Letters
View(s):It’s the time for school admissions and the corruption carnival begins
The media have highlighted the scandalous state of affairs prevalent in Grade 1 school admissions. With the dawn of the New Year, parents engage in a desperate rat race to find popular schools to admit their children.
We are well aware that January is a harvesting period for all school heads especially when the school wears the badge ‘popular’. This is the best time for various malractices – when filthy lucre comes into play and ministry circulars are brazenly breached.
Past pupils come to the fore and connive, aid and abet. This is the notorious muscle power behind school admissions. Reportedly three principals of leading schools are under a cloud. Some moons ago, certain lady principals of outstation schools were caught red-handed and taken to task.
The malaise is deep rooted. The so-called area rule is abused and the past pupils’ associations with their clout and influence help their cronies who never fail to oil their palms.
The number of buses and vans parked outside popular schools tell the story: That most children reside far away from these schools. My cousin failed to admit three boys to popular schools despite being a resident of Colombo 7 for over 40 years.
The bigger the school, the bigger the demand. The influential people in the PPA play crucial roles requesting funds for building projects, musical shows and other image-enhancing events. Have the principals become putty in their hands
This is a big and complicated issue. Those parents sans clout and cash have to grin and bear when they are unsuccessful despite meeting all the criteria for successful admission. Complaining is a waste of time, as my cousin found out.
When accountability and transparency are the buzz words of the Yahapalanaya – are these principles practised in annual school admissions?
M. Azhar Dawwood
Dehiwala
At Royal, we learnt to play the game, hope the govt. does too
I refer to the letter written by a nameless old Royalist (Sunday Times Jan. 24) . While I appreciate his concerns defending Upali Gunesekera (ex- Principal-Royal College), I do not fully agree with his faithful views.
However much Mr. Gunesekera has done at Royal College, nothing could have been possible without the unwavering support of the Royal College Old Boys’ Union (RCU) and a few philanthropists. He was a member of a team.
To this day, Royal College can boast of many achievements of such teams both on and off the field due to the loyalty and commitment of the students both present and past. However, on this occasion we have to trust a government that has promised us ‘Yahapalanaya’ to act within the laws of the country.
If the removal of the Principal is politically motivated, then the Minister in charge of Education must come forward with an appropriate explanation not only to the students but to the general public. He cannot just hide behind a screen by putting the responsibility on the Prime Minister.
On this occasion, we are compelled to follow the idiom ‘there is no smoke without fire’. The sad part is when the Department of Education promotes someone accused of alleged wrongdoings to a higher rank. This is where it stinks.
Two weeks ago, the Sunday Times reported that a delegation from the OBU met the Minister and requested him to keep the Principal in office to celebrate the 125th Anniversary of the RCU on January 25 and until after the Royal Thomian cricket match in March.
This is the most ridiculous piece of news I heard since leaving college. It is like telling Police officers who have come to arrest someone to wait until his daughter’s wedding ceremony and also until the conclusion of the home coming the following month.
To be fair by the ex-principal, he had come under immense pressure by the previous regime to respect the ‘ thunduwa’ or the piece of paper to admit a student sent by the almighty.
If not, he could have ended up as Principal Royal College, Polonnaruwa, the alma mater of the incumbent President. Once he had to succumb to a raging Minister’s command to reinstate his cricketer son , the day after he was suspended for entering the college record room in the middle of the night.
He did not have to help Parliamentarians to admit their sons either because there was a selection criterion he had to follow except for the dreaded ‘thunduwa’ from the powers that be.
In a western country the official involved in any wrongdoing whilst in office would be asked to step down or suspended from work with pay until the investigations are over.
If not, the Principal could have gone with a fundamental rights case to the Supreme Court against the Education Ministry. It was not to be. The clever officials at Education Ministry pre-empted such a move by promoting him to the rank of Director of Education.
At Royal, we were brought up by teachers of great repute and we did not condone anybody who stepped over the mark as far as discipline was concerned but also we learnt to forgive.
Mr. Prime Minister you owe the Royal College students and the old boys of which you are one, a full explanation of the happenings; whether Mr. Gunesekera is guilty or not. If he is at fault, punish him.
At Royal there is no carpet to brush the dirt under and neither do we disrespect those who erred in the course of their duty. To err is human. Justice not only needs to be done but also must be seen to be done. At Royal, we will learn of books and men and learn to play the game. Hope the government does too.
