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| Sunday, 05 March 2006 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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March 8 : International Women's Day The United Nations Day for Women's Rights and International Peace, commonly known as International Women's Day (IWD), is celebrated in most parts of the world including Sri Lanka on March 8. Women form half the population of this world, but their rights and needs are sometimes ignored. In some countries, girls aren't given a proper education, and lose out in life due to lack of opportunities for them. Eradicating this discrimination against women and girls is one of the objectives of Women's Day.
IWD is observed annually to celebrate the progress made to advance equality for women and to assess the challenges that remain. It's a major event which honours and acknowledges the economic, social and political achievements made by women around the world. The idea for an IWD came about at the turn of the 20th century, amidst the rapid industrialisation and economic expansion that the world was going through. This led to the staging of many protests over the bad working conditions of the day. One such protest was carried out by women in textile and clothing factories in New York City in the USA, on March 8, 1857. They protested against the poor working conditions and the low wages. More protests followed in later years and were especially significant in 1908 when, over 15,000 women marched through the streets of New York City, demanding shorter hours of work, better wages and voting rights. The first IWD was held on February 28, 1909 in the USA, following a declaration by the Socialist Party of America. The first international women's conference, held in Copenhagen, Denmark by Socialist International, recognised the IWD, and it was marked the following year by over one million people, both men and women, in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. The day also commemorates the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire in New York in 1911, where over 140 women workers died. The accident was largely attributed to the lack of safety measures and was taken up by protesters in later years. On March 8, 1913, women across Europe organised peace rallies against World War I. Although the IWD was celebrated by Western countries in the 1910s and 1920s, it dwindled afterwards, and was revived during the 1960s. In 1975, which had been designated as the International Women's Year, the United Nations officially sanctioned and began sponsoring the Day. Celebrations on an international scale got under way in 1977. Kaizen projects in local schools Fifty schools have been selected by the Education Ministry to introduce the Japanese educational Kaizen projects in Sri Lanka. The projects, to be introduced with assistance from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), are expected to enhance Science and Mathematics in schools. The 50 schools are in Jaffna, Trincomalee, Kurunegala, Bandarawela and Wellawaya. The projects will commence soon with the participation of the National Institute of Education and provincial and zonal educational offices. The Kaizen strategy moves parallel with Japan's '5S' system, and leads to the continuous improvement of an organisation with the involvement of everyone. It is practised in Japanese schools, and had proven successful in Sri Lanka, on its introduction as a pilot project in 21 schools. JICA Deputy Team Leader, T. Ishibashi said that the educational methods utilised in Sri Lanka to teach Science and Mathematics are weak, as currently there is no practical approach to teaching them. That is what they are trying to remedy through this programme. "The Kaizen educational approach calls for the interaction and participation of everyone, students, teachers, principals, parents, and zonal educational officers. We have experience with this programme, and know that it can address these issues," Ishibashi said. Minister of Education Susil Premajayanth said, the Kaizen project will enhance the quality of education and improve school management, so that the background can be established for educational reforms in the future. He said that through the project, the schools themselves can identify the areas which should be improved. Technical assistance for the project will be provided by JICA. Other educational projects will also be launched in these schools to improve the standard of English. Learning patriotism the ABC way It is never too early to instil a sense of patriotism in children. This is the firm belief of the teachers at the ABC School of Early Learning, which was aptly demonstrated on this year's Independence Day.
The students arrived in school in their national dresses. The programme taught them that although Sri Lanka is made up of diverse ethnic and religious groups, as Sri Lankans, we are all citizens of one country. The national flag was hoisted, after which the history of the flag and the meaning of the symbols on it, were described to the children in simple terms. The traditional oil lamp was then lit, and the children joined in singing the national anthem. Through such programmes, the school hopes its students will grow into citizens that all Sri Lankans could be proud of. 'Ran Daru Katha' for children The insurance company, Ceylinco Life's commitment to the welfare of children has found new expression in the form of a children's story book it has commissioned and published.
The book 'Palingu', written and illustrated by veteran author and well-known artist Sybil Wettasinghe, is sponsored by Ceylinco Insurance under the banner of its child protection policy Ceylinco Ran Daru. The first of a series titled 'Ran Daru Katha', 'Palingu' is published in all three languages, and is the story of a little girl and her four brothers who face the most common obstacle in rural villages - poverty. This book also explores the imagination of a child's mind by including fairies and magical gifts in its story. "The 150,000 paintings received for the Ran Daru art competition inspired me to write this story" Ms. Wettasinghe said. The English and Sinhala scripts of 'Palingu' were written by Ms. Wettasinghe herself. She said her intention was to bring out a female lead character, because the heroes in most children's books tend to be boys. The books would be distributed to school libraries and be given out as
gifts as well. They could also be purchased from Ceylinco Life branches. |
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