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| Sunday, 25 July 2004 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Reject elitism, privilege to survive Excerpts of the prize day speech of S. Thomas' Prep School Headmaster N.Y. Casie chetty It is now over half a century since our nation gained its independence from British colonial power. The ushering in of the era of the Common Man at the 1956 General Election; the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna inspired insurrection of 1971; the anarchy and mayhem in our land in 1988-1989 once more attributed to the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna followed by the electoral legitimacy achieved by the J.V.P. at the last Parliamentary General Election of April 2004 makes it patently obvious to any objective observer that our body politic has undergone a radical transformation. The four realities outlined by me in relation to our political evolution since independence, I would regard as watershed events. If schools like S. Thomas' are to continue to play a vital role in nation building, we must understand, appreciate and be sensitive to the reality that our nation has undergone cataclysmic changes since its relatively halcyon colonial past. The days when the mercantile sector would be a refuge for employment of our student is long gone, similarly employment in the public service requires talent and qualification and employment in other areas has now become increasingly competitive. University education is very restrictive and fewer are the students from our schools entering our local universities. Another key factor which has to be reckoned with is that the former ruling elite has been fast disappearing with the passage of time and a new ruling class has now replaced it. Whilst being justifiably proud of our rich tradition of providing a holistic education to the students in our care, it is not enough that we glory in past and over emphasise the importance of the well-rounded personality and the model public school product, who reflects the image of the British public school lad drawn from our colonial past. Our schools, if they are to survive in the new social order, must unhesitatingly reject the notion of elitism. We have to cultivate an attitude that elitism and privilege are neither acquired nor inherited, but must be the ultimate reward for nurturing one's innate talent through scholarship, perseverance and diligence. It is our bounden duty to strive with renewed vigour and increasing urgency to breed a culture of learning amongst the students. Students must be taught that elitism must necessarily be the product of merit earned by the development of one's talents and abilities through application and industry, whilst at the same time unequivocally rejecting the mistaken though accepted notion that elitism is co-related to birth, family connections and school ties. Schools such as ours must be in the forefront of stimulating a culture which has as its ultimate goal the creation of a meritocracy. It is so vital that society eschews and discards the antiquated baggage it has carried with it for so long of birth, family connections, the old school tie and a resultant feeling of smug complacency. There are yet many, who still regard with envy, resentment and bitterness that schools such as ours are bastions of class privilege. It is particularly important that the student we produce is intellectually equipped to compete man for man in an ever crowded, ever shrinking labour market. The student we ought to produce should be, a student who does not have to depend on his family ties of position and privilege, but is able to find his due place in society due to his own exertions, his own talent and is own ability. Such students who leave these portals of learning, ready to take their place in society, must be imbued with a sensitive social conscience, who being humbled by the privileges they enjoy, are determined to share their opportunities with the vast majority of the less privileged in this land. |
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