Ranjith Samaranayake
Mount Lavinia
Wake up! We have a human-dog conflict too
Since 1953 the Health Ministry has been involved in the rabies control programme. To date however Sri Lanka has not achieved the target of becoming a rabies free country. In 1973 as many as 337 people died of rabies.
In 1995 records indicate that 154 people died and for the past ten years on average 50-60 people die of rabid dog bite in spite of more than Rs.35 million being spent on the rabies control programme.
Officials are alarmed by the deaths of 22 people from rabies in 2015. 80% of the cases were by the so called ‘social’ dogs which are set free by the dog owners to roam around in their neighbourhood.
While a huge amount of money is spent on the rabies control problem at times the human vaccination is not available in some hospitals. Dog bite victims have to run from pillar to post, from one hospital to another to get the vaccination administered.
Recently a veterinarian friend of mine was bitten by a dog in his neighbourhood and had to spend over Rs 13,000 as there was no vaccination available at the government hospital.
Much has been discussed about the human elephant conflict, but government officials have failed to realise that there is a conflict between human and dogs too. Why are the authorities still not enforcing the Registration of the Dog ordinance? Can rabies be eradicated at least by 2020?
Dr. Allagamuthu Nandakumar
Via email
British High Commission statement should be used by our foreign diplomats for the country’s advantage
Reading the Sunday papers, my attention was drawn to the article with the heading ‘Sri Lanka Attorneys’ letters not credible’. The article went on to say that an officer in the visa section of the British High Commission in Colombo had written to the Home Office in U.K. stating that ‘the credibility of Sri Lankan attorneys has been called into question’.
The visa officer reached this conclusion after carrying out necessary investigations into U.K. asylum applications.
The report went on to say that, in the case of a sample 80 such applications, 30 of these involved letters/credentials presented by SL attorneys in support of the applications. Of this 30, 86.6% of such documents verified were not credible. Reports of live court cases/arrest warrants, etc. were proved to be fictitious on checking. To the average Sri Lankan, this should not be any sort of surprise.
No doubt, there are Sri Lankans from all communities who, if given the chance, will apply for asylum in the UK – particularly among the younger generation.
But, exactly which community would have been responsible for the majority of such applications (with good enough reason it must be said)? Many ex-LTTE cadres, young men and women fleeing forced conscription, etc would naturally make up the bulk of asylum applicants.
Such asylum seekers, if in sound mind and body, would have to show sufficient grounds as to the existence of threats to their personal safety (from whatever quarter – a handy whipping boy would surely be the security forces/government). Surely, letters/credentials (forged or otherwise) would carry enough clout to meet their ends.
Here is damning proof – coming from no less than the visa section of the British High Commission – as to how the West is duped by many an asylum seeker who, in the process, is helping in no small measure, to tarnish the good name of the security forces and by extension the sovereign state of Sri Lanka.
Why cannot our Foreign Office diplomats use these incidents to bolster their defence against the diaspora-sustained lobbying of Western Governments for punitive sanctions/human rights demands against Sri Lanka?
Does it not prove the inefficiency/ineffectiveness of our Foreign Office heads in particular? Is it any wonder that the LTTE propaganda machine was more proactive/effective against our Government throughout the 30-year war and thereafter?
Ainsley de Silva
Kohuwala
The root of the problem
There have been many positive comments on the Grassrooted Trust’s visually effective dramatic presentation of cyber exploitation of women, performed at the Kandy session of the recently concluded Fairway Galle Literary Festival (FGLF).
Unfortunately, the root of the problem was totally ignored. The message was our bodies are our own to do as we like with them. A situation where innocent Red Riding Hood has a rude shock when confronted by a big bad camera-toting wolf!
Casual sex is worlds apart from a shared drink at a bar, or a casual walk in the park. It implies intimacy with a more or less casual acquaintance about whom one knows next to nothing.
Any woman willing to take this risk should be aware of the possible consequences, which in this rapidly expanding electronic era are infinite and devastating.
Cyber exploitation would never occur in committed relationships where the partners love and above all, respect each other.
Subsequent to my writing this, I came across a positive review of the Grassrooted performance in Galle and sympathetic response, as the sexual exploitation was professed to be by their partners. All I can say is, “look hard before you leap into bed!”
Premini Amerasinghe
Via email
Yes, a voice for the Malays would be a good addition
I agree with the suggestions in the letter by Anver Kamiss of Colombo 5, under the title “A place for Malays in the new Constitution”.
