A toast to Bhasuru and co.

Three little kids from relatively unknown schools have made headlines with their phenomenal success at the Grade 5 scholarship examination.

Bhasuru Weerakoon, a student of Thakshila scored 200 out of 200 at the exam while Dinukshi Chalindi of Hanwella John Bosco and Asitha Mahesh de Silva of Sri Pathi MV scored 196 each.

This certainly is no mean achievement and would certainly be a shot in the arm of the education authorities which had taken a lot of flak in recent times over alleged deterioration of standards of our education and the education system itself, not to mention being plagued by teacher strikes.

The achievement of the trio we hope would act as a beacon for others of their age to follow suit, for a Third World country like Sri Lanka cannot move forward without an educated and intelligent populace.

We hope that every mother and father would commend this achievement to their children so that it may egg them on to emulate their feat. Interviewed by the media, the trio said they never attended tuition classes nor overly stretched themselves by burning the midnight oil so to speak.

Coming hot on the heels of the deplorable results at the last GCE Ordinary Level examination the education authorities can derive some consolation that the cupboard is not exactly bare of talent. But there is no way knowing exactly how many such children with similar talent and genius languish in isolation without an opportunity to demonstrate their cerebral prowess due to various factors.

We often come across reports in the media of the schools being closed down due to poor attendance and the unfeasibilty of their continuation.

Certain rural schools don't have teachers let alone facilities. There is also a dearth of quality English teachers while the contrast between city and rural schools still sticks out like a sore thumb.

The unprecedented achievement of these kids should open the eyes of the education authorities to set things right so that the country could draw from the vast reservoir of talent that is today languishing in hibernation.

The achievement of the trio from these relatively unknown schools also goes on to demonstrate that there is nothing that cannot be achieved with perseverance, application and due diligence and would hopefully egg on those in other fields or disciplines to achieve excellence. We earnestly hope it rub on the students of their age to yearn for similar attainments.

Their achievement may just be the tip of the iceberg of the vast untapped talent lying waste in our midst. There is no way of ascertaining for certain the inborn talents and genius that may have been lost to the country as a result of the on going conflict.

The Education Ministry should lose no time in conducting a survey to find out the amount of children of school going age who have missed out on an education not only due to the conflict but also other factors such as poverty.

No stone should be left unturned to harness the talents of these unfortunates who have been denied their basic rights to an education due to no fault of theirs.

Although the Ministry is striving hard to bring rural schools on par with popular schools, disparities that still exist in relation to infrastructure facilities and the quality of education imparted.

Attention should also be given to develop the physiological aspect of the child for added results. Above all immediate steps should be taken to get all children of school going age into the mainstream of education so that the country could boast of a quality and educated populace.