Discipline key factor for students

M. A. R. Manukulasooriya Hiriyala group corr.

The highest attainment in the academic field will fail if a child becomes spiritually bankrupt, said Ranjith Vitharana OIC of the Gokarella Police Station.

He was speaking on the occasion of pinning badges to the Prefects of the Sir John Kotalawala Central College, Dodangaslanda.

He said that unless boys and girls grow up with a sense of duty and undergo some form of discipline, they can never become useful members of the society. To become useful citizens, they should be taught that duty, patriotism and honour come before wealth and pleasure.

The OIC said Prefects who are the leaders of the school today will become the leaders of the country tomorrow. All of them should determine to lead an exemplary life.

He said student unrest has become a feature of education all over the world today.

The good old days of strict obedience shown to teachers are things of past.

This is a sad state of affairs when the present generation of youth are relied upon to be the future leaders of a nation.

He said a student is not an exclusive entity in himself. He lives in a society where he interacts constantly with his own kith and kin, his friends and others. He is influenced by them to a certain degree and imbibes both virtuous and negative aspects from them.

The OIC said that our youth are a misguided lot today. Some students go along the wrong path.

They compel to engage in illegal and anti-social activities. Our educational system needs to be revamped.

Students are compulsorily made to learn subjects that have no bearing on the course that they want to pursue or to their practical life.

This leads them to frustration, he added.

A.U. Ariyarathne, Principal and Nishantha Chandrasena, Cadet Trainer of the school also spoke.