Instilling Buddhist values in children crucial: SB

28 October 2011 05:00 pm

The inculcation of Buddhist values in children is vital in moulding them as global citizens, Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake has stressed.
 
Addressing a function to mark the awarding of certificates to those who followed the diploma course in Buddhist studies at the Pali and Buddhist University, Mr. Dissanayake said he appreciated the conducting of this academic programme for the use of Dhamma School teachers.

He said these teachers were unique because they educated the children voluntarily.


“The world is changing rapidly. We have to go ahead with the modern world.

We are no longer considered a nation living in an island.  The internet media impacts our children both positively and negatively. It is a challenging task to make our children citizens with moral values in such an environment.  We cannot do it at school. It has to be done at Dhamma schools,” he said.

He said even Sri Lankans living abroad were keen to give a quality Buddhist education to their children.
 
“The importance of Dhamma School is felt today more than ever,” he said.

He also said though there were 11,000 temples in the country, Buddhist monks were available in only 900 of them.  As a result, he said there was a challenge for senior monks to maintain the required number of Bhikkhus.

“We need Buddhist monks more and more to foster Buddhism. We cannot do it by constructing massive statues and Dagobas only,” he said.