Sound pollution: What is the solution ?

‘Sound pollution’, though often discussed and debated in environmental circles is not a commonplace term in the day-to-day vocabulary of most Sri Lankans.

Yet, not many of us are aware that the majority of people, particularly those inhabiting the cities, are silent victims of this environmental hazard, whether it be the incessant prattle of lottery sellers, the blaring cassette players in private buses and record bars, or loud speakers transmitting musical shows well past midnight giving you hours of disturbed sleep and swollen eyes the next morning.

It is evident that most of us have accepted and submitted to these instances of sound pollution as part and parcel of the boisterous life of the modern day society, which explains why these practices continue without obstruction despite the constant irritation they cause and why very few complaints are made against the noise makers.

Nonetheless, the subject has caught a niche in public debate of late with the Central Environment Authority (CEA) drawing up regulations to strengthen the existing legislation preventing sound pollution.According to the CEA, the new legislation will restrict the use of loudspeakers from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. by requiring any person who intends to use them to seek prior permission of the District Court.

In addition, the proposed legislation will also make provision for the regulation of moving as well as occasional sources of noise which is an improvement on the existing law dealing only with stationary and continuous noise.

The new regulations are welcomed by environmentalists and health authorities in view of the harmful effects sounds with high decibel levels have on the population.

They point out that these ‘noises’ are linked to numerous ailments including hypertension, heart disease, aggression, fatigue, headache and memory loss while persons who are deprived of sleep due to noises in the night are more prone to meet with accidents and under-perform at work.

In addition, loudspeakers used in the night have a negative impact on students by interfering with their concentration and thought process.

However, the regulations have not been received with favour by certain religious leaders and political parties who argue that they violate the freedom of worship and the right to practice one’s religion by restricting the use of loudspeakers in the night.

It is clear that the regulations, if strictly implemented, would affect religious activities like pirith chanting, peraheras at Buddhist temples, midnight masses at churches and prayers at mosques for which loud speakers are often used.

On this basis, it is argued that the proposed legislation has overlooked the multi-ethnic and multi-religious nature of our society where tolerance and respect for group rights is the key to peace and harmony.

Yet, one could validly question as to whether public address through loudspeakers is truly necessary to worship and perform religious rites. After all, our ancestors were able to practice their religion with no loudspeakers or amplifiers.

Write to Daily News Debate as we commence a new debate on measures to curb sound pollution from next week.

Your contributions (in 750-1,000 words) should be sent to ‘Daily News Debate’, Daily News, Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited, PO Box 1217, Colombo, or via e-mail to [email protected] before September 25, 2007.

Learn to live with inequities

D. H. Sathischandra

NEW SCHEME: The long impasse concerning the admission of children to Grade One has finally been removed. The successful completion of the process of admission would now depend on the proper implementation of the scheme approved.

The mechanisms and the action plan for implementation have to be properly designed, identifying the players involved, their respective roles and responsibilities, measures to ensure transparency and accountability and checks and balances in the selection process.

Apart from the mechanisms for implementation, the cooperation of all stakeholders in Grade One admission is essential for success. The various parent groups, school principals and teachers and education authorities have to co-operate to conclude the admission process successfully.

It is unrealistic to assume that all parent groups have now accepted the approved admission formula. It is not known whether these parent groups are now ready for a compromise where they relax on their original positions to find a middle point acceptable to all groups and extend their cooperation to implement the scheme.

The cooperation of parent groups alone will not be sufficient. The school principals and the teachers too should cooperate. According to some media reports school principals have requested the Ministry of Education to exempt them from the selection process.

If the reports are correct, it is unfair for the principals to shirk their responsibility for Grade One admissions to their schools. Hitherto principals were responsible for admission of children.

But over the years complaints about abuses and omissions and court cases against non-admissions have increased considerably, compelling even the judiciary to intervene.

The principals should refrain from taking a we or they attitude and co-operate fully with all others to ensure the education of our younger generation.

We live in an inter-dependent world. For accomplishing their goals as educators, principals require inter-dependency skills. Working in co-operation with others is a win-win situation for both the principals and the children.

The focus should be on children. All stakeholders should have a concern for the education of our future generation if they genuinely wish to help their young ones, and cooperate to achieve that goal.

While implementing the scheme finalised for the year 2008, a consultation process with all stakeholders has to be initiated as early as possible to reach a consensus before formulating a comprehensive and equitable admission scheme for 2009 and thereafter. The present admission scheme could be improved but it is doubtful whether equity could be achieved fully.

