Past vision in present context

Excerpts of the Professor J. E. Jayasuriya Memorial day speech made by Ariyaratne Hewage, Secretary, Ministry of Education

Speech: It is with great pleasure that I agreed to write this article on my teacher Prof. J.E. Jayasuriya on his commemorative day. His recommendations envisioned in the National Education Commission Report of 1961 in which he functioned as the chairman, are relevant to present context.

However, I cannot avoid referring here to some of my memories during the university career as a B. Ed student. I now feel very happy that I was able to do the B. Ed degree which was introduced at Peradeniya University mainly due to the interventions of Prof. Jayasuriya.

I benefited very much from this broad exposure of studies gained from the B. Ed program in my public service career. I have therefore, recently, requested our university authorities to consider introducing at least core basic subjects in addition to the main course of studies.

For example, medicine and engineering students may be given basic courses in economics and Humanities and similarly students in Humanities may be given the opportunity to offer courses in basic medicine and Engineering.

Professor Jayasuriya was not only a great teacher who taught us educational psychology, Guidance and Counselling etc. but he was also like a father who always guided the students to be future leaders.

He made it a point to share his experiences in the class to enrich our knowledge and skills. He once said that when one requires a favour from another, not to ask for it directly and bluntly.

He narrated his experience about how he went with Mr. P. De S. Kularatne to meet philanthropists to ask for assistance to develop Ananda College, Colombo. As the funds given by the Government to develop the school were inadequate, they had to meet philanthropists to collect donations.

They had met some rich coconut estate owners for this purpose. When they met these rich people, they did not discuss the issue of funds for the development of school straightaway but about the issues related to coconut industry.

Then they gradually came to the subject of the school development and this approach proved successful, since many of the rich people agreed to donate funds for the development of the school. This story got registered in my mind and I have been able to practise this approach quite successfully in many occasions in my life.

On another day, Professor Jayasuriya stepped into the class and we noticed that he was in deep thought. He then said to us, "if anyone of you are invited to be the Governor General of the country never hesitate to accept it because anyone of you can do it".

I believe that he wanted to give us the self confidence and courage to accept any responsibility. I also remember how Professor Jayasuriya started to teach Algebra and Geometry to us (although they were not in the curriculum) as he believed that any person would require skills in mathematics particularly as teachers.

The National Education Commission (NCE) under the chairmanship of Professor Jayasuriya issued two reports, an interim report as Sessional Paper 1 of 1962 and the Final Report as Sessional Paper - XVII of 1962. Although these reports have been drafted 45 years ago in a different socio-political context, some of the recommendations are valid even today.

I take liberty in selecting a few key elements of the national Education Commission Report for the purpose of my analysis in this article.

One important fact to keep in mind is that the situation prevailed in 1960s was quite different from that of today mainly because the subject of education has been devolved to the Provincial Councils by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and therefore, much of the implementations is done by the provincial educational authorities.

The Compulsory School Age: The National Education Commission recommended that legislation be enacted defining compulsory school age as any age between six and fourteen years and requiring parents to cause the attendance at school of any child of compulsory school age.

However, this recommendation was implemented only in 1997 with the enactment of Compulsory Education Regulations.

Today Education for all (EFA) is a priority area in the education agenda of the international community. Sri Lanka is far ahead of other developing countries in this regard and we are almost there in achieving Universal Primary Education.

We will be able to achieve the target of compulsory education for all children between the ages of six to fourteen within the next five years with the successful implementation of our Education Sector Development Framework and Program (ESDFP).

School Sessions and School Hours: The report analyzes the current practices on the duration of the school year, the number of school days per week and the number of hours of teaching in 50 countries and makes a case for increasing the number of school days based on the number of hours necessary for instruction at different levels of education. It recommends having 210 days of schoolings per year.

Discussing about the school vacations, the report recommends that taking into consideration the needs of the community, particularly in agricultural areas where children participate in farming activities and the attendance goes down during harvesting season.

In such areas it recommends that schools be given the flexibility to vary the vacations subject to the approval of the education officers. Instead of three vacations certain schools may have four vacations as long as the number of minimum days prescribed is adhered to. At present only the Muslim schools have a different calendar and the possibility of implementing this proposal should be explored.

Health and Physical Education: The Commission highlights the importance of Health and Physical Education in the total development of the child. It underscores that this should be a joint responsibility of the home and the school.

Although the report deals at length on the significance of this aspect of education: today Health and Physical Education is not recognized as an important subject due to over emphasis placed on National Examinations.

Work experience: This is another proposal made by the Commission to provide an education relevant to the world of work. The report states "we consider that the most fundamental weaknesses of the education in the past are the complete separation of schools from the life of the community and the failure of the school to prepare youth to take their place as productive workers in society".

The report quotes from the literature in both the United States and the then Soviet blok of countries to drive home the need for work experience for secondary school children. Subsequent education reform initiatives have tried to provide practical training to pupils through various schemes.

In 1972 it was the Pre-vocational Studies, in 1981 it was Life Skills and in 1997 Practical and Technical skills in Activity Rooms, but still the secondary education instruction in this country is dominated by "talk and chalk" methods.

Under the current reforms the Ministry adapted the methodology of developing a competency based curriculum which will help to develop key competencies through all the subjects in the curriculum. Learning through projects and self learning is actively encouraged. Further the introduction of Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) will motivate pupils to work on their own and search for knowledge rather than merely listening to the teacher.

