Sunday Times 2
A degree of concern over educational level of politicians
View(s):Last month I read an interesting news item emanating from a meeting of the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus held under the chairmanship of State Minister Dr Sudarshini Fernadopulle.
To have an idea of the background to this discussion, one needs to be aware that the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus is comprised of the female parliamentarians – who, in the current legislature, number just 13 out of a total of 225 members.
It intrigued me as to how, in a country whose population is made up of about 52 percent females and 48 percent males, the gender balance in our parliament is so glaringly disproportionate! In simple terms, women who constitute more than half our population make up just 6 percent of our parliamentarians.
If one examines the qualifications of these female MPs closely, one finds that they are almost all educated persons with professional degrees and diplomas – ranging from university lecturers and schoolteachers to nurses, lawyers, physicians and surgeons. These are people who on their educational qualifications alone can be deemed able to understand issues and be worthy of the task of governing our land.
The discussion at the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus that day focused on a report from the Kurunegala Centre for Human Rights and Community Development which revealed that of the migrant workers from our country (who go mainly to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and other Middle Eastern countries) more than half had not been educated beyond the GCE Ordinary Level. A large number–some 70 percent–of these migrant workers go to work as housemaids. It is the hard-earned remittances of these migrant
workers that make up one of the main sources of foreign earnings
for Sri Lanka.
It was sobering to compare the educational level of our hardworking migrant workers who send money into this country’s coffers with some of our current crop of parliamentarians entrusted by us the people with spending the money in our national coffers.
In January this year, for the first time, our members of parliament had to reveal their educational qualifications for the perusal of the public.
Of course, the information that is now available is simply what they have declared – they were not asked to submit their original educational certificates as proof (as most of us ordinary citizens have had to do when we applied for our jobs). Even with this loophole available to them, no less than 17 of the 225 had failed to submit the required information, despite the Right to Information Commission ruling that this information must be disclosed!
It may be surmised that some of these MPs did not submit their educational qualifications when ordered to do so because they were forgetful or tardy or too busy attending to affairs of state. Some may have arrogantly felt that it was beneath their dignity to send in their qualifications to mere parliament staff (who are better qualified than they themselves are) but it is equally possible that some of these 17 had no educational qualifications to declare!
The list of those who failed to submit both educational and professional qualifications to the Parliament Secretariat makes sobering reading. People like Johnston Fernando, Mahindananda Aluthgamage and Wimal Weerawansa – men who have wielded power, authority and the opportunity to make deals as Ministers of government – were conspicuous by their presence in this list.
The number of MPs who failed to provide their educational qualifications is greater than the number of women MPs in parliament – almost all professionally qualified ladies who were doing respectable and responsible jobs before getting
into parliament.
Why do we elect people without proper education qualifications to be the legislators who rule us? Are we swayed by their rhetoric, the words of long-winded length and thundering sound that they use to mesmerise us gullible folk at election meetings?
Some may be fluent in Sinhala, Tamil and English – but few of us have heard them say anything sensible in any of these languages! Many have been given control of lucrative ministries.
Will we at the Local Government elections next month think before we vote – or will we continue to vote as we have done in the past, casting our votes for those who glibly shout from election platforms to rouse us rabble?
Once elected into office, these masters of glibness will only ensure that the system works, not for the greater good of the public who elect them, but for their own personal well-being.