|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Thursday, 2 December 2004 |
 |
|
 |
News | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Schools should be secular, not religio-communal by Asanga Warnakulasuriya President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga yesterday stressed that the existing criteria in admitting children to schools labelled Sinhala Buddhist, Sinhala Catholic, Hindu and Tamil needs to be changed in order to foster a good relationship among all communities which is vital for peace. "Why do we need schools that are only for Sinhala Buddhists, Catholics, Tamils and Hindus", the President observed. She said as long as such divisions prevail in the education system peace would be an elusive factor. The President addressing the annual-prize giving of Visakha Vidyalaya said that such tags would only make the situation worse because Tamil children will be stuck in the North and Muslims confined to the East. The President insisted that it is a matter that needs to be discussed among education authorities, principals, teachers and the parents. There would be no compulsion by law to enforce this suggestion. The President said quite ironically Sir Henry Olcott who was the founder of the Visakha Vidyalaya in 1917 was not a Sinhala Buddhist. At that time, irrespective of the nationality or religion, children had the opportunity to study at Visakha. On the contrary, today 99 per cent of the children are Sinhala Buddhists. Why cannot the management allow at least 10 per cent of other ethnic groups to mix with the Sinhalese, President questioned. "In the struggle for independence, our heroes never thought of their religion or language but, they fought in the name of Sri Lanka and not as individual groups, the President said. Quoting from UN reports President Kumaratunga said that the education system that prevailed at the beginning of the century collapsed after independence and in 1994, it reached bottom levels with proficiency in the mother tongue a mere 20 per cent. The proficiency in mathematics was a parlous 13 per cent. "Our Government which came into power 10 years ago soon realised the importance of changing the educational system to meet the technological advancements in the world and amended the curriculum. Our efforts raised proficiency levels to 40 per cent and 38 per cent respectively, she added. The President said Visakha Vidyalaya in its long history had produced outstanding citizens who had shone in diverse fields making significant contributions to the community and the country. She wished that present generation of students would follow in the footsteps of these exemplary citizens. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
