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Sparks fly over tuition ban plan on Sundays, Poya Days
Educationists, teachers, trade unions and parents are urging the government to review its proposed ban on tuition classes on Sundays and Poya days, calling it impractical.
Teacher unions strongly oppose the plan, saying if the government wanted to promote students’ religious interests it should remove the competitiveness in government examinations that forced students to augment school studies with extra tuition.
Ceylon Teachers Service Union leader Dammika Alahapperuma said without extra classes Advanced Level students were unable to obtain a university entrance score high enough to receive free education.
Mr. Alahapperuma pointed out that most A/Level students attend at least three tuition classes – theory, paper and practical – for each subject.
“They don’t care whether it’s Sunday or Poya: they are trying to qualify for free higher education because there is only a slim chance to obtain it,” he said.
He questioned the logic of a tuition ban on Sundays as A/Level students usually did not attend Dhamma (Buddhist) or church Sunday school.
Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU) General Secretary Joseph Stalin agreed, saying: “Banning classes on Poya or on Sundays is an impractical stunt. The government can do better by abolishing the exam-driven education system that drives students to tuition classes.”
The Minister for Buddhasasana and Wayamba Development, Gamini Jayawickrama Perera, said the proposed ban had been prompted by requests from religious groups that wanted the government to encourage religious study.
He said Buddhist and Catholic leaders had requested at least a four-hour ban on tuition in Sundays and a total ban on Poya days and that President Maithripala Sirisena had appointed a special committee to discuss the matter and produce a cabinet paper.
One aspect of the plan was to have Dhamma studies on Sundays in English as well as Sinhala and Pali, thus educating students on several levels, Mr. Perera said.
Mass tuition classes in progress (above and top). File pix
Discussions were also underway between the Buddhasasana Ministry and Education Ministry over a plan to include Dhamma school exam marks in GCE Ordinary and Advanced Level scores.
Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said the plan was only in discussion as the President had appointed a committee to discuss banning tuition on Sunday and Poya days. He said he was making observations about the government’s plans.
Sri Jaywardenapura Chief Sanganayaka Chief Prelate of Sri Mahindarama Temple, Ven. Meegahathanne Chandasiri Thero, said religious days allowed people the privilege of attending to religious matters.
“But lately the younger people have strayed from religious activities due to the competitive education system,” he said.
“Students must be given moral knowledge from their parents and religious leaders.
“The spiritual conduct of students must come from within them; it is better if they are given the liberty to become spiritual rather than being forced into this by law,” he emphasised.
A/Level and O/Level tuition teachers also oppose the government’s plan saying students have a right to learn and better themselves through tuition classes.
They pointed out that tuition classes helped students learn lessons that they missed at school or found difficult to understand.
The National Director of Catholic Sunday Schools, Rev. Fr Piyal Janaka Fernando, said Archbishop’s House had requested the Department of Christian Religious Affairs to at least stop Sunday tuition classes from being held between 8am and 1pm and for tuition to be banned altogether on Poya Days as that was the day on which Buddhists attend their religious activities.
“We would be happy if tuition classes are banned on Sundays as some churches have Sunday mass in the evening but we can be content if at least half a day of Sunday is kept free of group and mass tuition classes,” Fr Fernando said.
He also said the Church proposed a system of certification by Sunday schools for students facing O/Level examinations. He added the points or certificate must be given job validity.
A/Level lecturer Upali Saputhanthri, who offers Sinhala and political science tuition, said the government’s plan to ban tuition classes on Sundays and on Poya was humorous.
“The government sees tuition classes as a business – some actually can be – but what I see is that classes give students an advantage when they face examinations: students who go classes more often gain more scores than ones who don’t,” he said.
Mr. Saputhanthri pointed out that if the government was banning classes on Sundays because of Sunday school then it must at least recognise Sunday school certificates as a job entry certificate.
He added: “If a tuition class teacher decides to give students a free religious lesson on Poya Day, how would the authorities react? Can they take action? The government should be concerned about other issues facing the country instead of supplying jokes,” he said.
Danuka Ranasinghe, who provides tuition for A/Level students, also said providing education was not a business but a way of helping children to get better results.
“It is unfair to ban classes on Sunday as Advanced Level students don’t have Dhamma school and Catholic religion classes on weekends – Dhamma school exams finish after Grade 10.” he said.
“Also, religious studies already exist in the Ordinary Level syllabus,” he pointed out.
School principals had mixed views on the proposed tuition ban.
The Principal of Isipathana College, Premasiri Epa, said he welcomed the government’s action and that tuition classes should not only be banned on Sundays but also on every religious holiday as those days had significance.
“Learning is not memorising answer papers and identifying question paper patterns,” he said, indicating that that is what happens at tuition classes. “On the other hand, schools teach children by allowing them to research, think and create with the theories taught by the teachers,’ he said.
He also agreed, however, that if the government did away with the competitive educational system, children could develop quality education skills rather than learning to repeat what tuition teachers force them to memorise.
The Principal of Viharamadevi Balika Vidyala in Kiribathgoda, Anoma Shyamali Abeyratne, said that the government should restrict the planned ban on tuition classes on Sundays to primary and A/Level pupils as those students had religion as a subject.
The case was different for A/Level students because they faced a very competitive exam and “should be given the liberty go classes on weekends”.
She denied claims by tuition teachers that syllabuses were not covered adequately in schools.