Shafie Marikkar, a ‘giant’ in the field of education

Prof. Lakshman JAYATILLEKE

I came to know S.L.M. Shafie Marikkar and the All-Ceylon Muslim Education Conference shortly after the National Education Commission was held. Although I can’t recollect the exact circumstance under which we met, very soon the two of us developed a relationship that was based on mutual trust and respect. He and the ACMEC saw in the Commission a means by which the aspirations and educational needs could be effectively communicated to the highest levels of the government, and brought to bear on the formulation of educational policy of Sri Lanka.

S.L.M. Shafie Marikka

We shared the view that all groups and communities in Sri Lanka had identities of their own and that each had a right to exist with dignity within the overall framework of the Sri Lankan nation. We also believed that national integration did not imply the subjugation of any specific group by a dominant majority. As a result my association with him was a rewarding one, and I saw in Shafie Marikkar an ally who could be depended on for advice and support in the advancement of Sri Lankan education.

True leader

He was truly a ‘giant’ in the field of education with a broad range of experience. He had gone above and beyond the narrow confines of educations as understood in Sri Lanka. He had read a broad range of subjects and was associated closely with both the General Education System and the Universities. Although I had not studied his credential and achievements by the time we met for the first time, what and how he spoke, and the way in which he was treated by the others who accompanied him left no doubt in me that I was in the presence of a true leader. Every time we interacted subsequently my respect and affection for him was further enhanced.

The NEC and ACMEC were sensitive to the realities of the Sri Lankan education system. We were fully aware that despite more than half a century of independence, there were pockets and groups of people who were being deprived of a sound education for their children. We also agreed without any reservation that education was the key to development and a higher quality of life. In this regard ACMEC has a clear-cut role in identifying educational goals and priorities for Muslim children and how their needs could be catered to in an equitable manner within the overall national context. We were fully convinced that serving the educational and development needs of Muslim children was a service to the whole country and to its entire people.

National policy

ACMEC subscribed to the idea that education had a four-fold purpose, namely to contribute to national development and character building, development of general competences and of specific competences of every Sri Lankan. ACMEC gave valuable inputs to the NEC in the formulation of proposals towards the formulation national policy on all aspects of education. As chairman I consulted Shafie Marikkar on many occasions. His maturity and friendship were sources of strength to me. He always transcended the limits imposed by group sentiments and viewed things in a national perspective. Let me sum up my comments on this great son of Sri Lanka by saying that he guided and inspired me in carrying out my duties.

In honour of our late friend, teacher and leader let me place before you a few ideas that may be useful when thinking purposefully about education. These ideas are being expressed with the full awareness that my audience today is a heterogeneous group interested in education, the majority of you profess the religion of Islam, that whatever that is said by me will go into the public domain. I am also humbled by the fact many of you are not only interested but also have expertise and maturity in education and public affairs and other fields in your own right.

Educational facilities

When we examine critically the progress of Sri Lankan education, we are compelled to make the comment that our educators and policy makers have lost sight of a vital fact. It is that having pockets of educational deprivation places all of us, without exception, at a disadvantage. Notwithstanding, this, there are groups of people and localities where provision of educational facilities and resources is of a low standard. This is true of all communities. In any educational reform, special attention has to be paid to these educationally deprived pockets. The leaders of every community have a ‘sacred’ responsibility to ensure that educational efforts are targeted correctly and they are producing the desired results. The majority community has a responsibility to specially target the minority community schools in order to redress any imbalances that have been inherited.

School education should inculcate moral and cultural values. File photo

The selection of schools for development under various projects in the past has been biased due to the fact that the criteria used are drawn up by groups of people with their own interests at heart. As a result, there are less developed schools that have not received development funds, and strategies have not been evolved to raise the standards of schools that considered ‘out of the way’. This must be corrected because every school is a Sri Lankan school and every child in it a Sri Lankan child. Every one of them must get the benefits of development and should be seen to be recipient without exception. Therefore, a fairer method for selection would be to use a pure random basis. This would not only help schools that are not usually considered fit to receive project funds, but also improve the quality of management of the system.

Employment opportunities

There was an important representation to the National Education Commission to the effect that persons who are formally learned to high levels have not, by and large, used their capabilities for creating educational and employment opportunities for those who are relatively less endowed. This is an aspect of an ‘education in crisis’.

When we see the economic performance, productivity and of other Asian countries and also the way our country is back-sliding our belief that our country is in a crisis because of the wrong kind of education, is strengthened. This is an issue that needs to be addressed by everyone who is interested in our country’s future. It must be addressed both as a personal issue as well as a national issue. We will not go into the details of approaches and solutions on this occasion.

Education should be a concern of every parent and every community. It cannot be left to chance and to the educational specialists, politicians and administrators. In their hands education has degenerated to the learning of a limited number of subjects.

It has stopped being the means of enabling each person to reach her or his full human potential. Resources that are being put into the formal education system to enable this are not being utilized effectively and not distributed in a fair manner.

The formal education system still remains as one that selects a small percentage of the population to be educated and trained while dropping the large majority on the wayside as demotivated persons who have to fend for themselves. This weakens our nation because of the frustration, envy and hatred it breeds. Eventually, every one of us will be adversely affected, and there will be no real islands of safety, although some may be inclined to think so.

