5th Column

My dear Bandula,

I thought I must write to you when I heard you the other day commenting about the recently released results of the GCE Advanced Level examination in what you said was your role as a former Minister of Education. Ah, what wouldn’t one do these days for a little bit of headline grabbing publicity?

You were lamenting that a student from an international school who sat the examination was ranked first in the island in the Arts stream. While nothing can change the fact that she came first, you were saying that she shouldn’t be given that rank, simply because she was from an international school!

Your argument is that students in state schools are funded by tax payers’ money, whereas students in international schools pay for their education, and therefore may have access to better facilities. So, it would not be fair to compare their achievements with those of students in state schools, you say.

Claiming that students of international schools were not even allowed to sit for government examinations when you were a minister, you say that ranking them alongside those from state schools will destroy free education as this will encourage parents to send students to international schools!

We are baffled as to how a student attending an international school and doing well at an examination destroys free education but then it has now become fashionable to announce the death of free education and get some political gain from it – both the rathu sahodarayas and the GMOA do it often.

Coming from you, Bandula, I am not surprised. I think we have an idea about how your mind works. After all, you were the chap who suggested just a few years ago that a person could live on Rs2,500 a month. At that time too, you were Education Minister!

Still, we have to take what you say seriously because, who knows, if the ‘pohottuwa’ returns to power one day, you might be Education Minister once again. So, I have a few questions for you regarding your views about students of international schools and their impact on free education.

Your grouse against international schools is that they are privately run and levy fees. So, what about other private schools in the country? They too are privately run and levy fees, so should they too be treated differently, though many of them have rich histories and have produced distinguished alumni?

If we do as you say, the achievements of SWRD, who is an old Thomian, Sirima, who is an old Bridgeteen, Preme, who is an old Josephian, and Kadir who is an old Trinitian will be less important than your own achievements simply because you happen to be an old boy of Lumbini College!

You can argue that your achievements are indeed of greater value because it is not an easy task to make the change from being ‘Bandula Sir’, the Economics tuition master to being Bandula the film producer and to finally become Bandula the Education Minister – it must have been quite a journey!

If we extend your argument (that products of private education are somehow ‘second class’) on to the cricket field, we should select only the best cricketers from state schools to the national team and leave out cricketers from private schools. Then, we wouldn’t have Sanga or Murali playing for us!

Bandula, you may be a teacher, a self-proclaimed economist and a former Education Minister, but most of all, you are a politician. So, when you made those remarks about that student, did you realise that she was from an international school owned by Grero, one of your own ‘pohottuwa’ buddies?

Among the people who were critical of your remarks was the Namal baby. He was probably quite hurt by what you said because, being a Thomian, he too is a proud product of private education, although I am not sure whether that respectable school by the sea is proud of this particular old boy of theirs.

You should know by now, Bandula, that you wouldn’t go far in the ‘pohottuwa’ party if you get into Namal baby’s bad books, so you should really think long and hard before you speak the next time!

Bandula, what concerns me most is the student you spoke about. This student was hailed in the media for doing what no one had done before – and the very next day you come along and try to belittle that. Did you even think of the impact it would have had on her? Or, is that too much to ask from you?

Yours truly,

Punchi Putha

PS: When you were ‘Bandula Sir’ conducting tuition classes for thousands of ‘A/Level students, you boasted that they got the best results. Maybe their results should also be looked at again – and they shouldn’t be declared the island’s best. After all, they too paid you for private tuition, didn’t they?