Archives

Address delivered on October 15, by Dr. Karunasena Kodithuwakku, Minister of Human Resource Development, Education and Cultural Affairs on the occasion of the 5th meeting of the Sub-commission of Social, Cultural and Educational Matters of the Indo-Sri Lankan Joint Commission held at Taj Samudra Auditorium.

This genesis of this very Joint Commission was the realisation that we could benefit-from the strong bonds that exist between our two countries from time immemorial.

The ethnicity of our peoples, languages, scripts of writing, principal religions, social behaviour with a great respect for our elders and children and cultural development in all its aspects have originated from and continually blended with that of our giant neighbour - India. This is the geopolitical reality. Our safest and surest way to progress and prosperity lies in the true recognition of this fact and capitalising on it.

Dr. Karunasena Kodithuwakku

I believe we all know this very well and labouring on an elaboration of it would be redundant. The Joint commission established in 1991 has been as instrument of furthering our relationships through the sub-committees on trade, finance and development, social, cultural and educational matters, science and technology.

Much useful work has been done in these areas. Let me congratulate and thank all those professionals, experts and officials in the diplomatic services who have immensely contributed to this success.

Let me now have the privilege of sharing with your Excellencies a few ideas that I think would of importance for further and urgent co-operation in the area of education, science and culture for mutual benefit. In this respect let me be very specific in what I have to say and propose, given the time constraints.

One area is the expanding opportunities for technical and higher education for the students who have successfully completed Advanced Level studies in Sri Lanka. The intake of every year of Sri Lankan universities and other tertiary education institutions approximates at 15% of the qualified or thereabout. That is about fifteen thousand. The system, as of now, is unable to take care almost 75000 or over. Already over 6000 Sri Lankan students are pursuing their higher education in the Indian universities and tertiary education institutes.

Apart from that, in the field of education, India's assistance in the training of principals, offers of scholarships to Sri Lankan students and promotion of sports have been conspicuous. I believe that there may be room for further streamlining and expansion in this area. One of the problems is that the opportunities available in Indian universities and educational institutes are not very well known to the prospective Sri Lankan students. Going through various intermediaries has become a hassle and costly.

His Excellency Professor Murli Manohar Joshi - your Honourable Minister of Human Resource development has been kind enough to arrange for exploring the possibility of conducting Indian University fair in Sri Lanka in the near future I believe that it would be quite beneficial. I think this commission can also deliberate on identifying strategies in this area - whether governmental or non-governmental, targeting the 85% who look for opportunities every year.

The visionary Prime Minister of India late Javaharlal Nehru successfully initiated the Establishment of Institutes of Management (IIMS) and Institutes of Technology (IITS) with the assistance of leading countries. Your Excellencies are aware the tremendous impact of these institutes in the post independent development of India.

We are thankful to Hon Manohar Joshi who has initiated action to set up one Institute of Technology affiliated to the Channai Institute of Technology. Nevertheless, Technology, and Management would remain an area for consolidating and expanding co-operation - perhaps for two or more Management and Technology institutes on a commercially viable basis -opportunity exists - I believe the Commission would take note of this fact.

Another area for meaningful and active co-operation is the English Education and Information & Communication Technology (ICT) Skills. It is not necessary for me to elaborate on the importance of English and IT, which has begun to have daring impact on the life of students and even the grown-ups with the emergence of a borderless world.

The dual strategies that are being implemented through the school system are the imparting of English Language Skills(ELS) and Information & Communication Technology (ICT) Skills. The implementation of these strategies however is constrained primarily owing to the lack of adequately trained teachers.

Training of teachers in both these area-that is to train around 25,000 to 40,000 teachers during the next two years on an aggressive strategy is a strongly felt need and a challenge. Formulation of strategies on a commercially viable basis is therefore an area to be seriously explored.

In particular the film Industry, I believe, is one other are a where greater co-operation should be attempted. Indian film industry is one that has been very close to the hearts of our people. Your film idols are idols of our people too.

The Late Chief Minister M. G. Ramachandran was not a hero for Tamilnad only. He was a hero for Sri Lankas as well. Kamalahasan's acting is adored by our people. There are occasions when more than four Hindi films are screened on a particular day on the TV channels in Sri Lanka. That is the impact we have had. In fact our first films were produced in India in the late forties. Even today, we import a large number of Indian films into our country.

Both countries have progressed well with a cinema for entertainment or refined creations. But given the technological advances that India has achieved, I think there is vast room for opportunities to co-operate and collaborate. These endeavours need not only be governmental as mentioned earlier. We could create the necessary environment for non-governmental efforts on a commercial viable basis. But it should target a leapfrogging effect.

Although I may sound philosophical, I would like to state that greater research into our own historically proven strengths seems an urgent necessity for resolution of our own problems and therefore I believe, it becomes another important area for co-operation.

May I pose this question to your Excellencies that, is there not a co-relation between the models of production, economics, administration, education and governance that we have been adopting since last two to three hundred years and underdevelopment that continues to hold a majority of our people in abject poverty and in need? Haven't we had histories and civilisations that would shock any one? Today we marvel at seven wonders of the world.

Some of course are natural endowments. Whilst it would not be attempted to discredit in any way the man-made marvels already recognized, it is apt to make the point that some of the huge relic monuments (Stupas) - brick constructions for instance, Jethawanaramaya - approximately 400 feet in height, (third highest after the two pyramids in Egypt) and Abhayagiriya built in Sri Lanka almost two thousand years ago, some with most complex of architectural ingenuity, and the man-made huge irrigation reservoirs constructed with the engineering precision, which even baffles the most modern experts in the field today and the well-organised health services over one thousand years ago with hospitals and medical equipment amazingly similar to what is being used today for surgery stands at par with such marvels.

These creations mirror only a glimpse of what the systems of governance at that time -economic, political and social might have been capable of delivering given the fact that the continuing deciphering of archaeological findings seen to enable strong inferences of an exceptionally higher order of governance to have existed. This is what we have found in Sri Lanka.

Isn't the same story in India and still more amazing? The Asokan edicts of India in the 3rd century BC, though a code of ethics, can equally be compared with XII tables of Roman Law. Doesn't the studies show that that the activities of economy and education were to some extent corporatized and highly decentralized.

Wasn't the Indian textile industry the best in the world until Lancashire emerged? As far as the production and trading of goods and services were concerned, there have been guilds with well drafted rules and regulations for their functioning. Such regulations dealt with not only technical, business and professional competence, but also on the broader moral and ethical norms and societal values.

Such moral codes were part and parcel of the entire operation of the society from which people could not escape. The point is that our countries had our own models of governance culturally cohesive and politically and socially expedient. I believe, this is an aspect that we may have to seriously take cognisance of and encourage research.

Such an endeavour may enable for developing systems of governance - more germane to one's own political, social and cultural settings and which would further ensure their cultural identities are developed and, their installation is encouraged, as the systems of governance now in place have proved deficient.

www.crescat.com

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries

Produced by Lake House
Copyright © 2003 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager