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Winners of Art and Essay competitions

Age Group 15-18 years
1st Place
How beneficial is tuition for our education
Imagine it reader, a world without tuition.

Would it be a lovely, sunny world, full of little children playing carefree in the glorious, unburdened afternoon? A wonderful, cheery world of laughter and freedom? A world where a young one can stand tall and say: 'I go to school and they teach me all I need to know'? Maybe.

Or perhaps it would be a world of failed exams, dashed hopes, timid, shy youngsters who fear even to speak with peers of the opposite sex, and poverty stricken teachers without a much needed income.

How can we tell?

Now imagine yourself to be nine years of age (unless you really are so), and we shall perform the sacred rite of Going To A Tuition Class.

You come home from school. You are very tired, so tired that all you want to do is collapse where you stand and go to sleep; you could do with a nice, cool wash, mainly because it's the middle of the afternoon and it's sweltering. And maybe tentative hopes for a mountainous plate of rice with some dhal curry and fish, and fruit afterwards (banana maybe, a mango, even that sun-dried apple that has gently turned into a prune in your refrigerator, you're not choosy) is rising like bread under yeast in your young, fresh mind. Really you don't want much. You just want time to enjoy your meagre little pleasures. But what you actually get...

You get hustled out of the school van, handed something or other on a plate that you are instructed to stuff down your gullet as fast as possible, and then you're hurled out of the house with a bunch of books and rushed to face a tuition class, where sits a monstrous ogre in the guise of a teacher, waiting, biding its time, to suck out the last remnants of your sweet childhood.

Waiting to add a fresh heap of homework to an already daunting pile of the same. And then you sit on a hard bench, digesting dull, musty figures, long words and horrid loads of grammar, half asleep so that what goes in through the ears comes right back out in the form of immense jaw-breaking yawns.

Until learning comes into you so fast, in such elephantine loads, that if you retch, learning will come out of your mouth. Until little hands meant to throw ball and dress dolls are weary with endless writing, and minds meant for frivolous thoughts of Spiderman, fast cars, Barbie dolls and video games are flooded by the great fountain of knowledge.

Be glad reader, that the flowers of childhood are tough and resilient. So much so that they are ever sunny and full of spirit, even those that go through the daily torture of tuition classes. And this greatness, reader, that we thoughtlessly fling for the three-headed dog of tuition to devour. If only these young minds were let to develop at their own sweet pace! Would they not be freer spirits, better men and women in time?

On the other hand...

Now you are fourteen years old, and you have never before set foot in a tuition class. Sadly, your Science marks are sagging at the shoulders. So here comes the bombshell. One fine afternoon you take your courage in both hands and ignoring those funny little butterflies in your gut, take the terrifying step into the den of the ogre.

You sit down on one of the hard benches and someone smiles at you. Suppose you have never been in a class with the opposite sex before (your parents not believing in co-education). Now, their presence adds a dash of excitement to a dark situation. You start to like the camaraderie in the tuition class. People groan and yawn, boys throw balls of paper at the girls; the girls make cutting remarks. People write things on desks and tell jokes and the classroom stinks pleasantly of sweat. You're almost enjoying yourself.

Then enters the teacher. You get ready to be bored out of your skull. And true enough, you do inevitably get bored out of you skull. But...

Why are tuition class teachers so much better at teaching than most of your schoolteachers, you wonder. They make it fast, snappy and lucid. Some of them crack a joke or two. The jokes are 'too much'. People blush and people glare. But how else on earth is one man or woman to hold the attention of a roomful of sleepy adolescents? You can justify their actions.

They force-feed you knowledge. They mean business. The hours crawl by and they never flag or lose their momentum. They teach beyond the number of hours you pay them for. They're going to get you through you exams, even if they have to grab you by the throat and hammer in the syllabus through your ears.

You come back home a changed being. The coming weeks continue in this manner. You hate tuition but you also sort of like it. You need it. You're young and maybe the strange, cut-throat world of tuition classes is your first timorous step out of the familiar cut-throat world of school. Maybe despite -or perhaps because - it is almost pristine pain, tuition classes are just another part of growing up. And you find them beneficial.

So really, how beneficial are tuition classes to our education?

Frankly, if we lived in an ideal world where schoolteachers taught so beautifully and dexterously, that the Brainless could grasp the lesson as well as the Brainy, and the overachieving minority in the student population did not desire so abominably to compete with one another, and there was no war, no famine, and flowers bloomed everyday, and the students did not have to know their textbooks backward by heart, tuition would not be at all beneficial to education!

But alas, we are further away from that happy Utopia than we are from intergalactic space travel. and making the best of an imperfect world, tuition is a necessary evil. A beneficial evil. After all, studying and doing past papers alone is much duller than doing them at a tuition class with fellow sufferers. As the proverb goes, sorrow shared is half sorrow...

However, this writer is of the opinion that those under thirteen should best have free afternoons and weekends, and do as little work as humanely possible for education. After all when you write out a job application, you're hardly likely to mention the prize you won for Environmental Studies in second grade, are you? So you might as well save yourself the trouble.

