Model school to take in cream of Kelani Valley
students:
Govt to stop frenzy for popular schools
By Ranil WIJAYAPALA
The frenzy among parents to get their child admitted to a popular
school in Colombo, is one of the dreams for any mother or father. The
situation has worsened with many parents shifting towards Colombo and
the suburbs with the sole purpose of getting their offsprings admitted
to popular schools in the city of Colombo.
An artist’s impression of Mahinda Rajapaksa Model National
School |
This is altogether an unexpected trend from the time of C.W.W.
Kannangara, the pioneer of free school education system in the country -
the man who had promoted the Central College concept to have at least
one school in each electorate, equipped with both physical and human
resources.
One of the challenging tasks before the Education Ministry at present
is to reverse this trend and salvage the parents from the myth of
popular schools in Colombo by developing one school in each Divisional
Secretariat area for students to have better secondary education at a
fully equipped school.
As a precursor to the program to develop 1000 such schools islandwide
the Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena has embarked on a project to
have a model secondary school with all facilities and thus put a stop
students in Homagama and the Kelani Valley areas from trying Colombo
schools for better education.
The school which is being built on a 20-acre land in Horahenawatta,
Pitipana in Homagama will be named Mahinda Rajapaksa Model National
School and will be ready for students who obtain high marks at the Grade
V scholarship examination to be held in 2011.
"The Education Ministry is building this school in Homagama jointly
with the Faculty of Education of the University of Colombo which will be
a hundred per cent government mixed school", Minister Gunawardena said.
Unlike others the model school which will start at 7.30 a.m. and will
go on till 3.30 p.m., providing additional two study hours for secondary
level students from grades 6 to 13.
"Twelve grade six classes will be started from next year and the
students will be admitted based on the high scores of the Grade V
scholarship examination", the Minister added.
Minister Gunawardena has taken the initiative to provide the students
with maximum facilities and the 12 classes will have three computer
laboratories with 120 computers in each lab.
The timetable will differ from other schools. The additional two
hours will be allocated for extra subjects.
"On Mondays normal subjects like maths and science will be taught
during the two additional hours and on Tuesdays English will be taught",
the Minister added.
Likewise additional hours on Wednesdays have been allocated for
aesthetic studies like arts, music and dance while on Thursdays students
will have the opportunity to learn selected foreign languages like
French, German, Japanese or Chinese. On Fridays they will be allowed to
engage in sports such as cricket, volleyball, football or any other
sport, the Minister said.
"For this we have invited good teachers who will not demand
additional payments for the additional two hours they work, to take over
this responsibility.
Many teachers have volunteered to join to set an example to other
schools.
"By this time, the Director Homagama Education Zone has received more
than 2000 applications for admission and students will be selected after
an interview", Minister Gunawardena added.
A reputed agriculture company has come forward to have agricultural
site demonstration of latest agricultural methods including paddy field
in a one acre land.
"Apart from this the Indigenous Medicine Ministry has come forward to
have a herbal garden while the Printers Association will teach printing
methods.
A reputed studio will have a photographic classroom. The Book
Publishers Association will also have a book binding and book publishing
classroom", the Minister added.
"The system had existed during the C.W.W. Kannangara period. Then
there were carpentry classroom, pottery class room, weawing classroom
etc to provide vocational training for students", he added.
"What we are trying to do is to bring back the 'Kannangara
Chinthanaya' to suit the modern world with certain modifications.
Because during that period internet, e-mail and computers were not there
in Sri Lanka", the Minister added.
"Homagama is my electorate and I will not allow students from the
Kelani Valley to go to Colombo for their secondary education. This
school will lay the foundation to produce scholars from our own region.
We are going to provide all the facilities that can be given to them. We
are going to produce human resources with knowledge and human values
through this school", the Minister added. |