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Schools
and Ministry blame each other for breakdown in discipline The Sunday
Times team of reporters found that the school authorities were putting
the cane in the hands of the Education Ministry and parents while
they in turn were handing back the responsibility. The crisis
in school discipline emerged on the front pages again when about
75 students from Bandaranaike Maha Vidyalaya in Gampaha allegedly
attacked the nearby Thakshila mixed school leaving nine students
including several girls injured and classrooms smashed up. Police said
they threw a heavy guard round both schools while mobile patrols
covered the surrounding areas and several students of BMV were taken
into custody. Some authorities
said the clash arose mainly from a love affair where two boys from
the two schools were competing for the hand of a girl from Thakshila
(see separate story). School officials
told The Sunday Times regulations did not permit them to take disciplinary
action against unruly boys. They said tough
action like expulsion was the responsibility of the Education Ministry
and further more they believed the parents needed to play the greater
role in maintaining discipline because the schools had little or
no control once the students left the premises. A teacher at
Thakshila said the situation was such that even when they had to
warn students for indiscipline they often had to do it through the
parents. She charged that students today appear to have little or
no respect for teachers in contrast to earlier eras when teachers
were looked at with reverence. "I was
with the students when the attackers entered. They saw me but that
not deter them from smashing up the windows," she complained. Responding
to claims by schools that they could not expel students, School
Education Ministry secretary H. M. Sirisena said the schools did
have the power to expel but they needed to give valid reasons because
it was a matter that involved the very future of the student. A school principal
in response said that when ever major acts of indiscipline were
reported the Education Ministry had promised remedial or preventive
measures but often it was largely talk. Thakshila principal
H. B. Dharma Dassanayake supported this view saying the school authorities
were mainly responsible for education while the Ministry needed
to take more responsibility for overall discipline. In the face
of a growing crisis some schools are taking effective precautionary
measures on the basis that it is better to be safe than sorry. The Vice-Principal
of a leading boys school in Colombo said teachers patrol the school
area before and after classes to prevent indiscipline. The Vice Principal
of Nalanda college which had been involved in a recent clash with
D. S. Senanayake said student monitors and parents were deployed
on school buses and trains to check on students. He said policemen
in civvies were also helping to maintain discipline. An official
of D. S. Senanayake said they had suspended school bus operations
after the recent clashes. Ministry secretary Sirisena said that
on their part they were conducting awareness programmes and had
identified potential trouble spots such as the school bus and tuition
classes where preventive action was being taken. He requested co-operation
from parents and teachers. So far indiscipline
has erupted mainly in boys schools with girls schools being affected
mainly when the boys stage invasions during big matches. As for the
role of parents, one of them summed up the situation. "I think
the teachers and school officials have to take responsibility for
the unruly behaviour. As parents we have our responsibility too, but the teachers too have a responsibility to guide the children and mould them into proper citizens," said T. Amarasekera whose son attends a leading school in Colombo. Smash-up
over love? The fight between
the two students had initially started at Balum Mahara junction.
The BMV student had then got the support of some friends and they
had tried to create trouble on September 18, but teachers had intervened
to bring the situation under control. But the anger
apparently kept on boiling and on September 23 there was a major
attack on Thakshila by more than 100 students armed with poles.
They smashed up classrooms and the computer section with damage
estimated at about Rs. 100,000. BMV principal
Ranjith Jayasundera said the students had apparently jumped over
the wall during the interval. He said they had identified about
75 students and tough action would be taken after the inquiry. The consoling note of the ugly episode is the agreement that students of BMV would repair the Thakshila classroom and other sections. Quiet Mahesh
suffers the most " I was in the corner of the class when they smashed the window near me. Glass cut through my arm causing severe pain. Later I was taken to hospital," Mahesh recalled, adding that another attacker had hit him with a pole. This
time they are coming home On Friday,
the eve of the latest date for the exchange of prisoners in Omanthai,
the families were hopeful but behind it was the fear that something
might go wrong again. So much so they appeared to be scared even
to mention the date but were only hopeful about the homecoming. The very first
thing planned by Chandrani Boyagoda wife of Commodore Ajith Boyagoda,
the senior most officer in LTTE custody said her first priority
would be to go to the nearest temple with her husband before they
came home. She was deeply
grateful to all who had helped them during these eight years of
heart break and tension, especially the Navy and the ICRC. She said
that through the ICRC, letters and food stuff had been exchanged
on a monthly basis. Mrs. Boyagoda
sees the government's peace initiative as the main reason for the
release of her husband and six others. She said they had hoped the prisoners would be released before the first round of talks in Thailand but she understood the problems involved in this sensitive issue. For Margaret,
mother of Navindra Jayalath it was largely a battle fought alone.
"I remember the day we were informed that Navindra was missing.
We were helpless as he was the bread winner. We didn't know where
to go and after a few days I went to the ICRC with my youngest son.
I broke down and pleaded with an ICRC officer to find my son. Even
they did not know at that time whether he was dead or alive . The
ICRC was finally able to trace my son," said Margaret a single
parent with two other sons. She said one of the first priorities after the release would be to get proper medical treatment for Navindra who is suffering from eye and knee ailments.
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