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Planters problem - schooling for children

by P. Rajaratnam in Nuwara Eliya

The present problem of any planter in the hill-country and elsewhere is the schooling of their children, due to the non availability of good schools within the hill-country or of the planters working areas, other than Kandy or Colombo.

In several instances, a Planter is compelled to run two houses, one on the estate and the other one either in Kandy or Colombo, where the wives live with their school going children, at very exorbitant costs. So they say their minds are elsewhere than at the estates!

There planters complain it has become an absolute necessity to have schools with all amenities in the hill-country, so that their children could be boarded or sent them as day scholars.

The young married Assistant Superintendents face more problems as they are unable to meet such exorbitant high costs with their low salaries in running two houses.

During the colonial times, and until 1959, and after the nationalisations of estates in 1972, the Hill School served the educational requirements of their children meeting the British Planters and even others. At present the ancient - Hill School buildings are being occupied by the army.

An ex-planter, who belonged to the vintage period said when a planter was not on the estate, the entire volume of work and production drops and added when the "planters foot is on the soil" it amounts to a 500 dollars productivity".

At the 34th Annual General Meeting of the Planters Association held recently at Nuwara Eliya, the problem of schools of the planters' children was a focal point-raised by many planters, and several of them pointed out the various ongoing "child abuses" and other allied matters in the country, and they would prefer the children were with the parents more, if educational facilities are provided by the management companies and state.

The Secretary General of the Planters Association Nillan Gunatilleke and the Chairman Rohan Fernando undertook to go into the important subject of the planters.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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