schools take a leading role in educating children on environmental matters as it is the younger generation of today who would take up leadership in the future. Drama is an effective medium of conveying this message effectively and they were glad to witness a high standard of performances by Sinhala and Tamil school children. |
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