Education, the most valuable resource in our life

Winner:

Education means the knowledge that we gain from our society and especially from our elders and school. Our parents and elders are the people who provide us with a good educational background even before we enter school, in order to make our education at school, a success.

Most children like to go to school to improve their knowledge and gain good things in life. We enter a school when we reach the stipulated age.

School is our initial introduction to society which we face as a challenge. After our primary eduction it’s the education we receive in the school which teaches us the most valuable lessons in life. Through education we learn many good values and principles.

Education brings many advantages. If we study well we can enter a university of our choice and qualify to pursue a profession we like.

As the Buddha said, “A person will not be rich or poor by birth, but through his actions.”

An educated person will become rich in many ways because education teaches us good values.

A thief may steal everything we have amassed in life except our valued knowledge, which we gain through education.

So, I believe that education is an important part of our life which helps us to reach great heights. Education needs effort.

Here’s a poem to keep this in mind.

“The heights that great men

reached and kept,

Were not attained by sudden flight,

But they while their

companions slept,

Were toiling upwards in the night.”

Upeka Gunasinghe Fernando,

Grade 10,

Samudradevi Balika Vidyalaya,

Nugegoda.

How are diseases caused?

Winner:

Diseases are caused mainly by micro organisms. There are many kinds of harmful micro organisms which cause diseases some of which can be deadly. Bacteria, virus and fungi are some of these micro organisms.

There are two ways of spreading diseases. They are by pathogens and vectors. Pathogens are the ones that produce the disease and vectors are the ones that carry the disease.

Today Sri Lanka is facing a major problem with a dangerous viral disease called dengue. A large number of people have been killed by this dangerous disease.

This is caused by a mosquito called aedes. There are some other dangerous diseases which are spread by mosquitoes. They are malaria and filaria. Malaria is spread by a mosquito called anopheles while filaria is caused by another mosquito called qulex.

So, it is our duty to keep ourselves and our environment free from these harmful insects. Also we should do regular exercises and take healthy food which will make us immune to these diseases.

Lahiru Thilakaratne,

Grade 8,

Sussex College,

Kurunegala.

Global warming

Winner:

The heating up of the Earth’s surface and atmosphere is defined as global warming. This is caused mostly due to the careless activities of people.

At the top of the Earth’s atmosphere there is a layer called the ozone layer which protects the Earth from the sun’s adverse energies called radiation.

The gases released from factories, vehicles and industries cause damage to this ozone layer. A hole in the ozone layer transmits harmful gases to the Earth because the sun’s rays directly hit the Earth.As a result carbon dioxide and other gases are trapped in the atmosphere, increasing the heat on the planet.

This is called the greenhouse effect and it leads to global warming. Huge icebergs in the Northern and Southern Polar regions have started to melt at alarming rates due to global warming .

Consequently, the sea water levels are rising. Scientists predict that some parts of the eastern coastal area of Sri Lanka and the Jaffna peninsula too could be submerged by sea water in the years to come.

This warming up may also cause more floods because increased amounts of water is evaporated into the atmosphere. So, people will have to find new methods to control these harmful gases from reaching the Earth through the ozone layer. The ozone layer has to be protected to reduce global warming.

Dileepa Tissera,

Grade 8,

Ecole Internationale,

Digana.

Myself

My name is Ashani. I’m nine years old. I live at Amunumulla. My favourite drink is milk. I like to eat bananas too. My favourite colour is blue.

My father is a teacher. His name is Rohana. My mother Renuka is a housewife. I have three sisters.

I like to study well. I like to be a dancing teacher one day.

Ashani Sandunika Wijesinghe,

Grade 4,B/Nawala Welimada Vidyalaya,Amunumulla.

An exciting trip to Jaffna

Winner:

One morning during the August holidays, my parents, grandmother, brother and the family of one of my father’s friends started our journey to Jaffna. I woke up early that day and even by that time, my mother had already prepared the meals, snacks and drinks needed for this long journey.

On our way, we observed the beauty of the surrounding and took some photographs. We reached Anuradhapura by evening and stayed that night at the circuit bungalow of the forest Department.

The next day, we started our journey from Anuradhapura and travelled along the A9 road. Passing the Omanthe check point where all the vehicles heading towards Jaffna were registered, we reached Iranamadu.

