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Children air their grievances on shortcomings in education
Listen to what they have to say
By Vidushi Seneviratne
It was a refreshing and effective change. Children at the head table; child comperes presenting the programme. Harshini Dayaratne, from the Anuradhapura District of the North Central Province is visually handicapped. She told her audience of the burning issues faced by children with disabilities. "Disabled children are stopped from going to school, mainly because of the pity shown by their parents and elders. They don't realise that by doing this, they are underestimating their potential."

There are few facilities available for such children, said Harshini, stating that while visually handicapped children needed braille textbooks, braille writers (which are relatively expensive) and white canes, the hearing impaired needed essential medical facilities such as hearing aids. "We also need more attention in public places such as government institutions and supermarkets where there should be a wheelchair, a set of crutches and walk ways. These are facilities freely available in many other countries and would be of immense help to us," said Harshini.

Disabled children are often victims of social evils such as sexual abuse, begging and being employed for the selling of lottery tickets, she added. The National Children's Lobby on Education held on April 20 at the BMICH saw about 300 children from eight provinces gathering to address national leaders and civil society on issues affecting education in the country

The event was part of the Global Action Week held from April 19 -25 simultaneously in over hundred countries. The National Children's Lobby on Education took place four years after 180 countries met in Dakar, Senegal, in April 2000, and made a commitment to provide education to all.

According to the statistics presented by the United Nations, over one hundred million children are being denied the right to education, a basic human right, and the majority missing out are girls. In Sri Lanka, while almost 60,000 children are out of school, many more unrecorded numbers, though enrolled, hardly attend school.

Giving an equal opportunity to all children of Sri Lanka by 2015 and enabling as many children to gain an education, irrespective of their gender, by 2005 were two of the main goals highlighted at the Lobby. The shortcomings in the Sri Lankan education system were first discussed at district level, and subsequently presented at the Lobby.

Among the many presentations, the one made by the representative of the Jaffna district focused on the need for peace if education is to progress. "As a result of the war, we were cut off from the rest of the country. In addition to most of our school buildings being destroyed, we don't get textbooks or material for school uniforms on time. The electricity supply is affected. All of these factors affect our education in a huge way," said M. Vidushan. While this temporary peace was appreciated, a permanent peace was what they were all dreaming of, he said.

The four main problems, according to the children were the scarcity of teachers in remote areas, political influence on teacher transfers, education being stifled by the lack of peace and the unavailability of equal educational opportunities for children with disabilities.

Several ministers connected to the field of education present at the Lobby pledged support, promising the convenors the backing they needed to achieve their goals.

"Protecting children is one of our main responsibilities and the state is responsible for enabling a sound education for all children. There needs to be more funds allocated for education, while the number of teachers must be increased and the closure of schools must be stopped at once," said Minister of Urban Development and Water Supply and Deputy Minister of Education Dinesh Gunawardene. "Education is the only permanent possession in today's world," he added.

The Global Action Week was organised by the Commonwealth Education Fund which operates under Save the Children Sri Lanka. Plan Sri Lanka, Sarvodaya Women's Movement, the Association for Development and Peace through Community Action (ADAPCA), Young Entrepreneurs Sri Lanka. ILO, UNICEF and the National Association for Total Education supported it.

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