I have been requested by a large cross-section of my friends and a few outsiders to request the Powers-that-be to kindly do away with the power cut at night (i.e., in respect of Group B & Group C - suburbs and outstations excluding Colombo) and increase/impose a daytime power cut, i.e., 7.00 to 8.00 a.m. and 6.00 to 8.00 p.m.
The consumers who live in Colombo are not that affected as the times of the evening power cuts, i.e., from 6.30 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. are bearable, meaning, with daylight saving there is ample light till even as late as around 7.45 p.m. Therefore in real effect they only suffer for about 15 minutes, while their brethren in the suburbs get the real taste of living in the dark.
Why is this concession to Colombo only? If the Powers-that-be seem to think that Colombo should not remain in the dark for security reasons, what about the three-day blackout? It should also be noted that terrorists are not keen on attacking Colombo only. Even the suburbs are targeted as in the case of the Dehiwala bomb blast.
As this request is a very reasonable one that can be implemented without delay, the General and the CEB will earn the undying gratitude of all consumers, if this is done expeditiously. We feel that the power cuts like our poor relations, have come to stay.
While our brave soldiers are sacrificing their lives in the fight against terrorism, our cricketers are enjoying life as they never did before. They have been entertained practically every week by someone or other throwing lavish and extravagant tamashas.
These cricketers who participated in the recent World Cup matches have earned quite a lot of money. They are all rich men now. The soldiers, on the other hand, are only getting a small monthly pay. In this connection, it is a pertinent question to ask how much the cricketers who earned so much have contributed towards the Defence Fund? How much has the Board of Control for Cricket given to the Defence Fund?
The President should take immediate steps to stop the tamashas. Brave soldiers, we take our hats off to you and please remember that there are still national minded people in Sri Lanka.
It is also time that the Government thought of levying a fee on each of the guests who attend highly spent weddings at five star hotels. A fee of Rs. 100 for each of the guests that come in can be levied from the parties responsible for these weddings. A Government officer could take a count of the people attending the wedding and collect the money. This money can be credited to the Defence Fund.
In the article under the heading 'Abroad, astray' in The Sunday Times of 4.8.96 I have been misquoted which gives a completely different picture to the factual situation on the employment of housemaids. The correct position is given below:
"Most of the complaints received from our housemaids in Middle East are on non-payment of salaries followed by physical assault and sexual harassment. The incidents of sexual harassment reported are relatively low." However, to quantify the incidence of sexual harassment of 80 per cent in Kuwait will be a gross exaggeration and cannot be substantiated.
There are no labour laws applicable to domestic employment in any of the Middle East countries. As such, it is rather difficult to provide any legal redress other than having an administrative control with a system of registering and approving employment contracts by our Embassies.
This Bureau does not receive any funds from the government and has to depend on the registration fees collected from the departing migrant workers. Last year we had to utilise a large proportion of our savings to pay the arrears in income tax as the earlier managements of the Bureau had not paid taxes from the inception. If we are to maintain our present market share in domestic employment, it will be necessary to invest substantially on welfare and training to meet the stiff competition from other labour exporting countries. Due to the present financial difficulties faced by the government, it appears that we may have to depend solely on our savings.
I would appreciate very much, if the above is published to clarify the factual position.
The Chairman of the Foreign Employment Bureau (FEB) Col. Nissanka Wijeratne certainly made the statement about the 80 per cent sexually exploited women in Kuwait which I even at that moment thought was quite a staggering figure (this figure cannot, of course be 'substantiated' because it was an estimate, according to him). I have also quoted him verbatim on his statement that the FEB does not receive government funds. I did not quote him on these matters to sensationalize the issues, but to point out how these issues take a backseat at various levels of administration.
This was in tune with my argument in the article on the structural violence inflicted on women (and men) migrant workers in a context where commercial agreements hold sway over the welfare of workers.
I have no argument with Col. Wijeratne about the fact that "there are no labour laws applicable to domestic employment in any of the Middle East countries". This is exactly the kind of issue labour- importing countries should be addressing collectively.
The drift of my article was, on the whole, sympathetic to the predicament of the FEB in dealing with these issues. In fact, I have mentioned the headway made under the leadership of Col. Wijeratne on the new and comprehensive contractual system to be launched by the FEB.
I maintain that my quotations were authentic, and that I would not have risked my credibility by publishing false statements.
The inefficient in-service advisers appointed for the teaching of English as well as their recruitment on the mere recommendation made by some high ranking officials in the educational sector do cause great concern for the professionally qualified teachers of English and also apparent wastage in education in the real sense of the word itself.
As far as the teaching of English is concerned, we have to adopt the Communicative Approach thereby creating an atmosphere for the learners of English to enable them to be exposed to the language. According to the latest methodology of teaching English - the traditional Structural Method is no more in use today - the teacher is only the facilitator who helps his or her pupils to get an idea of the subject matter whenever and wherever necessary, because otherwise the pupils themselves are supposed to work on their own and the present day learning of English is out and out child-centered.
Moreover, we are aware that the text books designed for teaching English in schools today are much more suitable for the children in urban schools and the pupils in these schools are highly benefited from these. Under these circumstances, a duty-conscious teacher of English teaching in a difficult area school has to adjust the subject matter sometimes and even go to the extent of changing the topic itself where necessary to enable the pupils to get used to the language in keeping with their standard as well as the poor family background which these children come from.
All in all it has become the matter of ridicule that some in-service advisers in the Batticaloa Educational Region are in the habit of frequenting certain difficult area schools so as to find fault with the teachers of English who are more qualified, more eloquent and more proficient. These so-called advisers themselves do not know what the RP (Received Pronunciation) stands for, nor do they have any idea of the real sound system in English. They should be ashamed of themselves for not being able to make grammatically correct sentences. In fact it is a wastage in education. On whose recommendations or on what recommendations did these people get their appointments as In-Service Advisers?
Whatever it may be, the Ministry of Education should take a serious note of this situation at this crucial juncture and come out with the suggestion that their present positions stand canceled and they be posted back to difficult area schools as assistant teachers of English after undergoing re-training for a certain period of time, say six months, to be more familiar with the latest method of teaching English.
As for certificated in-service Advisers of course, the authorities concerned could hold a very tough competitive examination to make a fair choice thereby giving equal opportunities to all qualified teachers of English.
Return to the Letters to the Editor contents page
Write a letter to the editor : editor@suntimes.is.lk