Dr. C. W. W. Kannangara, visionary mentor of free education

Tribute to a man in a million:

Dr. B.J.C. Perera

I was enticed by my innerself and my conscience to write this article in the form of a further appreciative addendum rejoinder to the narration on Dr. C.W.W. Kannangara, Statesman, Patriot and the Father of free education by W.T.A. Leslie Fernando, which appeared in The Daily News on Tuesday. That article quite superlatively chronicled the march of events that led to the birth of free education in this country.

The article took me back, in a most nostalgic way, to my childhood and my life as a young undergraduate at the University of Ceylon, the Hall of Fame of free education of this country Ceylon, as it was then known.

Priceless education

I hailed from a very ordinary lower middle class family that struggled immensely to make ends meet. Very simply, what brought me up to what I am today and to the pinnacle of my chosen profession is the priceless education that was given to me completely free of charge by my Motherland.

If Dr. C.W.W. Kannangara did not pursue his single minded determination to provide free education to all and sundry in our land, if he was somehow derailed in those praiseworthy efforts, this author would certainly not be what he is today and this narration would not have seen the light of day.

The article that is cited describes a man who took an example from his own difficult days as a youngster. Though absolutely brilliant and immensely talented, the lack of a free education system greatly hampered his personal advancement from an academic point of view. However, what can we say about how he went on to provide for those who came after him, what was obviously denied to him? Dr. C.W.W. Kannangara, saw to it that no child after him would ever suffer the misfortune of a denial of the facilities for advancement of the mind just because the parents of that child did not have the money to pay for his or her education.

Parliamentary Bill

The Indian Government representative, M.S. Aney, who listened to the entirety of his unique, eloquent and ground breaking speech to introduce the Parliamentary Bill on free education, had said the man, if he was in India, would have been venerated as a God. In our country too we should consider him a fairy godfather and remember him with utmost gratitude and undying love, for undertaking a deed that surpasses quite easily, any other form of legislature that had a singularly overpowering impact on the people of this resplendent isle.

Human resource

The one thing that we have in abundance in this country is the immensely talented human resource pool. This is the end result of the type of education that they have had.

There are people from all walks of life who have been given the supreme gift of a free education, from the lowly kindergarten onwards and right up to and through to the highest tertiary education institutions, completely free of charge by the far-sighted vision and the dedicated mission of a man of the calibre of Kannangara. He saw the dream of progress and development of the country which could be promulgated just by the enormous power that could be imparted to its populace by the magnificent and superlative gift of free education.

The visionary in the man could see what others could not see or just did not want to see. There are accomplished academics, world authorities on several spheres of diverse activities, inventors of tremendous international repute, great artistes and the humble public of our land who have just one thing in common.

Educational facilities

They are all Sri Lankans who have had a plethora of incomparable prospects and opportunities offered by the inestimable gift of free education provided for everybody in this land. They are all in the eternal debt of the one man in a million who left no stone unturned in a marvellous quest towards providing those vital educational facilities to each and every child of this island nation.

We are the envy of our region and perhaps the coveted model for the whole world, with our singular determination to provide a free education system for our own people. The fruitful outcome of this laudable venture is there for all to see.

This little island of around 19 million inhabitants could today boast of a literacy rate that is the best in the region and which compares well even against the developed nations of the world. We have also produced many an accomplished scholar who could hold his or her own in any academic forum right round the globe. Many are the intellectuals that we have produced through our own system who have made indelible impressions all over the world.

Equal opportunities

True enough, some of the beneficiaries of the system may elect to go away, looking for greener pastures abroad. This is to be expected in a system that invariably provides equal opportunities to each and every child. Sri Lanka, as a signatory to the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, recognizes that free education is a definitive right of each and every child born in this country.

For everyone who goes away, looking for that elusive pot of gold in other countries, our own system would produce 10 more who would opt to give of their best to their country. It is indeed foolhardy to lament that our best brains are being drained. There is a lot more to come, from where they came.

Father of free education

It is certainly not the fault of the free education system. Many products of the system provide their very best to our own country, often unsung and unheralded. They do compensate, in no mean measure, for the prodigal sons and daughters of Mother Lanka, who elect to go away.

This absolutely precious bequest of free education, masterminded by one single man and which has made such an incredible impact, should be lovingly nurtured for it to go from strength to strength. Nothing should be allowed to even remotely jeopardize this wonderful system that sometimes provides even fairy tale types of endings. The best tribute to the father of free education is a single minded effort on our part to foster, extend and propagate the system using all forms of technical and academic advances that are developed in the educational spheres from now right up to eternity.

We must never ever allow, even the vague threat of any kind to tarnish the image of this amazing venture that has stood the test of time as a beacon of accomplishment which has successfully weathered even troubled times. It has stood the acid tests of ideologically motivated insurgencies, an ethnic strife induced terrorist war, terrible natural disasters, global and local financial catastrophes and even drastic political upheavals.

Through it all, it has always stood tall, strong and unwavering, even in the face of unbelievable adversity. For our part, we must never fail in cherishing and safeguarding this system which has made such a crucial difference to the citizens of our land.

Unique system

The eternal gratitude of this author to this incomparable and unique system that provided the very best of primary, secondary and tertiary education, completely free of charge to him, is reflected in the sentiments expressed in this literary effort.

May the free education system go from strength to strength in our Motherland and be the shining jewel in the crown of the man who had the wisdom and courage to set it in motion, all those long years ago. No one should have to look for the light at the end of the tunnel of free education in this country. That tunnel should be brilliantly lit, always and forever more.

The writer is a Consultant Paediatrician