Lanka's forgotten schools

Douglas KING, Educational Advisor

EDUCATION: It's eight-thirty at school on Monday morning. The first lesson period should have started ten minutes ago, but less than 20 per cent of the 120 student are present. The Principal and several teachers are also not in evidence.

Absenteeism and student dropout is a chronic problem at this school and has been getting worse. Thirty years ago this school was well respected by local parents and enrollment in grade one always a time of celebration. Now the grade one and two classes have ceased to exist and what remains of the school is dying on its feet.

Is this school located in some distant, rural, forgotten outpost of the Central Province? No. It's less than two kilometers from both the President's and Governor's residencies in Kandy. Who would want their children to attend such a school? Certainly not the teachers or many families living close by.

They have a wide choice of International and private schools offering superior education and facilities. Three minutes walk from this school is a private Tamil medium school with over 400 students. Monthly fees are only 600 rupees but beyond the means of most poor parents.

These are the children of the lowest class of all. Some live with grandparents when mothers join the one million exoduses of workers to the Arab Gulf states, hoping to save to buy a colour television or refrigerator.

Sometimes the problem of absentee fathers or alcoholism exists alongside impoverished living conditions. Working parents are in the lowest sector of all, that of toilet, street cleaners and similar jobs that the majority shun but are glad to pay a few hundred rupees a day to society outcasts.

To get to the school you must climb a flight of steep steps situated alongside a smart newly built apartment block.

On one side at the top of these muddy, broken steps, is the derelict, unused Principal's quarters. One can imagine that in past times this was a well-kept house, and occupied by a Principal who was proud of his school. Now the windows are broken and to what unsavory use it is put, one shudders to guess.

Two large halls on different levels are the total school buildings. No playground, gardens or even vehicle access.

In the lower hall, some division has been made for the grade three class and the Principal's office. Otherwise there is just an assortment of old school furniture and blackboards propped on broken chairs.

The walls last saw a coat of paint many years ago. No displays of students' work, posters or maps and the only glimmer of colour are the new brightly coloured plastic chairs in grade three.

Apparently these were donated by some parents. A more depressing school is hard to imagine and the few teachers attending on this Monday looked equally depressed.

The children at the school on this day are mainly the younger girls wearing clean, ironed frocks. They look well-cared for but perhaps these are the exception. With such small classes there is the possibility of better educational standards. But few, if any of these students will be successful with G.C.E. O'Level examinations.

The Tamil speaking parents and grandparents have little education and are often unable to value schooling. Life has enough hardships and little energy is left for the educational needs of the children.

This school is close to the centre of Kandy within walking distance of some of the best government and private schools. What are the reasons why this school is so neglected? If its physical condition is the responsibility of the School Development Society, then it's a lost cause!

But what about Education officials for the Kandy Division who regularly visit schools? They can hardly have been complementary about any aspects of this school. Next year there will be no grade three and in successive years grade by grade will decrease.

Can anything be done or is it too late to revive such an institution in its death throes? First and foremost it must have a leader who is inspirational, creative and dedicated to the welfare of the students. A leader who can make the students, parents and community proud of their local school.

A leader who can not only wield a pen for administration, but also chalk for teaching and a paintbrush and hammer to renovate.

Such a Principal will not be found through political patronage and should be sought out with all due haste. Give that Principal the autonomy and support to make his school the model for others.

Involve the parents and grandparents and give them hope for their children's future. "Where there's a will, there's a way.

Even closer to Kandy centre is another school, almost out of sight and squashed between a church and an army camp, seemingly hiding from the public eye.

Here, three hundred students from grade 1 to 13, spend what should be the "best days of their lives" in conditions that would have the inmates of a prison complaining.

If it was not for the dedication of the teachers, these Tamil students would have little education. Grades 1 and 2 comprising sixty children, occupy a classroom intended for a maximum of thirty. At least the classroom is bright since parents recently painted it.

However, the stench of urine from the adjacent toilets cannot be ignored. Grades 3 and 4 study in a similar size classroom lit by a single bulb and virtually no natural light.

A more dismal space must be hard to find in any school. Seven other grades are squashed into a hall where low ceilings make the noise level overpowering for students and visitors alike. The only relatively quiet place is a dark corridor with a drainage ditch running down the middle.

Several times a day, teachers bring their charges to gain some better educational contact. Since there is no playground, students, whether six or eighteen years old, must remain in the classroom until home time. For these children there is no sport, dance or music.

The school library is housed in the tiny staff room and consists of two cupboards of well-worn books. Most English books are classics with reading levels way beyond students.

Recently, the school was given Rs. 10,000 for improvements. Hardly overwhelming generosity! Here, the Principal and teachers are the unsung heroes of the education system.

For them there is no recognition, despite their dedication to working extra time after school and during holidays to give older students more opportunity in a quieter environment. Absenteeism among students and teachers is very low and parents ensure their children are well-dressed and get to school on time.

Meanwhile, the adjacent army camp occupies large grounds and the Anglican church next door stays vacant for most of the school week. Both these Tamil medium schools are in the heart of Kandy, a World Heritage City.

It is the children who are being denied their right to a good education. Whole page government advertisements in The Daily News and other newspapers celebrate improvements being made to schools.

Large sums of money are made available by The World Bank, Asian Foundation, governments of Japan and Germany, among others, for the improvement of education.

The previous President and her Education Secretary assured us that "a level playing field" in education was being targeted. One can only surmise that this particular target was sadly missed over many years.

The current Education Ministry Secretary Ariyaratne Hewage recently stated: "I believe in equal opportunities in education and we should all do our best to achieve this goal."

He went on to say " We should not get trapped in the procedures and stop our work, but be creative and do something new. We must ensure that we make a change for the better."

Certainly a sincere attitude towards remedying the huge inequalities in education that are so prevalent.

But words must be followed by action, and only then will progress be measured. If schools close to the centre of Kandy remain third rate, what hope for those in remote rural locations? " Sadly, nothing will be done. The bureaucratic entanglement that is all too evident will take note and be positive by its inaction.