Educating the child

Somalatha SUBASINGHE

Continued from yesterday

So we learnt from the teacher not only history of Geography but also other facts of life and the world.

Teachers and children today wouldn't have spared this time due to the so-called syllabus.

Dance, music, drama and sports - aesthetics that bring beauty and joy to life is also fitted into a peculiar syllabus. No child can be engaged in more than one of them. It is again a race to collect points! It is not handled in a way that it gives them pleasure and relax them from their pressure of studies while making friends, learning team work which are essential for his growth as a human being as much as food and health. There is no room for 'this waste of time' during school hours for more serious facts have to be pushed down the brain of the child. If a human being is taken away from, appreciating art and literature, his humane qualities will dry up.

Another serious problem is the presence of a common syllabus for the whole country. A common syllabus to be completed at same speed by schools of the whole country is impractical and unfair at least at the primary level. We are aware that most parents in Sri Lanka would not be able to afford an extra lesson for the child after school. It is very sad that this fact does not seem to concern our education authorities. To ignore these facts seem to have been a convenient escape for the Education Ministry and the Department in the past years.

Once upon a time there was a great philanthropic Education Minister C.W.W. Kannangara who innovated the concept and system of the Central School. This offered opportunity to hundreds of rural children to come up as leaders of the nation by way of administrators, doctors, engineers, lawyers and politicians. Why not for a moment take our minds off from competing for international glory? Can we not put our own house in better order first? We do not have to look up to foreign samples all the time. Our nation has enough and more creative and efficient people who would be able to serve this kind of situation positively. Why don't we turn to them for a while at least? Least of all, make the primary school education, elementary and allow the child to enjoy school. We should have more consideration towards human values and development of child as a human being, than goading him with facts that do not help in their emotional development.

The problem we have discussed here, if not paid heed to, could bring unfortunate results to our nation. Showing off colours at examinations, having no human emotion is not success. We have to feel for each other. Understand each other. It may be this type of oppressed life that give child phobias. A convenient source today that beats stress is mobile telephone. Could we reprimand a child who is confused, oppressed frustrated under such as situation?

Find out ways to release innocent children from this burden, let them play with friends, sing and laugh-scream 'play merry hell'! and they will be much clever, much more humane and harmonious. If one may compare our system of education with that of the developed world and say that children in those countries manage this kind of syllabus well and that ours too should be able to compete with them, or else we will lag behind as a nation it is a fallacy. At the moment I live in France. Schoolchildren here have to go through a heavy syllabus and homework. But they have all the modern facilities. A very convenient and fast transport system, and facilities in school provide a good free meal or at a concessionary price and facilities to keep their things in school are available. Their extra curricular activities are done in school itself. School time extends from 8 a.m. to late afternoon. The transport system being so efficient, children are able to get home safe. There also prevails an atmosphere of physical security in the country for them. Teachers too have good facilities and good remuneration for their services. It is not proposed here to provide our children with the same. But at least take some facts into consideration and give children some relaxation or else mothers, grandmothers and others do their home-work!

We talk of child abuse so much. Is not our system of education a kind of child abuse by itself?

The writer is Director, Lanka Children's and Youth Theatre Foundation

Concluded