Role of education in development

Priority to develop human resources:

The following is an interview with Southern Province Education, Land and Land Development, Highways, Rural and Estates Infrastructure Facilities and Information Minister Chandima Rasaputra on what should be the methodology to develop education in the Southern Province and what program should be adopted regarding surplus teachers in popular urban schools

Interview and picture by Thamarasiri Wijesekera Deyyandara Group

Q: Let us speak about your political path?

A: I entered politics as I wanted to serve the people of this country and as it was necessary to continue President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Mahinda Chintana program for which I could contribute.I entered politics not for personal gain. Therefore, I serve the people of the South honestly and to the best of my ability. Anybody who comes to the South can witness the work I do.

Politics is not sweet and adorable. But our President has given us a great responsibility to shoulder for the welfare of the country. Therefore, more than paving a political path for my personal gains, I am trying to do the service required of me. My aim is to work according to the expectations of the President and achieve the targets set for me. Although I hold a number of portfolios in the Southern Provincial Council, the most important one is education.

If there needs to be a change in the education field, that change should be made. There are numerous problems in the education field. I say there should be immediate solution to those problems.

Q:What about your responsibility in the Southern Province?

A: President Mahinda Rajapaksa has given me a number of responsibilities in the Southern Province. Out of these, education takes priority. In addition, I have to think about highways, lands and land development, rural and estates infrastructure facilities and also information.

Education is a very important subject. Under this subject, we have to develop human resources and promote physical resources development. I promised to carry out my services to the letter in those fields.

Q: With the acceptance of the subject of education you say that the foundation for the uplift of education should be laid from the Southern Province and you are planning to launch the program ‘Education take forward from the South.’ Could you explain?

A: Education is a thing one must possess. I am a professional and entrepreneur. Education is a continuing process. I am still learning many things. Education is what is necessary for a man to ensure his existence. It is also needed to render a good service to the country. Therefore, education is more important than anything else.

Q: How is education important for a country?

A: President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s only hope is to make our country the Wonder of Asia. If we are to achieve that status we should progress with knowledge. We will start this process from the South. This is the program ‘Education take forward from the Southern Province’ for which we have by now started a number of programs. These programs are showing successful results and we are satisfied with it.

The country has experienced the dividends of peace. The Opposition is today levelling various criticisms as they have no alternatives. The people will give them the fitting reply when the time comes. Therefore, we need not panic in fear of false rumours.

Our country was a place of lawlessness as there was a war for 30 years. This also brought setbacks in the field of education. We admit that there was a setback. But this is not limited to the Southern Province. It affected the entire country. However, when compared with the education standard in other countries, we are still in the forefront. We have reasons to be proud of that. We must also consider that now the Government is trying to uplift the standard of education.

As the Education Minister in the Southern Province, I have already implemented a number of projects to improve education. I have also given instructions to education officials in the Province to see that education standards are improved.

We have also organised various seminars to improve the Year Five Scholarship Examination and the GCE O-L Examination results.

A number of programs have been planned to improve the physical resources in the South and special measures are being taken to increase the number of students doing science subjects to 500 in GCE (A-L) classes in each school.

We hope to launch that program this year itself. By doing so, we are providing rural children the opportunities enjoyed by children in popular schools. Parents are trying hard to get a popular school for their children. But in the village school the teachers are taking great pains to teach and improve the education standards.

This fact was very much obvious from the Year Five scholarship examination last year. The results in village schools were much better than the results in popular schools.

I am taking measures to provide the human resources and other facilities to rural schools and bring those schools to the level of popular schools in the town.

Q: There is a surplus in teachers in town schools. But there is said to be a shortage of teachers in village schools. Is this true? If so, what are you going to do about this?

A: I admit that there is a surplus of teachers in urban schools. As such there is a shortage of teachers in village schools, so I have decided to make a zonal change in the number of teachers. There are, education offices in the South. In those offices even by now we have made a zonal change without causing any injustice to anybody. This means we have already given the answer to the question you are posing.

We also think about the schoolchildren when giving teacher transfers. We don’t transfer teachers in the middle of the year.

I have given instructions to officers not to transfer teachers outside a 20 mile radius from the school. But this does not apply to teachers who have not served in remote areas. For those teachers, the distance is 40 miles. If the teachers are happy they can render a good service to the children. Therefore we always try to keep teachers happy.

Most of the problems regarding teacher transfers is in Hambantota. There are 400 teachers who are in need of transfers. But to give them transfers, other teachers should replace them. It is a difficult task, but I hope to do it as early as possible.

Most of the village children studying for the A-L’s are doing Arts subjects. There is a large number of Arts Graduates in the South at present.

When the Provincial Council called for applications to fill teacher vacancies, around 90 percent of the applicants were Arts Graduates. I have the biggest responsibility to make use of these graduates for the welfare of the country. Today there are vacancies for teachers in Aesthetic Education and English. We gave teaching appointments to graduates who have done special subjects. We gave them appointments to schools in remote areas. Only 32 percent of children are studying science subjects in the Southern Province.

Q: What can you say about the forthcoming LG polls?

A: Our Government will register a landslide victory at the Local Government polls due in March. Nobody can prevent us from winning.

There are conflicts in the Opposition. Those in one and the same party are fighting each other. They are doing so because they are not in a position to win the elections. But they are greedy of power. But I fully trust that the decision of the people at the forthcoming LG polls will definitely shut the mouths of the Opposition leaders who level baseless criticisms against the Government. Today the Opposition has nowhere to go. Today they are talking about rises in commodity prices. But the people today are very wise.

The Opposition can duly speak about coconuts and the vegetables. But the people of this country know very well that the country needs development. Therefore I stress that the people would never fall pray to the gimmicks of the bankrupt Opposition politicians.