General Elections 2004 - RESULTS
Monday, 12 April 2004  
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Education in right hands

Educationists breathed a huge sigh of relief at the news that President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has brought the subject of Education, which includes schools and universities, under her wing.

The UNF Government played ducks and drakes with education in its disastrous short two year tenure even trifurcating what should be a single ministry.

The Ministers Karunasena Kodituwakku, Kabeer Hashim and Suranimala Rajapakse ruined education through their arrogance, ignorance, incompetence, ineptitude and inefficiency. This highly impotent, oft comical combination was responsible for strangulating the vibrant, visionary Educational Reforms introduced by the President in 1998.

It is universally accepted that the development of a nationally relevant education system is the key factor for sustained high economic growth and it is most significant in economies such as that prevalent in this country. High quality human resources are decisive for increasing productivity, competitiveness and creativity. However, the quality of human capital produced by the present education system has not kept pace with labour market requirements.

Emphasising general and university education and overlooking the importance of technical and vocational training were partly responsible for the shortage of skilled manpower and for the high unemployment among the educated youth.

The Educational Reforms introduced by the President in 1998 were primarily aimed at improving the quality and focus of education. This would minimise the mismatch between educational attainment and labour market requirements.

Educational Reforms were being implemented at primary, secondary and tertiary levels.

An Educational Reforms Implementation Monitoring Unit (ERIMU) was established. In addition to reforms, several programs were also in progress to improve schools infrastructure.

President Kumaratunga's Educational Reforms were well on course, being implemented enthusiastically and efficiently by Dr. Tara de Mel, described as the best Secretary of Education the country has had, when disaster struck with a sudden change in administration.

From then on education hit the downroad and is today in one awful mess. However, sanity and coherence is being restored. The President has put the Educational Reforms back on the uproad. It's an uphill task. But she has the courage and the wisdom to put them back on track.

Road to Asian unity

One continent, 32 countries, one road. Asians have long dreamed of a trans-national highway that spans their continent, bringing nations and peoples closer.

This dream will move a step closer to reality this month as 24 of 32 countries committed to it sign an agreement on April 26 in Shanghai for a road from Japan to western Russia.

The proposed 140,000 Km Asian Highway would extend across 32 countries along several routes, stretching through China south to Indonesia, and as far west as Russia's border with Finland, according to the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). The overall budget and the timeframe for completion are expected to be announced in 2006. The idea of building an Asian Highway is very old, but it was formally conceived by the UN in 1959. Geo-political hurdles at the time precluded any progress in this direction.

Now that the world order has changed and peace reigns in most of Asia, the project can at last go ahead. The economic benefits will be immense, considering that intra-Asian trade is expanding exponentially. Overland goods transport is much cheaper than sea or air freight.

A trans-national highway will develop people-to-people contact in Asia, as more people discover their neighbouring lands. The highway will also boost tourism in Asian countries, which tourists are now compelled to explore individually as only a few of them are linked overland. However, all countries will have to ease travel formalities for Asians and foreigners alike. Needless to say, this will be a multi-billion dollar project. Many of the countries through which the highway will pass do not have sufficient budgetary resources for a mega-project of this nature. This calls for a collective effort of all the countries. Comparatively rich countries should assist their poor neighbours - Thailand, for example, is granting soft loans to Laos and Cambodia. The UN is also encouraging the private sector to fund sections of the highway.

Sri Lanka should take a keen interest in this project, because the highway will pass through our immediate neighbour India. In this context, it will be beneficial for both countries to expedite plans for the construction of a bridge linking Talaimannar with Rameswaram. Then Sri Lanka too will effectively be part of the Trans Asian Highway and the rest of the continent will only be a bus ride away.

 

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