'Children should be well protected'

M.A.R. Manukulasooriya Hiriyala Group Correspondent

"Children must be given their due place. We should not forget that they are children and not adults. The most valuable asset in human society is the child and he or she should be well protected," said A.M. Karunarathne, Principal of the Royal International School in Kurunegala.

He said so addressing the ceremony which was held at the school auditorium in order to commemorate the Universal Children's Day.

He said the theme of this year's Universal Children's Day was "Let us listen to the children to beautify the world". This theme emphasises two matters, namely, the children have the right to express their opinions and if their opinions are taken into consideration, the world would be a better and beautiful. It is evident that the U.N.O. has taken into use the Lord Buddha's version "Putta Wattu Manussanan" which means that the most valuable asset of people is the child.

He said according to UNICEF reports 40,000 children below the age of five die every day due to malnutrition. 15 to 18 million children a year die due to unsatisfactory sanitary conditions though they were curable. Most of the children in the world were not provided with pure water, half a million children die at birth. Children in developing countries are not fed with breast milk, but on bottle feeding and as such many children were subjected to various illnesses. The Sri Lankan Government has taken steps to minimise malnutrition through community based welfare programmes. The Health Ministry has organised Nutrition Promotion programmes in collaboration with the World Bank and NGOs. The Government has also taken measures to conduct awareness programmes to educate people on diseases and sanitation."

He further said that parents today do not have adequate time to listen to their children. They leave for work leaving their children with servants. Children seek love from outsiders because they never get a chance to be with their parents and spend time with them. Parents are ignorant and do not see the importance of spending time with their children or listening to them. Due to this situation children fall into various kinds of trouble and they are being subjected to exploitation," he added.