• Response to "Pain in the ear"

• Tuition classes
  
  
  Response to "Pain in the ear"

I appreciate the article written by Aditha Dissanayake in the Sunday Observer of August 20, 2006, under the title "Pain in the ear - M'sick". Unfortunately a certain business concern in Maharagama is ignorant about the facts of noise pollution.

The loud music played by this electronics showroom for around seven hours a day invades the privacy of the residents and the patients who come to seek treatment from me at my clinic.

Repeated appeals made to the authorities have gone unheeded. I hope this letter will make the Chairman of this business establishment to take necessary steps to instruct the sales staff to reduce the volume of the music which is too loud and disturbs everyone in the neighbourhood.

Dr. R.A.D.P Seneviratna, Maharagama.

Tuition classes

A morning daily recently carried a letter on the above subject. "Rich, middle class or poor, one phenomenon common to all parents today is the tuition mania". These were the introductory words. The writer has attempted to help parents on how to handle this mania. The use of the Internet is a suggestion provided.

Please permit me to respond by stating that this mania so called has to be eradicated from our system of education. Why do I say this? Primarily because tuition is an evil that creates other evil. Isn't tuition, because the teachers are not doing their work in the classroom? Sometimes the same class teacher is the tuition teacher.

Is this because what the sacred scriptures of my faith community calls filthy lucre? These words describe money. This may be because of the economic factor of teachers not being paid well. Even though that may be true, what is lacking is a sense of calling, a vocation, a commitment, a value system.

Recently a daily spotlighted the corruption in the realm of education, so-called in our land. Of course what the teaching profession projects, their image is a reflection of our Society. This is our society-chasing after money.

What I fail to understand is as to how parents who send their children to the so-called international schools also send their children for tuition. We seem to be living in a very sick society. Money seems to be the name of the game. Something has to be done soon.

Our children, because of tuition, etc., may get fed up with studies. The tuition mania is examination-centred. Education is more than marks, etc. In this society it is difficult to speak to students, teachers and parents about the concept of education. For they all are only interested in the short-term purpose of doing well at O/Ls and A/Ls.

They do not seem to see that education is not only good grades at these public examinations.It is because of this new culture, maintained by parents, children and teachers, that our society is one that has been hijacked and derailed. We are running after false values.

A recent MTV Breakfast Show featured Julian Bolling who, decades ago with his cousin, shone in swimming at the SA Games. Bolling said that during his school days he and others cycled to Royal.

Today, even students in the vicinity of schools are travelling in vehicles. We have thus become a society where parents are spoiling their children in many ways. Tuition is one such mania. Our system of education needs to be looked into. Otherwise we will continue to be tuition-centred students and maintaining a society that is sick.

Over to all those really interested in educating our children properly.

Sydney Knight, Rajagiriya.