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| Sunday, 3 April 2005 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Human chain against begging Children begging on the streets has become a serious problem in Sri Lanka. Some of these children have no option other than to get onto the streets, to earn a living for themselves. Some of them, however, have been forced into begging by adults, sometimes their own parents, so that these adults can earn money for themselves, through their children. There are also organised rackets employing children for begging. These children rarely get any education and only a life of poverty awaits them. However, giving them the small change we have is not a solution. It will only compound the problem by encouraging them to continue begging. This problem is not confined to Sri Lanka. It has become a serious issue in many countries, and authorities are trying hard to keep children off the streets. One such action in this direction was a human chain formed by children on the streets of Chennai, India recently. Thousands of children took part in the human chain, formed on a stretch of College Road, crying slogans and carrying placards against begging. Nearly 1,000 of them were from Asha Nivas, a non-governmental organization providing free non-formal education to children from economically underprivileged backgrounds, and Nesakaram, another non-governmental organization. The idea was to encourage passers-by to think about preventing children from taking to the streets. ************* Activities to improve English in schools The Ministry of Education has launched several activities to improve the standard of English among students in State schools. Most of these activities target improving the proficiency of teachers. The best teaching methods cannot improve the standard of English or any other subject, unless the students are ready and able to work with the teacher, the Education Ministry said. As the prime need is to encourage children in self-learning, the Ministry will take steps to inculcate the reading habit in children from the early stages. Arrangements have been made to provide schools with supplementary reading material which are suitable for Grades 3 to 5. The Educational Publications Department has made arrangements to provide 21 titles for each grade so that each primary school will have a copy to be used as library books. The 9,404 schools with primary classes will receive one copy each, of the 63 titles. Distribution of the first lot of 29 titles has already begun, the Ministry said. The Ministry has also been encouraging English reading camps at school level, which can be conducted under school-based activities. More than 100 camps have already been held. Usually, three to five schools get together and conduct a common camp. *************** Development programme for Wilpattu The Department of Wildlife Conservation plans to develop the Wilpattu National Park, which is Sri Lanka's largest national park, covering an area of 131,694 hectares. The development programme which includes the reconstruction of park bungalows and the road network is expected to be completed by the end of this year. The reconstruction of the Talawila and Panikkawila Park Bungalows are expected to cost around two million rupees. Repair work on over 180 kilometres of the road network has already been completed. Wilpattu, which had been closed from 1965 to 1989 due to terrorist activities, was recently re-opened. The park has 42 natural ponds. It is well known as a haunt for leopards. The park has historical importance as well, and is said to have been the abode of Kuveni at one time. The Department expects an increased number of visitors to the Wilpattu Park after it is completely developed. *************** Martin Wickramasinghe Folk Museum re-opened The Martin Wickramasinghe Folk Museum, which is based in the ancestral home of the author at Koggala, has now been re-opened to the public and schoolchildren. The museum, which was affected by the tsunami, has now been cleared of all debris and restored to its former state. The restoration work was voluntarily undertaken by the employees of the museum and the schoolchildren of the area. More than 2000 students who participated at the re-opening received a bundle of books each, donated by the Martin Wickramasinghe Tsunami Trust Fund. They also got an opportunity to view the museum. *************** Japanese kite festival in India
Lovers of kites in India got a great opportunity recently when the Japanese Kite and Top Festival was held at the Lalit Kala Academy in India. It was conducted by the Consulate-General of Japan in collaboration with the Indo-Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Japan Foundation, Tokyo. The kites on display were marked with the region they came from. The designs were based on different cultural aspects of the country. Made from handmade paper and bamboo, the kites, despite being quite large, looked ready to fly any minute. The majority of them had been highlighted with vegetable dyes. The visitors not only enjoyed themselves looking at the beautiful kites, but also got an insight into the culture and history of Japan. |
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Do you enjoy flying kites ? Most of you probably do. Even others would
enjoy watching the thousands of kites of different sizes, shapes and
colours flying in the sky. 