Malays are categorised as Muslim which includes Moors and others who follow Islam. We are a different race with a different culture and language similar to Indonesians, Malaysians etc. following Islam. We have never fought for our rights in the past.
Please consider Mr. Kamiss’s suggestion to have a Malay representative in the Parliament. Thank you Mr. Kamiss for writing about some of the politicians of the past.
Dane Suhood
Colombo 5
Bikes, boxing and the Vinaya
As a Buddhist I have been disturbed by the poorly drafted “Katikawatha” presented by the Minister of Information (inexplicably not by the Buddha Sasana Minister).
He seems intent on preventing Bhikkhus from getting driving licences but, strangely, there is no prohibition on their riding push bicycles – which will be legal under the new regime.
Another strange omission is that of boxing. Is it because a ‘Mahanayaka’ of East Asia was a cheerful Chief Guest at a women’s Boxing Meet ?
Will the Minister responsible for this ‘katikawatha’ please explain.
A puzzled Buddhist
Megapolis – Is there a mega plan for public transportation?
I have been keenly following the recently introduced government initiatives for the Megapolis.
When we were studying in the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Moratuwa, the major design project for 3rd year graduation was to design a LRT (Light Rail Transit) station for Bambalapitiya based on the then transportation plan designed for the Colombo Metropolitan Regional Structure Plan (CMRSP). This was in 1998.
Almost 20 years later, not only has nothing been implemented but the problems have multiplied.
Sri Lanka is a relatively small country with a large population, limited land resources and with no known fossil fuels. Yet, we blindly follow the outdated developmental model of importing fossil fuels and motor cars while perpetually widening roads to accommodate the growing number of vehicles.
The inefficacy of our transportation systems both public and private further exacerbates the inherent inefficiency in our institutions while contributing to air pollution particularly through the waste of fossil fuels by vehicles stuck in traffic jams.
Unlike in most developed countries, the car in Sri Lanka is not only a mode of transportation but also a status symbol.
Hence, to get the middle class to abandon the luxury of private motor travel to an alternative, it has to be efficient, comfortable and more importantly fashionable. Unfortunately, the current crop of buses and/or trains are not going to make this transition.
However, there are many alternative models from around the world that we could adopt.
JICA report (2014) commissioned by the Sri Lankan Government has done a commendable job identifying most of the problems and proposing short, medium and long term solutions for traffic problems and improving public transportation.
RBT – Rapid Bus Transit is one such cost effective option that has been proposed both as a short term and medium term proposal for improving public transportation.
Another relatively cost-effective alternative would be to convert the Kelani Valley Railway line to LRT system (light rail transit/ tram system).
Minister Ranawaka recently declared that we have spent around 6bn. USD on various projects in Hambantota district.
Going by the recent cost estimates on underground metro rails projects in Curitiba Brazil and Delhi Metro, we could have built a substantial underground metro system combined with a surface BRT system for that amount of money.
While conceding that Sri Lanka is a small country with limited resources, the cost benefits of an efficient transportation system cannot be easily measured through dollar value only.
Its benefits are long term and mostly immeasurable like in universal free education and health systems. If we can spend billions of dollars on questionable airports and port projects, surely we can find funds to implement similar large scale projects that will benefit many not few.
The capital could be raised through several options or a combination of options. Public Private Partnership (PPP) is a popular initiative worldwide for funding such large projects.
The Chinese construction company handling the Port City Project could be re-negotiated with to provide a LRT system at least to the Port City and surrounding areas so the entry of private vehicles to such areas could be curtailed.
I am not an economist or a tax expert, but there are tax measures that could be used to fund such projects in the long term – for example, the increased taxing of petrol.
All around the world, industrialized nations have given priority to optimizing their transportation systems, as it is the heart of an efficient, productive nation.
We in Sri Lanka on the other hand, have obstinately continued an outdated developmental model while the sage advice of the local experts go unheeded.
As stated by Professor Kumarage of University of Moratuwa, our public transportation system is 75 years behind the rest of the world. It is more than likely that without a well thought out longterm mass transportation action plan the Megapolis would end up yet another public policy failure eating away at scarce resources.
The need of the hour is political will and long term strategic planning and I am confident that the Minister for Megapolis will give this burning issue priority rather than the piece-meal approach that we’ve been practising since 1948.
A Reader
Via email
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