Prof Nandadasa Kodagoda’s contribution to education

Dr Hemamal JAYAWARDENA

Continued from August 1

He was very critical about the way we condition our children to abstain from expressing themselves. Ones he gave the example of how an eight year old child greeted him ‘good morning’ and asked him ‘what can I do for you’ when he visited a school in a foreign country. When he said that he wanted to meet the principle, the child had told him, ‘ please follow me’ and accompanied him to the Principal’s office. He was comparing this scenario with what he would find in many of our schools in Sri Lanka, where most students would, probably, hide behind a wall and see what’s happening from far, sometimes giggling.

We should give our children confidence, appreciating when they come forward, rather than scorn. Even in adulthood, these habits continue and many among us resist opening out, taking initiatives or doing things constructively. Sometimes, even people who have enormous capacity fall back and try to live a silent life after facing difficult situations in personal life. We also tend to be too satisfied with the status quo and resist any change. Even those who do constructive work tend to do those things silently, without publishing or making available the benefits of their work to other researchers. Many of us are shy to talk of great work we have done, even when they are worthwhile or humane.

Professor Kodagoda was an ardent critique of the over dependence of books and subject content in the contemporary education system of Sri Lanka. A child having to go to school followed by tuition school etc., he saw, as factors contributing to many social problems we see today. He always believed that it is as much important for a child to play as much as a child should devote to books. The inadequacy of opoertunity children gets to play, argue, fight and deal with problems is probably one reason for the increase manifestations of violence we see today as a means of resolving problems. Professor Kodagoda believed that one should never be confined to a single field of expertise.

To be successful, one needs to belong to many disciplines. He set this value by example. Prof. Kodagoda has been so conversant and versatile in many fields that not many people know that his primary professional expertise was in the subject of Forensic Medicine, the subject that he influenced much for me to take on too. It was after many years in Obstetrics and Gynaecology that the multi-disciplinary professor switched to Forensic or legal medicine. Professor Kodagoda always had an open mind. Despite sitting in the Dean’s Chair of a Faculty of Scientific Medicine he took an active role in promoting alternative medicines such as Ayureveda and Acupuncture.

He was instrumental in reorganizing the curriculum of the Institute of Ayurvedic Medicine to an integrated one that has both eastern and western components.

An appreciation of Professor Kodagoda is not complete without briefly recalling some of the achievements he made in life. He was the Chairman, Drugs Control Board, General Secretary, Ceylon Association for the advancement of Science, Secretary, medico-legal Society of Sri Lanka, vice President, Family Planning Association, patron, Science Writers Association of Sri Lanka, Vice President, Community Front Against AIDS, Editor, National Academy of Sciences, Editor, Sri Lanka Journal of Medical Science and President, Asian Science Communicatory Organization. Professor Kodagoda was a fellow of the National Academy of Sciences in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lanka College of Physicians.

The Royal College of Physicians in UK also had the privilege and honour to have Professor Kodagoda as a member and fellow. The number of academic publications to Professor Kodagoda’s credit is enormous. In addition he is the author of six major books. He has also translated into Sinhala four standard textbooks, of which the most well known is Sir Sydney Smith’s Forensic Medicine. Professor Kodagoda received a plethora of awards and distinctions in his career. The last he received was just a month or so prior to his death. It was a Doctorate of Science, Honoris Causa, from his own Colombo University. As a mark of respect for this great teacher, let us take into our own lives at least a few attributes of this great human being.