Free education Our only remaining pride and hope

When I read the editorial of the Daily Mirror on Oct. 14, 2013, I was inspired to add some more on the same lines. The editor rightly points out the consequences of private medical practice and its impact on the state health sector. He warns the government that the same fate might be bestowed upon free education if it does not reconsider the establishment of private universities.

I would add another example: the fate of the public transportation service as a result of privatisation of the bus “service”. The way the private bus service renders its services is another matter altogether, but in the face of the number of private buses, what happened to the state-run bus service? If we want to make use of examples, then we have too many. However, the intent of this article is to show how we survived the turbulences that shook our country over the years because of free education and free health and the inevitable consequences we would have to face in the future if we are deprived of these.



" Education disciplines a person and it helps a person to understand the world. Free education, in some form, reaches all Sri Lankans whether they are haves or have-nots, irrespective of caste, creed or ethnicity "




Hope for the poor
Thanks to Dr. C. W. W. Kannangara, we are all products of free education; whether our parents could afford our education or not, was immaterial. We have (had) very good schools and universities in the country and some were good enough to have even produced the runner-up to the Secretary General of the UN. (Dr. Jayantha Dhanapala­ - a product of the University of Peradeniya - was not appointed to the post as he was from a small island and not because he was short of any qualification required for the post.) With the free education system in Sri Lanka, some rules and regulations were introduced and they were very much adhered to initially, as the rules which have become practices (even habits) now, and are adhered to with the same intensity even now. For instance, the rule that no one can employ a child below 14 years of age, (every child has the right to education immaterial of caste, creed or ethnicity) is known to almost everyone in cities and villages alike. If we look at the practical implementation of the above rule, in cities, if your neighbour gets to know that you are employing a child below 14 years, the police would get a telephone call and you would have to face the consequences. If you are employing a child and if you harass the child, you are almost sure to go on the TV’s news telecast. The awareness created for education, by education is so powerful.

In villages where the strategies are not all that sophisticated, the principal of the village school would get to know that among the 100 odd families (or even less) that live in the village, there is a family who does not send their children to school or that there are dropouts. He would pay a visit and the family would be flabbergasted by the principal’s mere visit, and the next week the children would be sent to school. Perhaps before the principal’s visit even a teacher who lives in the village may come and talk to the parents to send their children to school.This is how earlier rules have now become practices in every corner of the country and this is how education and therefore the educated are/were recognised in the country (before they were knelt down by the illiterate political goons!).



" We held our heads high in the world because of the standards we were able to maintain so far in the education and health sectors. We as a nation collectively survived through disasters like the war and the Tsunami because of our education  "



The books are provided free and at least one uniform per year is given free during primary and secondary education. Upon entering the university, students are given a bursary if their parents’ income is low and not sufficient to support the child’s university education. So parents are less burdened with what they need to provide their children for education. They would cajole and coax their lazy children into going to school with the understanding that parents themselves were not serious about the free education given and because of that they are poor now. Therefore, they are of the view that their children should not make the same mistake; that children should make use of free education and get out of poverty. University students are determined to make use of free education so that they can come out of their ‘have-not’ status through education. For the poor, free education is the only way to upward mobility. Free education gives hope for parents and their children for a better tomorrow.

I remember once, there was an interesting article in the “Hindu” some 5 – 7 years ago about a comparison between Sri Lankans and Indians when it came to cricket. I remember the article said, even though Sri Lankans were very passionate about cricket just as Indians were, when it came to defeat, Sri Lankans were more patient and less violent than Indians: Sri Lankans accepted defeat calmly. The article tried to attribute the Sri Lankan trait of being patient and accepting victory and defeat alike to Buddhism, referring to taking the middle-path as one of the core teachings of Buddhism. While quite agreeing with this point, I would like to attribute that quality to education as well. Education disciplines a person and it helps a person to understand the world. Free education, in some form, reaches all Sri Lankans whether they are haves or have-nots, irrespective of caste, creed or ethnicity. And we somehow maintained our literacy rate at more than 95% even during the war because of free education.





Main socialising agent
Education, teaches us to see the world in different perspectives. It also teaches us about sharing, caring and negotiating with others. It helps us control anger, hatred, etc. and one might say it is the religion that does the job. I would say that even a person who would not be very religious will have a major part of his socialisation done through school by interacting with peers and teachers while being exposed to a variety of knowledge sources and areas. School is considered as one of the main formal socialisation agents of one’s life. Free education paves the way for all Sri Lankans to be socialised in this manner. The deprivation of free education would make most have-nots in Sri Lanka have to make a choice.

 And at the initial level the choice would not be between a town school or a village school. It would be whether to be educated or not; in other words, to be socialised or not.



" Even a person who would not be very religious will have a major part of his socialisation done through school by interacting with peers and teachers while being exposed to a variety of knowledge sources and areas "



Once a top gynecologist I met in Rajasthan, India said they, at many forums, took Sri Lanka as the example for the lowest infant and mother mortality rates at birth. He was of the view that doctors were surprised by our health sector improvement while still being in the category of South Asian developing nations. We all know that the life expectancy of Sri Lankans is equal to that of any developed nation. While I attribute this high standard and achievements in the health sector to the free health facilities provided for our people, I equally attribute the awareness our people have to get timely advice from health professionals, to education they have had. Among health issues, the cleanliness we have in our households, in our smallest of boutiques and even our personal cleanliness stem from our school education.



" The deprivation of free education would make most have-nots in Sri Lanka have to make a choice. And at the initial level the choice would not be between a town school or a village school. It would be whether to be educated or not " 



I know in some remote villages, teachers take their students in primary classes first to the nearest well or stream to brush their teeth and wash their faces, hands, etc. before they begin classroom teaching. We still have a day in our schools where teachers check our children’s nails, teeth, etc. for cleanliness. When the Tsunami hit Sri Lanka, many NGOs came to support the victims. One compliment they all paid was that there were no epidemics in refugee camps as cleanliness was well-maintained. The awareness of good health practices is easily cultivated via education. When everyone has easy access to education, improvement in health comes as a definite by-product.

We held our heads high in the world because of the standards we were able to maintain so far in the education and health sectors. We as a nation collectively survived through disasters like the war and the Tsunami because of our education. Our people from villages have nothing much that the city folks have but only free education as the way to get out of poverty and go forward. If we deprive them of their only hope, they would have a bleak future. As the majority of Sri Lankans are from rural and semi-rural areas, it is inevitable that we create a bleak future for Sri Lanka as well. Therefore, the stance that the Sri Lankan government is taking in relation to free education, starting with establishing private sector higher education institutes will not end there. The stance will help proliferate all kinds of primary, secondary and tertiary private education institutes with more speed than it is now and in due course would make Sri Lanka’s only remaining pride, state education, in other words free education, to die a helpless death.