To be successful as a nation and as groups within it, the young persons as they leave school and enter the world of work should satisfy three criteria.

Firstly, those who leave school must be able and highly motivated;

Secondly, they must be able to use theory;

Thirdly, they should be practically skilled in the broadest sense.

These are the findings of a sociological study that cut across several countries. This finding has important lessons for us regarding how our young should be educated. Teachers and parents who have a special stake in formal education must be aware of these criteria, and find ways and means of incorporating them in the process of bringing up our children.

Extra-curricular activities and how parents and teachers interact with children both in school and outside has significant impact on the extent to which the children satisfy the criteria.

Both teachers and parents can inhibit the participation of children in wholesome character building activities that do contribute. For example, when children in the upper grades were made to do projects parents objected to the use of students’ time for work that was not related to passing examinations and, teachers tolerated dishonesty by not supervising the work closely.

An aspect of school education that is inimical to the use of theory is the tutoring of children to pass the public examinations. It is reported that more than 90 percent of our children attend private tuition classes.

Rote learning of solutions to exam problems is a short cut that does exercise the mind in the use of theory. As a result students learn to deceive the examiners and to avoid thinking seriously about problems but to look for short cuts. As a result we find many persons who are willing to accept things that are told by others uncritically and without thinking.

It is not impossible for children to pass examinations without being tutored.

The secret is the interest taken by teachers in school to guide them adequately in their studies. Whenever they have taken interest to do this, the performance of students has been above average. ACMEC has a leadership role in guiding both the parents and teachers to place the interests of children above all other considerations.

There is also the possibility of the teachers themselves helping schoolchildren in their studies after school. This is one way in which the school infrastructure could be used for the benefit of the community. It was tried very successfully in one school.

National focus

The teachers were remunerated in a manner that was decided by the community. Although the teachers did not earn a lot of money in like the private tutors, every one benefited. Above all, the children were in a safe environment within the school, and did not waste their time on the roads like the way they do when they attend private tutories.

Unfortunately this arrangement was killed by the educational administrators who even thought it fit to punish the principal for giving leadership in this excellent scheme.

They may have been even prompted by the operators of private tutories to put a stop to this very innovative and child-friendly approach. This is a matter that should interest our political and community leaders, since it needs a change in the present policy of keeping the schools locked up at the end of the formal classes.

Education is not only about teaching the academic subjects as is assumed by our education authorities. It must clearly be a way of helping every child to recreate society for her or himself. This cannot be left to chance. There must be a definite process centred in the school because it is the main institution that has been established for this purpose.

The school must be made ready for this because the present arrangements are even inimical to the interests of the child. There should be a partnership between the school and the community, that is essentially the parents, to jointly create environments in the school and at home to facilitate a balanced growth of the child. This pre-school is very critical. Unfortunately, unscrupulous operators have made this also an opportunity for monetary gain by capitalizing on the desire of parents to see that their children get a head-start in life.

Shafie Marikkar was a true visionary. His leadership in founding the All-Ceylon Muslim Education as far back as 1964 is evidence of this. It is an example for all other communities to follow. Each should be parallel have a parallel organization that is dedicated to the education of its children.

These organizations could work independently and also get together to discuss aspects of education that have a national focus. This is, to my mind, the best way of preserving the integrity of each of our national cultures, so that every person can live with dignity anywhere 'in this pleasant isle of ours' as Shafie Marikkar called it.

I echo his words and urge you to make ACMEC a strong and vibrant organization that can dedicate itself to the correct upbringing of Muslim children within the multi-cultural Sri Lankan nation. This is more important than carving out territories.

Largely as a result of commercial pressures, and the attendant corruption of the mass media, we lost sight of how a person's life is formed so that he becomes a fully-functioning human being. Education is the process by which she or he is led out of the stage of infancy to adulthood. Education as understood now is the learning of academic subjects to pass examinations and get the necessary certificates to enter the world of work. In this rat-race for qualifications we have lost sight of two more important components of education. These are culture and the acquisition of a broad range of practical and technical skills that are essential for living. Nowadays, culture has been degenerated to singing, dancing and what are called 'cultural shows' backed by business interests.

Culture, on the other hand what guides us in living correctly. Sciences and technologies cannot replace culture in this respect. Religion has an important contribution to make to culture because decisions about what is right in living cannot be determined by the methods of experimental science. It is culture that has answers to questions that sciences and humanities cannot answer. Hence the teachings of religious values that are based on revelations and deep insights have inestimable value. It is a pity to see these being pushed to the background on the initiatives of unscrupulous persons who are interested in quick profits.

Cultures of each community, as guided by the various spiritual and religious traditions in our country, must take centre stage in the upbringing of the younger children. They must have school environments that are rich with cultural inputs. There should be a strong nexus between the religious institutions and religion-based organizations, and the pre-school and early primary stages, so that the children can absorb their own cultures effortlessly and in a benign manner. ACMEC can in the future be a model of such an organization. The writer is the Chancellor, Wayamba University