Graduate teachers for Eastern schools

There are schools which lack the necessary resources including man-power in many parts of Sri Lanka. This situation is faced by most schools in the Eastern Province.

As a solution to the teacher shortage, it has been decided to appoint 1,226 graduates for schools in the Ampara, Batticaloa and Trincomalee districts in the East.

They will be appointed on the condition that they serve 10 years in these schools. Of these graduates, 1,097 would be Tamil medium and 129 Sinhala medium teachers.

These graduates were selected for teaching appointments after a competitive examination held by the Examinations Department consequent to a Gazette Notification issued by the Eastern Provincial Public Service Commission a few months ago, and an interview.

The ceremonies to hand over the appointment letters to these graduate teachers took place at the Trincomalee Sinhala Maha Vidyalaya, Hindu College, Batticaloa and D.S. Senanayake Maha Vidyalaya, Ampara. Giraffe calf dies Of late, there has been a lot of news coming from the Dehiwala Zoological Gardens. The latest is certain to break your heart. A two-year-old giraffe calf, which was the only male giraffe in the zoo, has died! The calf had fallen into a marshy pit in the giraffe enclosure, and during its struggles to stand up, had got mud stuck inside its nostrils. It had died at the zoo’s veterinary hospital after remaining in critical state for a while. Now there are only three female giraffes at the Dehiwala Zoo.

Protecting indigenous people of the world

The world’s indigenous peoples are under threat! These people, which include our own Vanniyela Aththo or Adi Vasi community, are facing the grave threat of extinction.

The danger is mostly due to the expansion of cities and the resultant loss of livelihood and their way of life, and new generations leaving the communities seeking a modern life. Over 300 million indigenous people live in about 70 countries around the world today (including the famous Aborgines of Australia) and comprise four per cent of the global population. They will be the focus of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People celebrated on August 9. The day gives an opportunity to explore their history and culture and a day to create awareness about them and the problems they face.

The United Nations General Assembly decided to celebrate this day on August 9 by a resolution on December 23, 1994 during the International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People, which had started on December 10, 1994. The date marks the day of the first meeting in 1982 of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the Subcommission on the Promotion and Protecting of Human Rights.

In April 2000, the Commission on Human Rights adopted a resolution to establish a Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues which was endorsed by the Economic and Social Council in July 2000. The mandate of the Forum is to discuss indigenous issues related to culture, economic and social development, education, environment, health and human rights.

 The UN General Assembly proclaimed 1993 as the International Year of the World’s Indigenous People.

Programmed to renovate irrigation schemes

A new programme called ‘Vari Pubuduwa’ was implemented recently, to renovate all minor irrigation schemes in the dry zone and the Matale district. The programme, launched on the instructions of the Irrigation and Water Management Ministry, aims to renovate irrigation schemes in these areas which are in a deplorable state. Nine rural tanks - Puwakpitiya wewa, Serugoda wewa, Siyambalagashena wewa, Galpita wewa, Bathalakotuwa wewa, Banannagama wewa, Yatigalapottha wewa, Palusiyambalawa wewa and Disawage kuda wewa - in the Galewela Divisional Secretariat area in Matale have been selected for renovation. The preliminary work for ‘Vari Pubuduwa’ has already got under way. The programme is expected to be completed within this year. After renovation, these tanks could be used for irrigation in both seasons. It is to be carried out with the co-operation of other relevant departments and divisional farmer organisations.

 

Various activities for children

The Children Skills Development Programme (CSDP) has given the country’s children the opportunity of taking part in various interesting programmes during the forthcoming holiday season. Prominent among these are participation in cultural programmes in Malaysia and Singapore and opportunity to sing for a children’s cassette. Taking part in the children’s stage play ‘Ape Panthiya’ and the single-episode children’s teledrama ‘Punchi Sina’ which is being produced in connection with Children’s Day are also on the cards. All these opportunities are available for children under the age of 18 years. An event to evaluate and select the children for these programmes will be held from 9.00am to 2.00pm on August 10 at the C.W.W. Kannangara Vidyalaya Hall at Colombo 8. A free workshop to evaluate and appreciate children’s activities and skills will also be held on the same day.

Reef-building corals facing extinction

A third of the world’s reef-building coral species are facing extinction. That is the stark conclusion from the first global study to assess the extinction risks of corals. Writing in the journal Science, researchers say climate change, coastal development, overfishing, and pollution are the major threats. The economic value of the world’s reefs has been estimated at over US$ 30 billion per year, through tourism, fisheries and coastal protection. “The picture is frightening,” said Alex Rogers from the Zoological Society of London, one of 39 scientists involved in the assessment. “It’s not just the fact that something like a third of all reef-forming corals are threatened, but that we could be facing the loss of large areas of these ecosystems within 50 to 100 years. “The implications of that are absolutely staggering - not only for biodiversity, but also for economics.” The analysis shows that reef-building corals are more threatened than any group of land-dwelling animals except amphibians. The most dramatic decline in recent years was caused by the 1997/8 El Nino event, which caused waters to warm across large swathes (areas) of the tropics. When water temperatures rise, coral polyps - tiny animals that build the reefs - expel the algae that usually live with them in a symbiotic relationship. The corals lose their colour, with reefs taking on a bleached appearance, and begin to die off because the algae are not there to provide nutrients. The new analysis shows that before 1998, only 13 of the 704 coral species assessed would have been classified as threatened. Now, the number is 231. “It was a devastating event in terms of the destruction of corals, with 16 per cent of reefs irreversibly destroyed - an incredible amount,” said Kent Carpenter from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, in the US. “The big problem is that if these bleaching events become more frequent as temperatures rise, as we suspect will happen, then we will see whole tracts of coral wiped out.” Adding to this, scientists have come to realise in recent years, is ocean acidification. The water absorbs some of the atmosphere’s extra carbon dioxide, making it slightly more acid, enough to compromise the capacity of corals to build their skeletons, and snails to build their shells. “We know that high sea surface temperatures are bad for coral, but we also have an idea that some might be able to adapt,” said Professor Carpenter. Courtesy: BBC