We saw the Iranamadu tank. My father told me that LTTE sea planes landed there during the ethnic war. There was also an abandoned power station which was used by the LTTE.

We had breakfast at the Iranamadu Army camp and proceeded to Kilinochchi. There, we saw two water tanks that were destroyed during the Elam war. We walked around them and even went into the water tank too. We also saw many houses, vehicles and government buildings that had been destroyed. There was a large number of Palmyra trees that were also destroyed in Muhamalei. The bulldozer which was blasted by the war hero, Hasalaka Gamini was on display at Elephant Pass. We also saw the memorial plaque built at Elephant Pass in honour of the war heroes of the three Armed Forces.

In the evening we finally reached the Jaffna town which is now considered as a busy and highly populated town. We later went to Kareinagar and bathed in the sea. The Casuarina beach is a very beautiful, cool and calm beach and an ideal place to have a bath. The cool breeze eased our tiredness. That night, we stayed at a guest house that belonged to a Tamil couple in the town. They were very nice people and served us tasty dishes which we have never tasted before.

On the following day we went to Nagadeepa by boat. Although the boat was crowded, that boat trip was very interesting.

There were about 100 people in a single boat and they provided us life jackets too. After travelling for about 20 minutes we reached Nagadeepa, where the Buddha visited on His second visit to Sri Lanka. We worshipped at the Nagadeepa temple and came back to Jaffna by boat. Next, we went to see the Jaffna Fort, ate the famous Jaffna ice-cream at Nallur, saw the famous Nallur Kovil and the Jaffna library too.

Most people in Jaffna, especially the girls use bicycles in their day-to-day life. We visited a LTTE cemetery too.We bought jaggery, dried fish, hats and many other items from the Jaffna town. We saw the memorial plaque built for the slain war hero. Denzil Kobbekaduwa at Arali. It is built at the place where his vehicle was blasted by a landmine deposited by the LTTE. We went to see the temple called “Chunnakkam” (Hunugal Viharaya) where a large number of ancient stupas is found without any damage to them.

The next day we went to Mannar, where we saw ruins of the war, including the Mannar Fort. We reached Puttalam through Wilpattu National Park.

We saw peacocks, wolfs, crocodiles and other animals on our way. Although it is small and dusty, we enjoyed our journey through the sanctuary.

We were not allowed to get off from our vehicle within the Wilpattu National Park by the Army.

On our way to Colombo, we saw people extracting salt from sea water in Puttalam. It was interesting. The entire trip was interesting and enjoyable. I like to visit Jaffna again.

Nithuli Subasinghe,

Grade 4J,

Vidura College,

Colombo.

I am a bibliophile

Winner:

A bibliophile is a person who loves and collects books. A book contains a text printed on several pages and bound together inside a cover which suits the contents inside. A reader is a person who enjoys reading such books written by various authors. Therefore, a reader must have the capability to select suitable books to read as well as enjoy the authors style and language.

I spend my leisure collecting and reading various types of story books written in English. Story books are of different categories such as novels comprising fiction, mysteries and adventure stories. I love to read novels which contain a long hidden story about imaginary characters and events.

When we begin to read a story we enter into its world. A story’s success depends on its characters and events. A story has the ability to influence the reader and make the person feel happy, sad, frustrated or excited at various stages of the story. I have a home library comprising a collection of books on various titles and themes. Most of the books were gifted by my friends, relatives and parents because they know how much I enjoy books.

Reading not only awakens our mind, but also enhances our knowledge. It helps us to collect new words and ideas while enabling us to understand the beliefs, feelings and dreams of others. Not only does it help us to improve our reading, but also our speaking skills.

“Books my worthy friends, you keep me occupied.”

Shiranthika Ariyaratna,

Grade 10,

Keenlee and Williams International School.

Your Poems

The Sea

The sunset on the beach,
Is a very lovely scene
The sun rays playing with waves
Are what I like to see

Splashing, dashing, restless sea
Never still you seem to be
Sometimes angry; sometimes sad,
Sometimes you laugh as though you’re glad

Little children love you so much
Because you are very beautiful
I would like to see you too
Because you make me feel wonderful

N.K. Dinuma Dilki Prabhashwari
Grade 8A,
G/ Christ Church Girls College
Baddegama.