• Citizenship education in Sri Lankan schools

• Chattering on radio

• Drifters

Citizenship education in Sri Lankan schools

TIME shapes and reshapes the concepts we learn from time to time. Therefore, attempts made to understand both physical and social phenomena through rather anachronistic and outdated viewpoints can depict a twisted and warped picture.

This article aims at discussing how the concept of citizenship should be looked at in relation to how it can be taught in the Sri Lankan classrooms paying attention to the changes which have emerged in the recent past.

One of the main objectives of the country's education system is to help the students to develop a balanced view of the cultural, national and global identifications.

The increasing ethnic and cultural diversity of the Sri Lankan society tends to emphasise the fact that it has become an essential task of every teacher to provide a rich environment for the students to become reflective citizens of the pluralistic society of the country.

To achieve this, it is necessary to reconceptualise the citizenship education in general and the concept of citizen in particular.

An analysis of many of the world issues shows us that majority of them are caused by the polarization of different ethnic groups who live in similar geo-political regions.

Therefore, what is needed today is an idea of multi- cultural citizenship that will enable the students to have a delicate balance of cultural, national and global identifications and to understand the ways in which knowledge is constructed; to become knowledge producers; and to participate in civic actions to create a more humane nation world (Banks, 1997).

Banks point out that teachers must develop reflective cultural, national, and global identifications by themselves if they are to help students to become thoughtful, caring and reflective citizens in a multi-cultural world society.

Sri Lankan society is too characterized by cultural, ethnic, language and religious diversity. As has been the case in many parts of the world, one of the challenges the pluralistic society of the country has to face is how to strike a balance between providing opportunities for ethnic groups to maintain their own cultural identity and at the same time constructing a Sri Lankan nation-state to which all the communities feel an allegiance.

This throws a big challenge for the educationists and the educational policy makers to think of appropriate strategies to provide an education that promotes a balance of unity and diversity.

Providing merely some cultural information about different ethnic groups of the country through the classroom textbooks is not enough, but there must be a very comprehensive programme to address the reality of the true character of the plurality of our society and to involve the students in it for them to explore and discover the essence or core of all the cultures to build up a 'Sri Lankan culture'.

For this students should be provided with the necessary knowledge, attitudes and skills for them to productively function in their own cultural communities and then to function beyond the very boundaries for them to actively participate in the construction of a national civic culture.

This must embody democratic ideas and values supportive to build up one Sri Lankan nation-state where everybody respects and even volunteers to protect the cultural identity of the other communities.

A committee or a commission should be formed comprising educationists from all the communities to have an in-depth study of all the aspects of citizenship education such as policy planning, curriculum designing, textbook writing, and even teaching methodology to be used, and decide on the ideal citizen the school system should produce for a better Sri Lanka.

P. A. D. ANIL - Veyangoda.

Chattering on radio

I READ an article by Prof. J.B. Dissanayake, published in the Silumina newspaper of September 4, 2005 under the caption 'FM language, a language or a poison?' which says in no uncertain terms the present situation of the private FM electronic media stations.

It's a known fact that some private FM Radio stations in our country are using a language that is not very much to the point for the programmes, broadcast through their radio stations.

It's in fact, clear that the programme presenters of these FM stations handle the language in a manner that is harmful to our mother tongue may be mainly due to their lack of understanding of the correct use of the language.

For instance, the language used for their newscast is not at all to the point and is the local vernacular that is far removed from the formal way. Everyone who listens to the newscast of some FM Radios can understand their wrong use of language well.

Likewise, these FM radios play for the most part, songs, bailas or non-stop songs all day long and these songs are sometimes, played at the request of the listeners through live phone-in shows. But among the songs played by them some are really loathsome, filthy ones that are not even suitable for broadcast through electronic media.

This is in fact, a regrettable situation and a serious error that needs to be rectified soon. These persons should be made aware of how to handle the media language in a proper manner. If the situation continues in this manner, we think it's imperative to impose restrictions in this regard.

It's true that in a country where there is an open economy, entrepreneur is at liberty to do whatever he likes. But it's the responsibility of the Government to interfere with these matters of significance to control the situation to some extent. Likewise, as pointed out by Prof. Dissanayake it's the duty of all of us to protect our mother language.

L.W. Gamini C. Kumara - Colombo.

Drifters

I WAS an inmate of the Jayawardhanapura Hospital, sometime back. I spoke to a young man who was an inmate next to me. He told me his troubles. He was 35 years and unmarried.

"I went to a big office when I was eighteen". he said. "I am still in that office. I have been there for seventeen years. My pay is small. I want to get married. But I don't have enough income."

"During these seventeen years", I asked him "did you apply - for another job?"

"No" he replied.

"Did you read any business books that will help you to apply for another job?"

"I read only the daily papers and a few film magazines."

I asked him "Have you saved any money?"

"No" he replied, "how could I? I have always had to spend every cent." Then I pointed out to him the fact that he had been drifting for seventeen years. He had no one to blame but himself. He had done nothing to prepare himself for promotion."

Drifters are always drifters. They can stop drifting. They must aim for higher-paid positions. At once they should begin to study and prepare for better posts.

They should acquire some specialised knowledge and try to get a better job. I know some such youngsters are in very 'big places' today, and I know how hard they worked, without wasting time. One has no time to waste and one should never become a drifter.

ANANDA WIJAYAWEERA - Ratmalana.