Reviving education in the North

It would be an understatement to say that the three decade long ethnic conflict caused disruption to the eduction sector in the North. Not only was there no conducive climate for schools to function normally but the dislocation of civilian life was such that continuity could not be maintained in the schooling life of a child.

Now that the chief cause for this disruption has been eliminated, no time should be lost in providing the opportunity to restore school life of the children of the North. It is in this context that the steps taken by the education authorities to create the grounding for the IDP children get back to their books should be commended.

This shows the Government is keen to rebuild all sectors in the North concurrently which would facilitate the return to normality all that more speedily.

According to a front page story in our weekend paper the Sunday Observer, revision classes have been organized on a mass scale for internally displaced students in Vavuniya who are expected to sit the GCE Advanced Level examination in August this year. Already 50 special makeshift centres have been earmarked to conduct these classes.’

Those familiar with the Northern ethos would know that the Northerner lays great store in education and even this has come to be appreciated by parents in the South who prevail on their offspring to emulate their Jaffna counterparts.

This is proved by the fact that the bright sparks of the professions and the administrative service in the past were natives of the North. It is also well-known that children of the North generally took to their studies seriously.

This was seen by the elders who held the view that the education provided the key for a place in the sun for their offspring to gain upward mobility surpassing their brethren in the South endowed with all the facilities and advantages.

It would be difficult to imagine the number of skilled professionals and experts from the North lost to the country during the three decades when education like all other sectors suffered a mortal blow.

Therefore, it is heartening to note that the Government has given education the serious attention it deserves in its programs to emancipate the Northern polity.

It should lose no time in rebuilding all the schools and institutes of learning in the North so that before long the children of the North could once again resume their academic life in a climate free of guns and bombs to realize their full potential in the academic sphere and be assets to the country.

Nocturnal travel

The decision taken by Transport Minister Dullas Alahapperuma to introduce a 24-hour bus service on certain routes in Colombo is a commendable one particularly considering the vast population inhabiting the city. It has been found that on any given day, there is a floating population of one million people in Colombo.

This is understandable since Colombo is the main commercial hub of the country where bulk of the Government institutions and private sector establishments are situated. It is also the epicentres of business and economic activity in the country.

All this attracts a vast concourse of people to the capital. What is surprising is with all this activity and movement of humanity, the city’s bus services comes to a standstill after 9 pm.

Today, it is a common sight to spot massive crowds stranded at bus stands at nights hoping to board buses that may never come.

These are people who work late hours at their work places and those compelled into duties by nature of their jobs and due to exigencies of service. Besides, today no major city in the world goes to sleep and Colombo is no exception.

Therefore, the transport authorities should be geared to cater to crowds that flock the city both day and night. For most folk the bus is the only mode of transport to get them home after a hard day’s work but with lack of buses after regular hours they are compelled to undergo further ordeals such as being stranded on the roads.

In most countries in South Asia there are round the clock transport services in major cities to ferry commuters due to the exceedingly high demand. There are also ordinary folk who cannot afford private transport to get about their business and who depend on a regular bus service to convey them to their destinations.

Hopefully the Minister’s plan would materialize soon bringing relief to the much harried bus commuters in the city.