School and community: The report states "a live and productive relationship should exist between the school and the community it serves".

It elaborates how this relationship should be strengthened by utilizing the child's experiences that he brings to the school by linking it with the curriculum, the community co-operating in the work of the school and the school being the center of community life and a radiating source of light and learning.

Subsequently, attempts have been made to strengthen the relationship between the school and the community through the establishment of School Development Societies and other ways of empowering the school community.

The Programme for school Improvement under the current ESDFP will carry this concept to a successful conclusion.

Education of mentally and physically handicapped children: The concern the Commission has shown in the education of mentally and physically handicapped children illustrates the enlightened attitude it had towards disadvantaged groups of children in society.

Long before the United Nations recognized education as a right of every child, in the Convention of the rights of the Child (1988) the Commission states that education should be provided as a birth right of every child including the need for looking after the mentally retarded children who were hitherto not regarded as a separate category with special needs.

At present inclusion is considered to be a cardinal policy in dealing with children with special needs in education.

The Commission recommends that those children who are affected by handicapping conditions be integrated into normal classes so that they grow up in a natural social environment. Now the Ministry of Education has established Special Education units in normal schools while it still assists 25 special schools which have been functioning from pre 1960 period.

School libraries: The Commission was very much concerned with the very primitive library facilities provided in many schools visited by them. It recommends that immediate action be taken to set up libraries in every school.

It also emphasizes the need for a person who can inculcate and maintain reading habits and arouse the reading interest of the student being in charge of the library and recommends that a qualified full time librarian should be appointed to all Senior Schools.

We can be happy that the Ministry has been able to develop 4800 school libraries and appointed trained librarians to run these libraries.

School meals: The Commission reviews the school meal program providing buns and milk to schoolchildren implemented at the time. It was very much concerned with the need to provide a meal, but did not make a firm recommendation considering the financial constraints that it would involve.

Studies have revealed that 29% of school-going children suffer from malnutrition. Also there are many children in rural areas who come to school on an empty stomach.

Considering the plight of these children the government re-introduced giving a meal to children in disadvantaged primary schools in 2002. Under the "Mahinda Chinthana" the government decided to extend this program to all needy primary children and this year a sum of Rs. 1,000 million has been allocated for this purpose.

Supply of free school books: At that time the Ministry of Education had provided a small allocation to give free school books to deserving pupils in the primary grades. The books supplied were readers in Mother Tongue and English, a book on number and a book on religion.

Secondly they found that in other countries, books are used for several years, even up to five years and education authorities should encourage this practice.

Now of course the Government provides free text books to all children from grade one to grade eleven. Every year the Department of Education Publications print 2,600,000 copies of books at a cost of Rs. 1,150 million and distribute to schools.

Factors militating Against the efficient functioning of schools: The Commission also addressed the common factors that affect the quality of education under and key problems that they identified were:

(1) Mal-distribution of staff:

It refers to the understaffing of certain schools and overstaffing of other schools due to transfers from schools in understaffed areas to schools in developed areas without any regard for the welfare of the schools and the lack of a balance in the staff to teach the necessary subjects.

(ii) Teacher absenteeism

It deplores the very high incidence of teachers taking leave which disrupts the effective functioning of schools. The commission notes that there have been instances where 50 percent of the staff had been absent on certain days.

(iii) Lack of a sense of responsibility among teachers.

The Report states while a majority of teachers discharge their duties with a sense of responsibility there are a few teachers who are habitually late, who do not go to classes, who do not teach even after going to the class, who do not prepare schemes of work and do not correct the exercises of children.

While headmasters should exercise careful supervision over such teachers an attempt should be made to create a strong opinion among teachers themselves against those of their colleagues who do not carry out their duties with honesty and efficiency.

The position is not very much different even today although the government has invested heavily on teachers by increasing the cadre and training almost all the teachers.

While some schools are overstaffed the rural disadvantaged schools are without adequate staff even though we have a pupil teacher ratio of 18:1 which is one of the best in the region if not the whole world. De-politicization of the system, continuous professional development of teachers and better supervision is necessary if we are to derive benefits from the vast amount of public funds invested on teacher salaries.

The Ministry of Education in collaboration with the donor community has drawn up an Education Sector Development Framework Program (ESDFP) to be implemented during the next five years. This plan incorporates some of the unfinished elements in the proposals of the Jayasuriya Commission and even the Kannangara Report of 1943 with necessary modifications to meet the current needs.

Education is too precious a subject to be left in the hands of politicians and officials only. Education Policies need to be formulated after a national debate where informed professionals have to contribute substantially to determine what is best for a country. The present National Education Commission has been established with this objective in view.

Such a policy should be implemented without pandering to populist, opportunistic self-centered pressure groups.

We can learn many lessons from developed countries which have used education as an instrument for national development. When USSR launched the first space craft in 1960s the President of the United States, John Kennedy directed his advisors to come out with recommendation as to how US would compete in space technology.

They started with education reforms which not only gave the lead in space technology but also in making the US the leading economic power.

The underlying cause for this remarkable transformation is the development of its knowledge industry. The successive governments which came to power after Kennedy continued with these policies as a matter of national importance.

We need the participation of professionals of the calibre of Prof. J. E. Jayasuriya with an intellectual prowess, humanistic ideals and fearless disposition to lead the country's education system with a long term vision.