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Impact of private, international schools on children

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“Care about your children.  Just bless them instead of worrying, as every child is the little Buddha who helps his parents to grow up.” – Gautama Buddha

Schools are considered temples of learning, where the next generation is nurtured and nourished suitably to meet the demands of the society and the nation. A child spends 12 – 14 years of his/her life in school. These years see a child’s transformation from a kid to an adolescent, to an adult. Within this span of a dozen or more years the child learns about the world, the different forces that govern it, the different kinds of people and their languages and cultures. He/She is prepared to meet the world with knowledge, courage and to innovate and lead.

But sadly today, schools create a ‘robot-like’ next generation whose learning is just limited to facts and theories, and limits the child’s ability to think. Children are loaded with books and are forced to learn things even before understanding them. Students are taught things are supposed to learn at a higher grade, much earlier than what their little brains could accommodate. Unusual number of periods and umpteen number of subjects are imposed on those little children and force them to learn all in one year. In this regard, International Privates Schools, especially take the cake.  It is more foolish than remarkable to put pressure like this on little minds.

Children live in a pressure-cooker like atmosphere today. The sacrifice of childhood at the altar of pedagogical rigours begins sometimes even before the age of three, in nursery school where children are given homework – numbers to learn, alphabets to decipher – and then subjected to stringent tests.

So the work-load – in the form of homework – further burdens parents and children. It’s a vicious circle. All these pressures on little minds have given rise to psychosomatic illnesses in children. We hear every day how parents echo their sentiments: “My heart just breaks when I see my child loaded with many books and with homework.” The tragedy is that those children have no childhood left.

The burden imposed on parents is such that they dole out exorbitant amounts of money to these schools and colleges, expecting value for money.  We have to tell the parents that their absurdly high expectations are harming their children psychologically, as well as their achievements. They should be made aware of the fact that setting expectations too high is counterproductive

Although parental aspiration can help improve children’s academic performance, excessive parental aspiration can be poisonous. As a result, hundreds and thousands of school children in this country are today engaged in a rat race to the finish – a debilitating competition taking its toll on the quality of life and mental well-being of children.

It also scraps off recreation periods like physical education, co-curricular and intra- curricular activities periods extra to squeeze in more hours of science, maths, history, geography and computer studies. The poor students are hardly left with any time for play or to do crafts or arts to refresh and rejuvenate their minds.

Children forget to enjoy the small pleasures of life like enjoying the first rains, playing football just for the fun of it, rather than for getting the best players award, indulging in homegrown and indigenous traditional games.

Letting a child be what he or she is, while at the same time monitoring and channelizing their strengths and talents is what schools are supposed to do, and is what is expected of parents and teachers. Many children who are pressured into excelling by parents or teachers may gradually withdraw from them and shut down, say psychologists.

Such children may think they’re not important or loved enough by parents unless they are perfect, a standard to which few, if any, children can achieve. If you constantly demand A’s from your child, you may be sending the wrong message. Encourage him to do his best, but don’t act as if your child didn’t work or study hard enough if he gets a B instead of an A.

The constant struggle to get high grades is very high on the agenda of every parent. Even students who score in the 70s are often judged failures. Gone are the days when 50 per cent ensured a pass; when 60 per cent was considered very good, and 70, sheer brilliance. There are bright and sensitive children who score well into the 70s. But invariably stands only ranked 10th in the class. What a disaster.

Bringing up the next generation in the right way is no easy task, and does not simply include reading to them from textbooks and drawing diagrams on the board, but includes talking to them in person and understanding them for what they are. Applying the right amount of pressure can mold the raw talent into a reliable and wonderful personality, but excess pressure can damage the item and the raw talent would be lost to both his/her near and dear ones, as well as to the society.

Applying your child to maintain constant A’s or pressuring him to excel in an academic environment, regardless of his age, may create tension and anxiety in your child or teen. In older children, anxiety to perform academically may lead to eating disorders, excessive anxiety or worry, and erotic behaviour.

A child who is constantly berated for his or her grades or shamed when he or she brings home the report card, may ultimately begin to feel anger or resentment towards their parents. Invariably you may notice your child engaging in increasingly antisocial behaviors, such as refusal to follow rules or guidelines, lying, acting out, verbal outbursts and refusing to do homework.

Often, children are unable to express their feelings about stress, anxiety or even their performance in school. Such children often continually strive to impress, encourage pride, and receive the rewards of your love and adulation. If they do not get the expected ratings in their subjects, they often feel they have let you down. So be very much aware of your child’s emotional and mental outlook and health while still encouraging him to do his best.