But for those on the threshold of Ordinary Levels up to those on the brink of Advanced Levels, tuition is worth the trouble. It lends a hand in educational and social development. Learning how to survive in the world is the most important of all things. Maybe learning outside the happy shelter of school is what is needed. A rite of passage, perhaps.

There is not much in this world that is purely beneficial. But if you wield the two edged blade of tuition right, maybe you can go far. And time spent to unravelling the mysteries of child psychology as affected by tuition can be better-employed devising cures for cancer and ways to end world hunger. Because you cannot do much good without learning, and tuition helps you learn.

Here in this sad, imperfect world, maybe a tuition class is, perhaps (for those over the age of fourteen) a beneficial thing. Or if not, it is as beneficial as it gets.

Who are we imperfect beings to argue?

Prathiba Dissanayake, Musaeus College, Colombo.

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Age Group 10-14 years
1st Place
What I want to be

My name is Tharindra Gooneratne, and I am a student of Ananda College, Colombo. From the beginning of last year, my future ambition was to be the chairman of my own organization called "Alcomp Limited." Even though my sister scoffed at me, I was determined to do my best and somehow try to fulfil my dream.

I know very well that if I am to succeed in my "ambitious" ambition, I must do my very best at school and finish my education successfully. At present, I am the first in my class, and I hope I do well till the end of my education and even after. I wish I will be able to get my "MBA" qualification in the future, by studying hard. I also hope to get my "PHD" qualification as well. Then, I hope to work in a firm and get experience on management.

Later onwards, in about five years, after I have got a lot of experience on management, I will start my organization in a small scale. At the start, I will open my first shop which will be called the "Tastebuds" restaurant. I will start off with cheap prices, special discount and I might even advertise food for free. As my restaurant will be having various kinds of food like the "Cresat", I guess it will attract customers soon. After sometime when my restaurant is popular, I will increase the prices a little, but they will still be competitive. If my restaurant is a success, I will open some more outlets and then, very slowly I will open some new companies. As my organization expands more and more, I will need a huge amount of labour. I hope to employ loyal, honest and dedicated employees to my organization. From the beginning, I hope to employ my good friends at my organization, and some of them have consented to doing so! Of course, I won't make them workers, but I intend to make them directors!

As my organization expands more and more within the island, and if it is a huge success, I will start opening companies in other nations as well. As my organization will be famous across the globe for competitive prices, excellent quality and good service, I think it will be a huge success, even in the international market.

I would now like to write about the companies of my organization and what they do. The first is the "Tastebuds" restaurant, which will have food from different countries. The "Golden Sands beach hotel" will be a beautiful and luxurious hotel set in Beruwala. I have already drawn the plan of the hotel with my friends Minura and Kithmina. According to our plan, the hotel will have ninety executive rooms, seven deluxe rooms and three suites. The main features of the hotel will be three restaurants, three pools (two large ones and a kiddies pool). One library, three ball rooms, one mini-mall, two tennis courts, (one hard and one soft) an entertainment room a kids' club, one global connection room with ten computers, facilities for sports like table-tennis, basket ball, cricket, squash, darts and others and an exercise room.

"Technocom" which is another of my companies will be producing fridges, televisions, radios, washing machines and even computers called "Macro-Sonic computers." Sorry, Mr. Bill Gates, you'll be out of business soon! "Digimax studios" will be making great films and soon, columbia pictures will be out of business as well!

I will also be making my own airlines, called "Aero-Lanka" with a fleet of fifteen planes, and I hope that it will be a success as well. Another main feature of my organization will be the Theme park named "Adventureland." Visitors will love every feature of the park from the roller-coaster rides to the "Haunted house of horror!"

I am also hoping to make two under-water restaurants named the "Coral reefs," They will be situated below the ocean and I am sure that they will attract customers soon!

My organization will also have a bank named "Pearl Bank" and I hope that it will be successful. I will also open a bookshop named the "keen-reader book shop" as well. It will have a numerous amount of books and they will be cheap as well.

Another of my companies will be a glove-making factory named "Pro-glove limited." As my father used to work in a glove-making factory, he could help me out in this company. I also want to make a number of bungalows in Nuwara Eliya, Bentota, Bandarawela, Galle and Ratnapura, named the "Alco-hill bungalows." These bungalows will be divided into two sections. One section will be the bungalows for my employees and the other section will be open to public.

"Leisure travels" will be a travel company and customers would be surprised with the special prices offered. I am also hoping to make a chain of Supermarkets around the island, called "Agro Super." "Ideal Fashion" will be another of my companies and will be dealing with garments, which includes producing garments and displaying them. "Auto-drive" will be a part of my organization and it will produce vehicles and display them.

Even if my organization is one of the richest organizations in the future and however rich I become, I will not lose my human touch. I will always be kind and humble. As the Japanese say, "As you succeed more and more and do better, learn to bend down and be more humble like ripened paddy."

I would like to be a very good citizen to my country. I hope to donate half of the money I earn to children's and elders' homes. For me, the family will always come first, and I hope to lead a balanced, happy life by being kind and loving and by making other people happy. Only if this happens, could I say that my childhood dreams were fulfilled.