For one thing it will take a long time to minimise the disparity between regions and schools with regard to school infrastructure, qualified, trained teachers and management capability of schools.

In the long term, with economic growth and progress facilities at schools could be improved to an acceptable benchmark level, but inequities between schools will remain. Countries and people have to learn to live with such inequities.

Grade one admissions:

A dilemma for education authorities and parents

Prema Samarakoon

STARTING POINT: Admission of a child to grade 1 is the starting point, and is so very important in a child’s formal education, as it is the very basis on which a child’s entire school education is built upon.

It is therefore not surprising that every parent who is aware of the benefits of a good education is eager to secure one of the best schools for admitting the child who reaches the eligible age.

In Sri Lanka today a child who completes 5 years on the 31st January of the year of admission is eligible to be admitted to grade 1. However since several decades, situation regarding grade 1 admissions in this country had been causing so many problems difficult to be tackled.

The root cause of the problems could be traced to the existing disparities in the school system. Though in all the State run schools the same curricula is implemented on a national level, and the same public examinations are held, vast differences do exist in the type of education given.

If all the primary schools or at least a greater number of primary schools than at present can provide a better education for the children, the parents would not be clamouring for a particular set of schools to admit their children to grade 1.

The annual intake to grade 1 is around 300,000 (315,000 in 2006) out of which only a number around 50,000 seek admission to grade one in popular urban schools. However, of a limited number of 50 to 60 popular schools the number of places that could be made available for admission is only about 7,000 to 8,000 according to Education Ministry sources.

Over the years parents have resorted to all sorts of unwarranted methods to admit their children to one of the popular schools. The scheming of parents to get a coveted place in the grade 1 of a popular school for their child starts from the day of birth.

This situation no doubt has led parents to submit false documents to prove the distance to the school. Bribery and corruption resorted to had revealed that even the principals of some leading schools had accepted bribes in cash as well as material.

Various amendments to admission circulars over the years up to year 2006, and the alternative proposals put forward by the NEC (National Education Commission) and those suggested later according to the guidance of the Supreme Court had met with vehement criticism.

Parents including those belonging to different OBAs and OGAs, political parties and other elements in society were up in arms against the most recent views too saying that it would lead to social discrimination and the denial of fundamental rights of some parents.

Such demonstrations give enough evidence to show that finding a solution or solutions to the problems existing is not that easy. Hence the parents and the education authorities are in a dilemma, and the Ministry of Education is now trying to amend the existing 2006 circular as the only alternative to solve the problem.

Access to education

It is an accepted fact that there should be equality and equity in the access to education because every child born in this country possesses the right to education, the best of its kind of course depending on the child’s innate potential.

The education provided in schools from grade 1 onwards should be of a good standard, and at the same time there should be fairness in selecting children to be admitted to formal education.

The grave problems which have now surfaced in grade 1 admission, however, were not there about 5 to 6 decades ago in this country.

Though the Education Ordinance No. 31 of 1939 had ensured legal provision to enforce compulsory education for all children from ages 5-14, neither the parents nor the State showed much concern to increase school attendance.

Until recent times the laws and regulations for compulsory school attendance were not effectively enforced by the State. Some parents on the other hand, due to socio-economic conditions in which they were living, were not keen in sending their children to school.

Abject poverty, ignorance, using child labour as a help to earn their living, making use of female children to look after younger siblings of a family and non availability of birth certificates were some of the reasons why the parents of disadvantaged sectors of the country did not send their children to school.

This situation changed over the years since 1943 with the Kannangara Report which eventually lead to free education from grade 1 in schools up to university.

The launching of the free education system in 1945 and the changing of the medium of instruction in schools from English to Sinhala and Tamil from 1953 ushered in an era of rapid expansion in education.

Further, Kannangara Reform envisaged social change, a change for the better that would pave the way for social mobility and social upliftment. The emergence of Central Schools mainly for children away from cities was instrumental in changing the attitudes of the village parents towards education.

There was a big demand for children’s education from all quarters, not only from the affluent society but also from the disadvantaged and deprived sections of the society. Therefore more and more children were enrolled at grade 1 level and education participation at all levels increased.

Disparities in educational opportunities

‘Equality in educational opportunities’, ‘universal primary education’ (UPE), and ‘education for all’ (EFA) have boiled down to be mere thoughts in the minds of educational thinkers and planners, and vote winning phrases uttered from political platforms as far as Sri Lanka is concerned.