In this context, we would appeal to the Government and the Ministry of Education, that they impose strict rules, regulations, terms and conditions on these private international colleges – streamline their syllabuses in accordance with their tender age and also have some sort of continuous monitoring as to their academic and extracurricular activities.

Because they are our children and they are our future and the future of our country.

ZULKIFLI NAZIM

 



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Opinion

What is wrong with Sri Lanka?

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By Dr Laksiri Fernando

It is not the country per se, but the politicians and the people who are wrong. While politicians should take 70 percent responsibility, the people also should take 30 percent. It is true that these wrongs on the part of the politicians or the people are not limited to Sri Lanka. Even in a country like Australia where I now live, there are intermittent corruption, crime, gender abuse, killing, and misguided politics. However, the difference is extremely vast. Sri Lanka’s wrongs are perhaps 50 times higher than a country like Australia.

One may pinpoint this to the economic difference or development. There is some truth in it. However, the whole truth is not that. It is rooted in the political culture and social culture in general. That is one reason why Sri Lanka was not being able to develop after independence like Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, etc. India also has come to the forefront of development today. Sri Lanka became caught up in a vicious cycle where political culture prevented development, while underdevelopment influenced the political culture.

What is this political culture? It is mainly renovated feudalism with family at the core of politics that dominates the political culture. It is also the same in social culture, families dominating business, religion, entertainment, and the media. Only female members are set apart. It is in a way natural for members of a family to follow their fathers, brothers, or other close members. Or it can happen the other way around, fathers or uncles helping and promoting their siblings.

Even in America or the UK, this could be seen. The Kennedy family promoted members into politics. However, in Sri Lanka this is overwhelming, some families completely dominating politics and social arena. While the Rajapaksas are the most prominent example with abhorrent practices, the Bandaranaikes, the Senanayakes and the Jayewardenes (Ranil Wickremesinghe with links) were also playing the same game. In Australia, I have not come across this process. When John Howard was the Prime Minister, his brother Bob Howard continued to serve as an academic at the University of Sydney whom I used to meet often.

In 1995, I decided to come back to Sri Lanka to serve the country. I applied and got the appointment as the Director of the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI) through a competitive interview. It was a great institute with many capabilities and the people working there were quite flexible and committed. However, when it came to filling vacancies and expanding the staff for new tasks, I came across political influences and pressures.

I managed to overcome them luckily as the SLFI came under the purview of Chandrika Kumaratunga as the President and as she did not make any interference at least in my case. However, I resigned and came back to Australia within six months as the situation was unbearable. People who tried to influence me were either top ministers or bureaucrats.

Again, when I finally came back in 1997, I first joined the University of Colombo before undertaking any other appointments. By that time, I had fairly learned how to overcome political influence. The university system was fairly reasonable (not completely) and on that basis it was possible for me to follow my impartial principles. However, there was at least one instance where a former friend of mine tried to blame me publicly, claiming that I myself asked for favours! It was heartrending.

Sri Lanka’s public service is large and widespread. There are around 1.5 million people working in its various institutions, departments, and branches. Although there is the Public Service Commission which is supposed to be independent, even in its appointments political and other influences are paramount. The most discriminated people in this service are Tamils, Muslims, and Women. Although there are over 15 percent of Tamils in the population, their presence in the public service is less than 10 percent. Apart from discrimination on the reason of ethnicity and gender, there are discriminations on the basis of caste, religion and region. The dissolution of Provincial Councils since October 2019 has enlarged these discriminations overwhelmingly.

It is mistakenly claimed that the ‘large state sector’ is the primary defect of Sri Lanka’s economy. It is not the size of the sector that has mattered but its inefficiency, incapacity, unproductivity, and sometimes duplication. In Australia, out of the total workforce, 20 percent are in the state sector. But it is sufficiently productive and provides necessary services even to private enterprises. In Sri Lanka, if we count 12 million as the workforce (adult population 14 million), the state sector comprises only around 12 percent.

The state sector undoubtedly should be restructured, and the workforces should be retrained or even dismissed. There is no point in keeping people like Sirimanna Mahattaya in the public service if we take an example from the teledrama, Kolam Kuttama (Funny Couple)! Even privatising certain (loss-making) state enterprises is in order. However, there are certain sectors and services that the state should hold on to. Education and Health are the most priory sectors among others, depending on national dialogues. It could allow the private sector to participate, but the state should not give up its primary responsibilities.

There can be other strategic sectors where the private sector could be allowed like the ports, airports, airlines, electricity, gas, oil, and even water, but the state should not give up its responsibilities completely. Public-Private partnership can be a model in certain areas in this respect.

The stagnation of the education sector has been a primary problem area in Sri Lanka now for a long time. This applies both to school education and university education alike. In the case of university education there have been some curricula and teaching methodology changes but those are not up to modern and current needs.

