Moving forward - schools in the North

Prof Rajiva Wijesinha, MP

Continued from yesterday

Finally I include a photograph from the Vallipuram school where, on my last visit, I was told how the LTTE used to drill students on the premises. Now, in addition to learning, children can also play enthusiastically, as can be seen from the joyous expressions of the children on the see-saw.

I get angry when I think of how characters like Siobhain McDonagh, for pure electoral gain, tried to stop us destroying the LTTE and bringing such freedom to these children.

She will do her best to drive them back into traldom to terrorists, but I hope pictures of the new life brought to these areas will stop more decent people from swallowing her lies.

I should add that we can and should do more. Most rural schools, like those in the South, are lacking in Maths and Science and English teachers.

We need to more soon to alternative methods of teacher training and deployment if the elite, in the North now as well as the South, are not to continue with advantages which will lead to further deprivation as well as social unrest.

I hope very much then that the Ministry of Education will follow the lead being developed by other Ministries in the field of education and training, and allow national talent to be better used, rather than being straitjacketed in archaic regulations.

The superb work done in infrastructural development in the North deserves parallel attention to also developing human resources, and we should not wait until it is too late for the emerging generations.

Housing in the North

Given the vast complaints we hear from monsters such as Siobhain McDonagh about the lack of basic amenities in the North, I was pleasantly surprised by the vast number of housing projects that are being implemented. Some of these are being done by the armed forces, which I was glad about since some time back there were complaints by the more dogmatic NGOs that the army was too involved in assistance. I still remember how astonished I was when one activist said that the forces should not help single parents to build houses since that would increase the culture of dependence.

Obviously dependence on NGOs is considered something positive, but dependence on the forces that saved them from the Tigers must be deplored - doubtless because it contributes to the development of a Sri Lankan identity, when what is wanted is a culture that prevents our people coming together.

Be that as it may, I will highlight here projects in the various areas I visited, as also indications of increasing economic activity.

One picture is from an area near the main Vavuniya-Mannar Road. The people who were resettled had perfectly serviceable huts to being with, but these are being replaced - or rather supplemented - by larger permanent structures.

Another picture is taken in a small village in the interior off the Mannar-Jaffna road. The village shop does good business, and the small dwellings in use initially are being replaced by the permanent housing. Incidentally here too the families I spoke to had survived the war intact, suggesting that the stories we are told of massive civilian casualties are grossly exaggerated.

Yet another picture is of a house built by the army in a village near Kankesanthurai. I had a long discussion here with former cadres, who were less in need of support for employment than those in agricultural areas in Mannar.

Getting involved in fishing again was easier, though I believe we can do more to develop cooperatives amongst the fishermen, which would also acquire processing and business capacity.

There is a small settlement on the east side of Velvettithurai, where also fishing is taking place apace.

The forces have built 30 houses here and have also done much to provide social activity for the populace. Finally there is a picture of quarters built in a school in one of the areas of fiercest fighting in Mullaitivu District. The school is well run, with attentive students even in classes under the trees, while more classrooms are being built. It was good though that quarters were also being put up, since we need to make sure that good teachers are appointed to such schools and will be willing to stay.

One of the most heartening aspects of the resettlement process was the manner in which people began immediately to take initiatives. The President had been keen for resettlement to start early so that the Rice Bowl could be harvested in 2009 itself. Action was not as quick as he had wanted, but the inhabitants still managed to cultivate I think 6,000 acres, as seen here, and the next year the figure doubled.

But even more remarkable I felt, way back in 2009, was the revitalization of commerce. The small wayside shops were well stocked, and the owners were obviously happy with the business they were doing.

The old lady in the second picture was one of the first to start, but now there are many more. We can see here, in addition to the commercial main streets of Nachchikuda and Pooneryn, little shops in Velvettithurai and Vallipuram, scenes of fierce fighting and maximum control by the LTTE in the past.

Notable too is the resurgence in fishing. After years of restrictions, given the threats and the use made by the LTTE of fishing expeditions, fishing is going on apace on both the eastern and the western coasts.

Concluded