Irrigation development project

The constrution work on the irrigation development project involving 100 large and small tanks in Anuradhapura, Kurunegala, Puttalam and Matale is to be speeded up so that the project is completed by 2010.

The project titled Pro-Poor Economic Advancement and Community Enhancement Project (PEACE) was initially planned for completion within seven years, but has now been restructured to be completed within four years. Its 'Wewu Pubuduwa' project is jointly carried out by the Sri Lankan and Japanese Governments.

The project will rehabilitate 80 minor irrigation tanks as well as 20 major tanks, such as Rajangana, Nachchaduwa, Nuwarawewa and Tissawewa in the Anuradhapura district and Magalla, Ambakolawewa, Atharagalla and Palukadawala in the Kurunegala district.

The project also accounts for other development activities such as water management, empowering farmers societies, providing guidance for starting and maintaining self-employment ventures and improving marketing facilities.

The project would also provide infrastructural facilities such as transport and potable water to the colonies coming under the scheme.

More than 25,000 farming families will become the direct beneficiaries of the completed project, with additional irrigational facilities to nearly 50,000 acres of land. It would cover an area of 6,500 square kilometres.

Growing sal trees

Almost all of you would know what a sal tree (Shorea robusta) is. It's a large tree bearing very beautiful and fragrant flowers and holds special significance for Buddhists as Prince Siddhartha was believed to have been born under a sal tree in Nepal.

The Department of Botanical Gardens has imported one kilogram of sal (also known as Indian sal) seeds from Nepal and the seeds have now grown into saplings in the Department's nursery. These saplings will be distributed among botanical gardens, temples and other places of importance throughout the island in a move to propagate(reproduce) the tree in the country.

National Science Week

The Cabinet has granted approval to a memorandum submitted by Science and Technology Minister, Prof. Tissa Witharana on the declaration of a National Science Week and World Science Day next month. The National Science Week will be a week of activities organised by different associations promoting science and technology.

The National Science Foundation, which popularises science among the public, will organise the National Science Week. It will be held from November 5 to 10 under the theme 'Our Technology for Our Development'. The World Science Day will be observed on November 10.

A treasure trove of information

Most of you would be members of your school library and enjoy the facilities and services offered by this vital component of a school.

Why do we say that the school library is vital? Because you can get access to a world of information outside your textbooks through the various sources of information available in your school library.

They promote skills for information literacy and lifelong learning. Among these skills are reading and literacy skills as well as skills of finding and working with information.

It has been revealed through various research that students achieve more academically when they have access to a school library with a good collection and strong educational programme. Students have also been shown to become better readers when they have quality books to read.

The importance of school libraries in the education of children is recognised when the International School Libraries Day is observed on October 22. The event is observed in many schools around the world, with special activities being organised for both teachers and students.

The special day is co-ordinated by the International Association of School Librarianship (IASL) with various local organisations.

The mission of the IASL is to provide an international forum for those interested in promoting effective school library media programmes as viable instruments in the educational process. It also provides guidance and advice for the development of school library programmes and the school library profession.

Its worldwide membership includes school librarians, teachers, library advisers, consultants, educational administrators, and others who are responsible for library and information services in schools.

The membership also includes professors and instructors in universities and colleges where there are programmes for school librarians, and students who are undertaking such programmes.

White Cane Day for the visually-impaired

An important event that was celebrated around the world recently was International White Cane Day, which fell on October 15.

You may have seen the white cane being used by people on the street. This familiar white cane with a red band at the bottom is used by blind and visually impaired persons in many countries.

Do you know how this white cane, which is now a symbol of the visually impaired, come into being? In 1921, James Biggs, a photographer from Bristol, England became blind following an accident. Because he was feeling uncomfortable with the amount of traffic around his home, he painted his walking stick white to be more easily visible.

In the United States, the introduction of the white cane is attributed to Lion's Club member George A. Bonham. In 1930, he observed a blind man trying to cross the street with a black cane that was barely visible to motorists against the dark pavement. Bonham offered to paint the cane white to make it more visible.

By 1931, his Lions Club branch had approved the project and white canes were made and distributed. The news of the club's activity spread to other Lions Clubs, and the white cane became known by the blind and sighted alike as a means of identifying the safe mobility needs of the visually impaired.

In 1931, Lions Clubs International began a programme promoting the use of white canes for people who are blind.

Also in 1931, in France, Guilly d'Herbemont recognised the danger of blind people in traffic and launched a national "white stick movement" for blind people. She donated 5,000 white canes to people in Paris.

While the white cane is commonly accepted as a "symbol of blindness", various countries have different rules concerning what constitutes a "cane for the blind."

In the United Kingdom, for example, the white cane is recognised as being used by visually impaired persons; if the cane has two red bands added, it indicates that the user is deaf and blind. In some areas, the cane is yellow. Those carrying white canes are afforded the right of way when crossing a road and when in a public place.

The International White Cane Day was declared by the President of the International Federation of the Blind in 1970. The Day is of special significance to Sri Lanka since it was first declared on Sri Lankan soil at the Second Convention of the International Federation of the Blind.

The event provided a platform to highlight issues concerning the visually handicapped, mobilise programmes and obtain support for implementation. This year too, a series of activities were organised in Sri Lanka as well as other countries to mark this day.

Gimhani's sixth book

The sixth book by 11-year-old schoolgirl Gimhani Upeksha Waduge, titled 'Mysterious Experiment' was launched recently. Her latest work is a translation of a science fiction book titled 'Le Pipasaya' which had been written by her grandfather Haritus Warusavithana in 1963 when he was an Advanced Level student.

Gimhani translated and edited the book for which the illustrations have been done by her art teacher H.C. Ratnayake. A Grade 7 student of Carmel Girls' Central College, Chilaw, Gimhani is a regular contributor to many children's newspapers and magazines including the Junior Observer.

Her first book, 'Three Little Girls and Their Pets' was published when she was just nine years old. She followed it with four more books in an amazingly short period of 18 months. She won an award in Shankars International Children's Competition for Writing in 2006.

Books for Jaffna children

UNICEF has ensured the distribution of school kits to every school student at the request of the Ministry of Education in the Jaffna Peninsula.

Head of UNICEF's Education section in Sri Lanka, Ita Sheehy, said the month-long distribution had reached an estimated 140,000 primary and secondary schoolchildren, all of whom are affected by the ongoing conflict.

"It was a challenge because Jaffna has been cut-off by the conflict from the rest of Sri Lanka for more than a year," said Sheehy. In addition to the Education Ministry, the distribution was carried out with the support of the military, the Government Agent, the Commissioner General for Essential Services, as well as the teachers and students themselves.

Many schools had been recycling materials in an effort to keep children supplied. Materials in the distribution included notebooks, drawing pads, pencils and pens, rulers, erasers and sharpeners.