We still get a huge number of Arts students while the country’s need is in the direction of Science, Technology, Medicine, Nursing and Business Management. Those who come from the Arts streams in schools, if it is not possible to change in the short run, should be able to move to scientific areas, if capable. In Australia, there is no prohibition of changing the stream if the students show high capability in whatever area that they qualify in. School education should be totally reformed with emphasis on scientific and international knowledge.

The discarding of English education (since 1956), in my opinion, has been the major mistake that the country has committed in degrading the educational system, the economy, and the country’s international profile. In recent times young generations are trying to overcome these barriers through private education, tuition, and social media. However, this is mostly limited to the well to do. English should not be considered as a superior or imperial language, but a practical and international language.

While this short article, with word limits, confine to only few areas of ‘wrongs’ that Sri Lanka is committing, a possible conclusion is to call for an overall change in the political and economic system in the country. Those political leaders and parties responsible for the country’s present political and economic crisis should be completely ousted.

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Opinion

Plan to transform country into an export economy

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Dear Mr. President,

A Presidential Media Division statement, titled “Country set for rapid transformation into an export economy” quoted remarks made by you at the inauguration ceremony of a historic temple in Kegalle.

As a caring citizen I said, “three cheers”, happily thinking that at last, the country was on the correct governance path focusing on the creation of new strategic leadership options and policy changes to encourage present and new investors to produce tradable goods and engage in external services. I was delighted that the statement began with a reference that Sri Lanka can no longer continue to rely on borrowings (presumably external?) to address the imbalance between imports and exports, which if pursued will inevitably lead to another economic crisis within a decade.

As I read the rest of the statement, I noted that your plan for achieving such a transformation by holding discussions with the World Bank, ADB and the IMF to initiate a programme and passing two new laws in April. The only other reference even as a vague statement was in relation to implementing an agricultural modernisation programme, where you anticipated results only after 6-7 years. Are you planning in addition to leverage the National Trade Facilitation Committee (NTFC) and its Secretariat as a part of your implementation strategy[ii] ?

I am sure that many highly competent Sri Lankan trade economists (including those who have guided you in the past), will be able to advise you on more important winning strategic policy/implementation and change management options.

They would surely stress the relative importance of developing strategic networking options with supply chains in the region, assisting capable SME’s to upgrade quality/productivity, and enhancing public infrastructure productivity; along with the need to remove para tariffs, enhance ease of doing business, and one stop facilitation center benchmarking services in South Indian states. These can bring big gains, well before dreaming as your short-term goal, leveraging Free Trade Agreements with India, China, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and attempting a high jump by  joining RCEP.

Chandra Jayaratne

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Opinion

Solar and wind power projects

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There has been a delay in finalising the unit cost for the proposed 500 Mw wind power project initiated by India’s Adani Group. This is surprising and disturbing as there was a news item that the Cabinet had approved the payment of US dollar cents 14.6 per unit, nearly Rs. 50 in our local currency, without the knowledge of the Ministry for Power and Energy or the Ceylon Electricity Board. If so, what is the reason for the delay in going ahead with the construction of the Wind Power Project at Mannar? The snag may be that other private suppliers too are demanding the same payment as agreed with Adani Group.

As I handled this subject at the Ministry of Power and Energy, I still take interest therein, in my retirement. In my earlier letters to the press, I pointed out the negative aspects of wind and solar projects, mainly, Sri Lanka being an island with a limited land area of 65,610 sq. km, where land is required for agriculture as is seen by the desperate attempt of the government offering uncultivated land both state-owned and private to grow more food.

It is said that four to five acres of land is required to produce 1 Mw of electricity. If so, consider the land requirements for major solar parks. In addition, no plant life is possible under these solar panels, which has multiple effects on the atmosphere. The scenic beauty of this country, which attracts tourists will be lost and thereby foreign exchange which we desperately need. This goes for floating solar projects on hydro reservoirs and lakes which the government has already approved contracts to the private sector. In wind farms, there is the danger to birds and flying insects. It is also reported that due to the noise people cannot settle down in adjacent areas.

It is not my intention to discourage the projects to produce power from renewable sources of energy. I intend to make the authorities concerned seek alternative sites, along the sea coast, avoiding beaches frequented by tourists, rooftop solar panels in all buildings. Do not forget we are actively pursuing the connection of our grid to India and when this project materialises, the energy requirement of this country will be eased to a great extent.

It is strange the Ministers in charge of land and agriculture and also tourism have not objected to setting up solar parks and wind farms on land.

G. A. D. Sirimal

Via e-mail

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