However, in the developed world and some of the Asian countries UPE has already become a reality and also they have reached or are close to EFA because these two targets in Education have been internationally accepted as pre-requisites for overall development of the individual as well as the countries.

For the lack of equal opportunities for most of the children in Sri Lanka, however, a number of reasons can be given. Some of them are

* Inequality in the distribution of resources.

* Lack of infra-structure facilities in a large number of schools in the disadvantaged areas.

* Dearth of competent teachers.

* Lack of worthy professional attitudes even among some of the qualified teachers.

* Poor standard of English education even in some urban area schools, not to speak about their counterparts in villages (in spite of large inputs towards improving teaching of English as a second language).

* Wastage in education due to wrong planning and management at all levels concerned.

* Last but not the least, inadequacy of finances solutions.

(a) Immediate solutions to facilitate 2008 grade 1 admissions.

As it is already decided by the Ministry of Education (MOE), year 2008 grade 1 admissions have to be done, with amendments to any clauses in the present circular which may jeopardize the rights of the child and the parents. This is already receiving immediate action.

It is understood that even this has to be done, after approval from Supreme Court as they have cancelled the circular that was existing from 2006. The area rule limiting the entry of children beyond a radius of 2 km would be changed as mentioned by the Minister of Education himself.

The suggestion is to extend the area to a given local government administrative division. This is a feasible suggestion because even children from low income groups within that particular area get the chance of entering a popular school so that the right of entry, and the enjoying of equal opportunities in education are not denied to such children.

(b) The short term solutions for 2009 onwards.

The short term solution is from now itself to take action to prepare a fresh circular to be implemented for grade 1 admission from year 2009 onwards.

For this the MOE should devote a fairly long time by appointing a suitable committee entrusted with the task of consulting and getting the views of a cross section of parents, professionals, political parties and other relevant people and organizations to get their valuable views on this matter.

Here of course one important fact has to be kept in mind, that no rule, regulation or procedure is fool proof. Dishonest and crafty people may find loopholes in a circular brought up to even 100% perfection.

Therefore what is important is to device machinery which would operate in the actual task at implementation level with utmost accuracy without leaving room for any violation of the rules laid down.

This is a must. Culprits whether principal, parent or otherwise should be punished by law. Another important thing, politicization should cease.

In the meantime the MOE and the Provincial Councils should take action to improve the quality of education in several selected schools at first within each Pradeshiya Sabha division or any particular local government division.

The ideal thing is to develop the primary schools of the entire island, but as it is, due to obvious constraints this may not be possible. Hence action should be taken to select at lest several schools and bring them up to the standards equal to those of the so called popular schools.

This would require a lot of financial inputs, as improvements from infrastructure facilities up to the provision of both physical and human resources would be essential. Such a course of action would result in making an effective primary school a reality.

(c) Long term solutions.

This needs structural changes in both primary and secondary school systems.

It is a known fact that in almost all developed countries and in some of the developing countries, primary education is given separately, and these schools function independently of senior secondary or high schools as they are termed in some countries.

In certain countries some schools hold classes from grade 1 - 5, and in some they are held form grade 1 - 9. After the children graduate or qualify from those schools they are admitted to secondary or high schools to complete their school education.

It is high time that in Sri Lanka too primary school be de-linked from secondary school.

Even as far back as 1945 when Kannangara’s Free Education System was launched, he introduced the special set of schools called Central Schools, 54 such schools strewn over several districts in the island, primary schools around them functioned as feeder schools, and the central schools had classes only from grade 6 - to the then HSC/UE (Higher School Certificate and University Entrance classes).

A scholarship scheme commenced simultaneously to give a chance for bright students of low income groups to enter central schools as bursary holders. This was an outstanding instance of providing equal educational opportunities to the less privileged but bright children.

The gradual de-linking of the primary sections from the present type 1 AB schools has to be done in order to provide the bright students from other schools, specially of less developed areas, to reap the benefits of a good higher education.

Until such time democratization of education or the provision of equal educational opportunities would be a farce.

This is one reason why de-linking of the primary section from such schools is suggested so that a larger number of students studying from grade 6 up to GCE A/L can be made possible.

Admission to grade 6 of such a school should be made available to scholarship holders and also those who qualify at a given entrance examination.

When we speak of equality of educational opportunities for all students, that does not mean that every child should be given the same type of education in same standard schools.