Tharindra Hashan Gooneratne, Ananda College, Colombo 10

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Age Group 15-18 years
2nd Place
Relationship between children and parents

Parents are the creators of a society. They play a most significant and important role in the formation of a disciplined and just society - as children of today are the adults of tomorrow and it is through the great influence of these important people called parents that a righteous society is formed.

However the role of parents could be considered as difficult, confusing, complicated and tricky. Parents are new to this field as they personally have no experience and many learn from their errors which are often too late to repent and rectify. Every parent differ in their individual opinion. Some feel that strict discipline should be their priority in raising children and believe in the idea 'spare the rod and spoil the child' which they strongly believe is the ideal concept.

There are other parents who feel that loads of love and warmth ahead of discipline makes the child a finer human-being. I strongly feel that a child who is surrounded by tolerance love and understanding turns out to be a worthy citizen. From early childhood a child should learn compassion and consideration.

A child however should be taught by his parents the value of believing in oneself, the ability to be firm and say 'No' when the moment demands. To believe in one's ideas and be positive towards life. A parent should teach a child that hard work through commitment and dedication proves to bring forth good results.

Children should be made to believe that their closest and most sincere friends to them are their own parents. No matter how close outsiders may seem to be the most faithful people in this world are your own dear parents. Parents should create a loving bond with us so that we would have absolute faith and trust in them. Whilst teaching us discipline and being strict on values they should show us enough understanding so that we children can turn to them with confidence when we feel confused with our values. Whenever we may do some wrong act however bad it may seem to the world our first thought should be to have trust in our parents and confide in them. If we can be truthful with them even when we feel our wrong is punishable then there is perfect understanding between parents and children. a child or teenager should be free to talk to his parent, and talk in a frank and candid manner.

However to build such a relationship, our parents should be figures whom we can truly admire and respect, not merely because they are our parents but because they are responsible people with ideas which are respected in society. Their moral values should be shown to us by their style of living. In short they should be honourable human beings - fair and just citizens. As our lives are greatly influenced by them they should be examples to us. If we could consider them as our greatest teachers and closest friends they have won the battle of life and the understanding between them and us would be perfect. An ideal parent should combine gentleness with firmness so that they command not mere respect but love as well.

Children on the other hand too have a role to play. We should realize that however strict they may appear to be, however unreasonable we think they are, their sole priority is our own welfare. It is true that at times they tend to be too narrow in their outlook, too conservative in their approach, too curious about our lives which we feel are personal, but it would do us good if we pause to consider that all this stems up from doing good to us.

I must confess that many a time I feel irritated when too many questions are lashed out to me and I am forced to be either sulky or moody or retort back. They do not sometimes respect our privacy and it is hard for us to be understanding. Sometimes arguments brew up and later I realize how wrong I was. All kinds of relationships are fragile and have to be nurtured but we should keep in mind that our relationship with our parents is so special, because they have willingly done so much for our benefit and comfort, with unbelievable patience. How much they would have tolerated us in our baby-days when we would have been impossible, but did they ward off their responsibilities. Instead they guarded us fiercely and lovingly, seeing to all our needs. We are what we are today because of these two wonderful people who loved us unconditionally.

Raising up a child is no small task. Why cannot we be then a little more understanding towards them when they sound a little more conservative. Life has changed since then, outlooks were narrower then and are much broader now. A sense of perfect understanding cannot be achieved without tolerance and patience from both sides.

Another important side to understanding and creating is to share fun and laughter together. When parents play with their children understanding and trust is bonded. Laughing at a simple joke, being amused together, makes us closer to each other. I also feel that parents should listen to their children too at times. When we feel strongly about an idea an ideal parent should give us a hearing. It is then that we children would in turn feel that we too are respected.

I also feel that if all parents and children could have grandparents living with them, tolerance, patience and greater understanding is bonded. Understanding and caring would flow more freely then.

Children should be punished when they violate rules otherwise they would be a menace to society. I believe that instead of using a whip or a cane withdrawing luxuries like outings or favourite food or forfeiting some of our pocket money would be better. We may feel resentment now but I strongly believe that with the passing of time we would realise the value of discipline to make living in society a pleasant experience.

If we believe in their unconditional life understanding will flow smoothly. Parents should also value their own children, their children to them should be their most prized possessions. They should never compare their children or their performances with others. Each child is unique and is blessed with different talents and capabilities. Some of us may be clever in studies while others may be artistic and good in skills. All of us cannot be brilliant in studies. All of us cannot be engineers or doctors, as some of us are not gifted academically. There may be other fields we may be good at. Parents should accept us as we are even if we do not seem to be as intelligent as some of their friends children. Acceptance should be the keynote. Every child is a gift from God to his parents. If a child is valued for his own individuality without comparison the relationship would be healthier.

If both parents and children show more understanding towards each other our world would be more pleasant. A society with high morals would be the result. It will be a place where there is tolerance, compassion and understanding with no place for hatred, jealousy or envy.

As charity begins at home, society is formed through a family and when a family is based on love and understanding such families create a society making it a happier place for You and for Me.

Isuru Dilankka Manakkara, Pelawatta, Battaramulla.

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