Children are not a cat's paw - Lalith Weeratunga

By Manjula FERNANDO

Opposition elements who are trying to win the local polls by hook or by crook whip up adverse and malicious propaganda against the government and the President to create false impressions in the minds of the people. Their latest ploy is to infuriate the masses by criticizing the education policies of the Government, Permanent Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga said in an interview with the Sunday Observer.

The President has started donating books to students who come to Temple Trees for various functions. These books have to be popular supplementary readers. His interest in students is such that he is the last person who would want to meddle with education. This project, called Nena Guna Thilina, is funded by private donors.

He said the media display over extended school hours is one step in that direction. Adding that there was no such mandatory rule in any of the State schools to continue till 3.00 pm, he said there were elements trying to rock the boat when the country is trying to rise from a bitter past.

"There are over 4 million students in this country. Together with their parents, they constitute nearly one third of the population of this country. It is not difficult to creep into their minds with such a malicious campaign, create unrest and destabilize the entire country."

The interview:

"I think it is important to clarify the Government's position with regard to the news reports over extended school hours. There has been a lot of misinformation campaigns attempting to make political slogans in the run up to the local government elections.

Schools continuing up to 3.00 pm is not a new thought for Sri Lanka. We had schools continuing till 3.00 pm - 3.45 pm in the past. But at the moment the Government is not planning a blanket regulation to extend school hours till 3 .00 in the afternoon.

The probability of extending school time till 3.00 pm will be considered in 1,000 selected schools. This is to ensure that children get the best of education. However, before the implementation of this rule teachers, parents, students and educationist will be consulted. I must emphasize the fact that this rule will not be made mandatory by the State against the wishes of the school population.

There is a project initiated by Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena to upgrade 1,000 schools out of the nearly 10,000 schools in the country to the level of popular schools. The intention is to minimize the intense fight for the existing popular schools numbering about 50. This project was given the green light at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

We don't have a special set of criteria to determine a particular school as an outstanding school. We judge by the overall performance of the students at national exams and local and international sports or other tournaments. And also by its alumni. There is a cut throat battle for admission to these popular schools.

The Government took a decision recently, under the instructions of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, to set up 1,000 popular schools islandwide, by building new schools or by upgrading the existing ones. The Cabinet proposal was put forward by Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena.

Three schools under each divisional secretary level will be upgraded this way so that parents will have a popular school within a four to five kilometre radius, minimizing the rush for popular schools. I am sure this initiative will be welcomed by parents. They do not wish to send their children as far as 50 miles to attend a popular school. The entire day of the child is spent in the school van. It paves way for special 'van cultures'. There are incidents of child molestation and abuse.

There is such a model school already in Homagama. The new school - Rajakeeya Mahinda Vidyalaya - set up by Minister Bandula Gunawardena is currently holding classes till 3.00 pm. There has been no opposition to this initiative from anyone - parents, students, teachers or educationists. The school functions well.

The value of this initiative is that a child can get a complete education during the time spent in school. This is not restricted to textbook learning. He will become a healthy grown-up, a team player who could make a sound contribution to the country's development.

He will have more time for extracurricular activities like sports as well as leadership moulding exercises, etc. The habit of children spending more time in school has to be promoted. We want to produce a child who will love this country and has a good understanding of values and ethics, a person who will not betray his motherland. This is not something that can be learnt from books.

We have seen so-called highly educated people betraying Sri Lanka in international fora. They are attacking their own motherland. They are calling for sanctions from the international community. The GSP+ facility was withdrawn because of the actions of our own people.

They are trying to attack the government. Any government has a political background. It represents a certain colour. This is subject to change. With the aim of attacking the party in power they are making all these allegations. But it is a direct hit to the motherland and the people of the country.

We must make schools, institutions of excellence that inculcate values and ethics in students enabling them to become team players who would not be a burden to this country or the people.

The students must learn their mother tongue, the other official language as well as English as a universal language. English is the gateway to the world. By year 2020, the President dreams of making Sri Lanka a trilingual country.

In addition students will have to learn Mathematics, Science, IT and Social Sciences in school. Children must also be given facilities to learn life skills. This was there in the curriculum at one time. When the children grow into adults these basic skills will come in handy when it comes to household work.

These are vital skills for life than anyone would want to admit. How many of our adults can easily repair a broken tap or replace a bulb switch?

Last but not least come Aesthetic Studies - this comprises an important part of a child's education. This is the part of education that makes a complete and a compassionate human being. This is an area important in conflict prevention.

Punishment by teachers is also something that has been given distorted definitions. I personally think punishment for doing wrong is part of school education. Children learn from early stages that if you do wrong, punishment awaits you and if you do good there will be praise. We have turned into good citizens since we were punished by our teachers.

While focusing on the development of these selected 1000 schools we will strive to uplift the conditions in all existing schools. They will not be neglected.

The President has started donating books to students who come to Temple Trees for various functions. He has instructed that these books have to be popular supplementary readers. His interest in students is such that the President is the last person who would want to meddle with education. This project, called Nena Guna Thilina, is funded by private donors. The welfare Society of the Presidential Secretariat is implementing the project.

If it is a Sinhala school, 65 percent of books will be in Sinhala medium and 30 percent in English and 5 percent in Tamil. This model will apply to the Tamil schools appropriately. Since September last year, he has donated 45,000 books to 130 schools benefiting 115,000 students.

He has given deep thought to develop the education sector in the most remote Moneragala district. We conducted the Deyata Kirula exhibition in Moneragala. But the focus on the district will not wane with that.

We want to build 27 libraries within the district, each at a cost of Rs.1 million. This will also be funded by the private sector.

I think we should put the record straight when attempts are being made to create unrest. These undercurrents should be nipped in the bud.

The Education Minister's intention is to make the school an appealing place for students, so that they will want to spend more time there. There is no move on the part of the state to impose harsh mandatory rules on students and teachers.

The minister's intention is to ensure that the education imparted in a school is of a high standard. To make this a reality, the Government needs the support and encouragement of the students, teachers as well as parents.

We welcome constructive criticism but what happens now is discriminatory criticism of any and every proposal put forward by the Government. This is not fair. When children are brought into participate in State ceremonies, there is a lot of criticism. These spoilsports allege that the children are being used to appease the officials, they are being forced to come, it's a waste of time, children get exhausted. But in reality it is the opposite case. The children and the schools are so much interested in participating that sometimes the education authorities struggle to cope with their requests. Children don't see things the way adults do.

When Independence Day was celebrated in Kataragama, Uva Province Chief Minister Shasheendra Rajapaksa had so many requests from schools asking to participate. Finally he decided to allow all the schools to take part in the ceremony.

That was the reason why the ceremony continued for such a long time.

President Rajapaksa is so keen to ensure that education in schools is being conducted in a proper manner that he sends out teams to quietly look into the affairs of schools. To find whether the school is functioning smoothly, teachers are always absent or whether there are enough teachers in the schools, particularly for the key subjects. They make inquiries from students.

This culture of trying to paint a different picture than the reality needs to be urgently addressed. Politicians must be disciplined when dealing with schools and students. We should never try to make them a cat's paw to fulfill our dirty intentions.

There is a huge incentive for the Opposition politicians to tap schools to carry out their political games. Sri Lanka has a student population of over 4 million. Together with their parents this population constitutes 12 million - nearly one third of the total population of the country.

But the danger is that they are dealing with the future of this country. Therefore if politicians try to disrupt this segment, we should not hesitate to counteract and put the record straight before it evolves into a bigger problem.