Education moved away from temple - President

Asela Kuruluwansa and Thilak Pushpakumara

The nation had to undergo several travails and conflicts due to the gradual distancing of the education sphere from the temple which was an essential feature in its historic past, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said.

“The intention of the imperialists when they set up schools in our country was to create a set of people who would be amenable to their wishes. This gradually saw the destruction of our Buddhist education that was based on the temple,” the President said after opening the six storeyed building of the Palihana Buddhist school in Asgiriya, Kandy Saturday. The building was constructed at a cost of Rs. 70 million.

The President said although the school came into being only four years ago the feats achieved by its students in different fields was commendable. He was told by the Principal that the school achieved a 100 percent success rate at the GCE (O/L) examination.

Although some may wonder at this achievement by a school which was started only four years ago nobody who knows the historic role of the Asgiriya Maha Viharaya would wonder at such results, the President observed. He said the Asgiriya temple was the abode which provided learning to kings and princes of the past. It also provided sanctuary to the Sacred Tooth Relic at time of enemy invasions. It is the Maha Sanga who gave protection to the kings.

“It is our Bikkhus who shared their dana with the kings when they were protected in caves, gave them training in the various crafts and led them to fight against the enemy to protect the country and the Buddha Sasana,” the President emphasized.

He said in times when our education revolved around the teachings of the temple the country became protected because the Maha Sangha had a good understanding on what was required for the country.”

They knew what industries and crafts that suited the country and its environment. They were in the forefront of protecting the heritage and customs of the country. Intellectuals emerged were nurtured in the education based on the temple.

The day that education became distanced from the temple conflicts arose in the country. At the moment education had moved further away from the temple” the President noted.

He said the country spends an enormous amount of money on education, only second to the massive defence expenditure that was spent during the height of war last year.

The President also observed that there is a question mark today if our school-going population are a contented lot. In some schools there are no teachers for specific subjects. Recently they gave appointments to around 40,000 teachers in Government schools.

However, some who received these appointments are also working in Ministries. Others have got themselves attached to Zonal offices. They never go to the schools. The innocent children complain that they have no teachers.

The President said certain teachers do the least amount of work during the day time but pay full attention at tuition classes in the evenings. Although the Government spends billions on education they are still unable to satisfy the demands of the student population. This has become a big problem today.