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Making education a happy experience

In recent times, education in Sri Lanka has been severely criticised. Criticism has been directed by the print and electronic media, as well as by speakers at seminars and workshops. Such criticism encompassed the full gamut of education, from teaching of students, to teaching of teachers; what subjects must be taught, how learning can be made meaningful to the future development of the individual, for securing employment, and also the relevance to the development of the country. The standards needed for primary, secondary, and tertiary education are being discussed and analyzed. In other words, the education policy is being scrutinized and questioned.

Monday, Oct 05, 2009 | 318 Views | Comments [View/Post]

There are different schools of opinion on the substance and extent of reform contemplated. Amongst them are those who are genuinely interested in the future of our children whilst others view reform from a narrow racist or religious perspective.

Deterioration in discipline
Besides education per see, there has been serious deterioration in the discipline of students and teachers. Corruption is reported to be rampant. Even Principals, Ministry Secretaries and Ministers are under a cloud.

Therefore, it is opportune to ask the question what is wrong with education in Sri Lanka, how can we put things right, and, are remedies lying in the thoughts and practices of the distant past waiting to be re-discovered?

This is the time to ask whether we are educating our young in the appropriate manner, inculcating in them not only academic knowledge, but also desirable values to equip them to become good citizens.

We should have asked these questions decades ago.

Today we commemorate the life and work of an educationist and humanist par excellence, Founder of Kingswood, Louis Edmund Blaze, L.E. Blaze lived at a time far removed from the conditions of today. Yet he too despaired at the shortcomings he saw at the time, but more of that later. It is reported that suicides amongst schoolchildren are on the increase. Statistics reveal that in 2007, there were over 200 suicides, divided more or less equally between boys and girls.

These tragedies are widespread over the country; from towns to villages, indicating a deep-seated malaise which confronts our education system. They are an outcome of the trauma experienced by youth in a society riven with self interest, ambition, competition, desperation and an inability to understand, adapt and cope with the resultant pressures. Naturally, schools have been blamed.

They must certainly accept a great deal of responsibility, but there is an even greater share of blame that parents and family must accept. Unrealistic expectations by family, particularly by parents, cast a heavy burden on children who, due to lack of educational facilities, lack of money, or lack of intellectual capacity, are unable to understand why they fail, or struggle to achieve success.

Our society conjures up an illusory goal of success in life measured by academic achievement. Educationists and the State pursue this Utopian ideal, and parents and teachers relentlessly good children to great, and greater, academic success, as if such is the way to reach happiness and perfection. When the truth is finally realized, it is too late, and life is found to be empty and meaningless. 
 
Recently an acquaintance of mine made the astounding statement that he is an intellectual by virtue of the fact that he holds a university degree. I replied that it was good news and augurs well for the country, since our parliament too is full of such intellectuals. A student recruit to the medical faculty of the University of Peradeniya, in an initial learning essay, referred to himself as a god. He felt that all doctors are the ‘top of the pops’ and were above the rest of us menials. I cannot help but ask what education, and more education is doing to us?

The relentless pursuit of ambition, and the resulting greed, envy, and ‘cut-throatism’, end in violence and corruption, moral decay, and indiscipline.

Youth who are bewildered and lost, end their lives.

Sri Lanka has all the world’s major religions represented in the populace. It is said no country in the world has more places of worship per square mile, whether Buddhist, Christian, Moslem, or Hindu.

Worship and practice

Then why are we in dire straits? Has religion failed? Or is it that we do not comprehend the meaning and the aim of religious teaching? Do we fail to understand that one of the fundamental goals of religious teaching, amongst others, is to inculcate discipline in the individual for the good of many? Why is it that worship and practice are at variance? The answers are there for us to see! As Bob Dylan said in his popular balled of the 1960s,

“The answers my friend, are blowin’ in the wind”

It is a far too complex a matter. Yet, it is important that we think about it, discuss it, and take action.

A speaker, Dr. Sriyanie Miththapala, at a recent discussion in Australia on the subject of the Sri Lankan situation, voiced this opinion in comparing the impact on a eco-system, when certain species are eliminated. Titled ‘Unity in Diversity’ it is a different type of analysis, a biological view perhaps, but nevertheless very relevant to us in Sri Lanka. It is a very interesting and original perspective and I just could not leave it out. This is what she said:

Ecosystems usually consist of a great number of different species interacting in complex ways, so that a tight web of connections is formed. The greater the number of species, the more interactions there are and the more complex the ecosystem.

Although it is the diversity of species and the diversity of interactions that make for well functioning ecosystems, each ecosystem functions as a unit. This is the beauty of an ecosystem: many parts function together to provide a whole. Each species works like cogs in a wheel and together, the ecosystems work like perfectly oiled, efficient, complex machines. Through this smooth functioning, ecosystems churn out food and fuel for us, protect us from the floods and famines, purify our waters and detoxify our soils, sustaining our lives. Damaging even part of this unit disrupts the whole. 
 
This means that decreasing the number of species through introductions or extinctions (both of which may have the same effect of decreasing diversity), breaking linkages that connect species or distorting the dynamics of an interconnection disturbs the balance of these smoothly functioning units.

When ecosystems stop functioning smoothly, the goods and services that they provide decline in quality and quantity. In some cases, when certain species connections are destroyed, the resulting imbalance can lead to a cascade of extinctions and the collapse of the ecosystem.

What is frightening about this is that a seemingly weak disruption can set off a domino effect that is felt only later, long after the functioning of the unit has been damaged beyond repair. When the unit does not function property, there is a failure to deliver life-sustaining goods and services.

Sri Lanka, currently at a historical crossroad, is just like an ecosystem. We are all parts of a whole. It is a given that for the country to function well it must do so as one whole unit. But for it to function as a unit, each interrelationship and each community has to be acknowledged as being critical within this unit. Disrupting these linkages will result in unexpected twists in community consequences.

“History has left us with a legacy of a multi-ethnic country. We could have been a people who rejoiced in this diversity. We could have been a people who are tolerant towards others’ beliefs. Insensitivity to feelings of insecurity and deprivation has led to bitterness and hardening of attitudes. Our ethnic and religious tolerance lies in shards. Sings of growing fanaticism among some followers of different religions threaten the rebuilding of the just and tolerant society for which all of us yearn”.

These remarks may not shock you, but they may leave you in despair. And so it should. That, after all is the reality. Is there anything you and I can do? Are we doing it? If not, why? Are there some things we can learn from the Foundation Father of our school? I believe so.

Surely! The answers are there! They are Blowin’ in the Wind!

Sri Lanka is at a crossroad. The values we hold sacred are now threatened. Their dismantling has already commenced. Can we restore them? Can we bring back respect for the individual, respect for law and order?



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