This is a fallacy because every child cannot reach academic excellence depending on his or her inborn potential. Rather than testing a 5 year old child at the point of entry to grade 1 by giving marks for intelligence and aptitude, the valid and relabel testing would be at the end of primary education.

NEC report (2003) quoting school senses 2002, shows how out of 9, 826 State schools only 600 schools or a percentage wise 6.1% schools come under type 1 AB. The 323 so called National Schools are included in this 600.

But the irony is out of this number, only 50 or 60 popular schools as they are termed, face the problem of grade 1 admissions annually. Wasting such a lot of time, energy and expenses over grade 1 admissions to a fraction of schools in the entire primary school system has to end.

Separate primary schools are the best solution, because automatic entrance to grade 6 for higher education as it is now done in popular schools also has to be stopped.

The parental clamouring to admit a child to grade 1 of such a school as it is now done, is to ensure once and for all a place for a particular child to receive an education from grade 1 - 13 in the same school, thus denying accommodation to more intelligent or bright children from the periphery to receive a good education in a richer environment than they find in schools of the less advantages sectors.

The separate primary education is accepted in the developed world, and even countries like Tanzania this method had been tried with success. Let Sri Lanka too attempt this first as a pilot project, and then expand to the rest of the schools.

There is a very simple solution

Dharmacharya Wilson Nelundeniya

POOR CATEGORY: Reference to the media observation according to the present proposals re-admission of children to Grade One in schools it has been stated that 50 per cent of the marks should be given to the knowledge of the child and 7 per cent if the elder children are in the particular school.

Forty three per cent will be given to the background of the parents. That is, educational position of the parents, re parents are in government service, re army, navy or air force or they are being old students.

According to the above proposals even an infantile school student will understand that those proposals have cut down necks of the poor children of labourers and farmers, even at the admission itself.

They are the poorest children who get cucumber instead of milk, who eat jack instead of rice, who eat earth instead of bread, who gets leaves of areca palms instead of text books. Apart from all this according to the proposals, the society of the child lives also to be concern re admission.

This gives a silent information to the labourers and the farmers and the other poor category not to create children with the intention of admitting to schools. Also, is this mean to keep the peasant as slaves throughout.

Even during the white administration every child got a school as they wished. This clearly shows that it tries to reproduce the mansion system which was not practical during the white administration, and which is vanishing at present.

I hope that the peasants and the workers will have to come forward and fight against this, till its being cancelled. They should show the public that it is a joke to hold competitive examinations to babies of Grade One, otherwise it may be extended up to the babies who are to be born.

All these things have happened because the Ministry of Education, has thought that this is a problem where a sword is needed, but I like to slow that this could be broken by our nail without being harassing the parents. I could show how this could be solved simply.

Parents should be allowed to admit there children to any school according to their wish, without considering about their residence. In this connection the space may not be available. In such instances more new buildings must be put up.

If the premises is not sufficient new lands could be bought and put up new buildings there and open them as branches of particular schools. If the government cannot afford this alone the parents will aid them financially and by labour.

For example, we take for instance the Postal Department, we know that the essential services which could be obtained from the General Post Office could be obtained even from a sub-post office of a rural area.

For example, a person living at Dehiattakandiye could obtain, the facilities served by a post office in Colombo. So there is no necessity for that person to come to Colombo.

For instant take the procedure of the system of the banks. Branches have been opened in all the areas where it is necessary. The account holders could get their requirements done in those banks.

In the case of the education the fault is in the hands of the government. Though the government talks much about interior schools but they do nothing. They do not have enough furniture, enough stationery.

Leaving all that a side, they do not have teachers. We came to know through media that in one interior school they did not have a teacher for arithmetic for 5 years.

So if the Government does their duty the parents will never search for schools in distant towns because they like to keep their children close-by for their safety.

The principals may be allowed to admit all the children who come to their schools, if the age limit is correct without any restriction about the residence.

If the buildings are not sufficient to put up the buildings or if the land area is not enough to open branches where necessary, even with the aid of the parents.

This is a very simple problem and the Government and the Ministry of Education and also at the end, the judges have tried to get an ants work to be done by elephants, while giving the parents an unnecessary harassment.

In short the easiest and the very simple method is to allowing the parents to enter their children to any school they wish and allowing the principals to build up more buildings or to open branches wherever necessary and to improve the education.

The Government should give financial aid as possible.