A beginning to Sri Lanka’s educational prosperity

Chrisni MENDIS

The vision Mahinda Chinthana of President Mahinda Rajapaksa is making Sri Lanka the centre of knowledge, while converting Sri Lanka into a ‘Wonder of Asia’.

Initiated on May 23, 2011 the ‘Development of leadership abilities and positive thinking course’ is a 19 day theoretical and practical training which covers areas, such as, squad drills, physical exercises, social evenings, first-aid, history, leadership, conflict management, psychology, sexual harassment, law of the country, social customs and personal hygiene. It has already covered 22,000 undergraduate entrants who are settled into 28 camps islandwide.

Somewhat like Fidel Castro’s grass roots education system which brought prosperity and educated individuals to Cuba, President, Mahinda Rajapaksa is bringing a new horizon of limitless possibilities with bright, self-confident educated undergraduates. “I believe that the aim of university education is to create someone who could see the world beyond its horizon. I believe it is necessary to create a new educational framework that will provide liberal thinking, broad dialogue and opportunities for entertainment instead of the present system that confines the undergraduate to lecture, assignments and examinations,” states the President.

Cultural conflicts

The importance of the subjects mentioned should be greatly valued. For example, first-aid is needed in any and every dire situation whether it is from a grazed knee to a person drowning in the ocean; knowledge first-aid and basic methods on saving lives is something that every citizen should have. Sexual harassment, law of the country and social customs can aid the undergraduates, as they would know what is acceptable and not acceptable in Sri Lankan society. They would also beware of the consequences of certain crimes that are unacceptable in society.

Conflict management combats many problems in university life, ranging from ragging to cultural conflicts in dorm rooms to arguments from different subject divisions. Personal hygiene should also be key as it would decrease the risk of many diseases that are spreading around the nation.

The course of developing the leadership abilities and positive thinking among university students should be seen as an ingenious plan to combat many of the issues the undergraduates as well as the common Sri Lankan citizens are facing today.

Leadership skill

What is unknown to the public is that the programme does not specifically implement military discipline, but, teaches undergraduates how to act in real life situations. However some have doubts whether military leadership skill could be applied to civil society.

This can be combated with the syllabus of the course itself. As mentioned above, the courses do not contain specified military training. What is commonly misunderstood is that even though the course takes place in a military camp, the undergraduates are not learning how to operate weapons.

The opinions of the undergraduate entrants of 2011 beg to differ from some critics views. Nayana Lakmali, an undergraduate from Kurunegala hoping to pursue a career in bio-science who participated in the programme says, “at first I rejected the idea of going for the training. I thought it would be militaristic. For the first few days, the training was harsh and I felt homesick; after a few days passed it was different. I began to enjoy it. I stayed in a room with girls from different cultures and backgrounds. Sinhalese. Tamil. Muslim. And I was not comfortable sharing a room with them because they were different. We glared at each other from our own little corners of the room. After the days passed, we realized that we did not see each other in that way anymore. Each of us were the same. We were all Sri Lankans, sisters from one nation.”

Eternal peace

One can realize the positive effects of such a training. The girls got over their cultural differences and made a bond with each other due their own nationalistic pride. Reviving from a war that was caused by cultural indifference, cultural acceptance is the origin of eternal peace. Nayana also thought that she enjoyed interacting with different people who studied different disciplines. She met with people who wanted to pursue literature or maths and it taught her a lot about the other subjects. “I realized that the other subjects can really help me in pursuing my own.”

Udani Balasuriya, another participant of the leadership programme, used to be a shy girl who stayed at home, timid. However, when she joined the programme, she was appointed, the ‘billet leader’. She accepted the challenge and each day she grew to be more confident.

She began to understand responsibility and the value of leadership and punctuality. “My personality changed a lot. I now have a confident personality and I can handle myself in public.” She continues to praise the officers and instructors and hoped she had more time at the programme.

New experience

Jayani Kanchana, a girl who also participated in the course, says that she learnt a lot about teamwork and it was a new experience. She enjoyed various activities.

“Most of all, I enjoyed the boat ride and the march past; I learned the value of discipline, teamwork, modesty and punctuality,” says Jayani. It is evident that even though the programme consists of drills, what the students seem to gather out of the course are life skills that are key to the betterment of the nation.

The only complaints about the programme are problems with the infrastructure and not about the content of the course itself. Thus the course should be seen in a positive light and the public should support the government to further enhance the programme so that the students who are participating work in better facilities.