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![]() 14th February 1999 |
News/Comment| Editorial/Opinion| Business| Plus |Sports |
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RainDrop by drop it fallsThe teardrops of heaven Some even kiss my face As if trying to call me back, To reality Some fall to the ground Others try to make their home on leaves But all of them have to go Yet the rain doesn't stop It falls and falls. Achini Diana Withanachchi
It's Time!It's Time we gatherInto a group of friendship, unbreakable. And together we'll march, bravely Facing each hardship. It's Time one should think Of everybody around A little for himself, much to others Deepening and drowning Thoughts selfish Time we joined each hand To make the world a heaven Filling each heart with love and compassion Bringing peace and harmony So that we can stop this war And walk towards happiness May joy, people find Ending years of crime Let this be A dream true To every being As it's Time! Prabha Vidyatilake
Polluted citiesBlack clouds and dirty smokeFill the blue sky, make us choke Leaves aren't green there any more Garbage dumps fill the sandy shore. Nasty odours fill the air, You can't say, that you don't care. Rivers are coloured in ugly green,
Little weeds and tiny living beings, all are gone
One by one they all awake -
Lawanya Wijesekara
My English teacherMy English teacher is Mrs. B.W. Wijesinghe. She's well known in Kalutara.She is beautiful and very pleasant. She is very kind and helpful too. She is a good teacher. Everything she teaches us is correct and her lessons are easy to understand. She gives us a lot of writing to develop our writing skills. She collects lots of paper clippings and uses the imformation from them, for our lessons. By this our general knowledge improves because she teaches us all that happens in our daily lives. She does her job very well, and she wants her students to do well in English. She also gives us advice on how to be good citizens in society. hink I am lucky to have a teacher like her. I am proud of her and I love her very much. I hope someday I'll make my teacher proud of me. Chathuri Thejani
Smoking should be bannedSmoking should be banned in public places. Smoke from the end of a cigarette contains more harmful chemicals than the smoke inhaled by the smoker.Each time a person pulls on a cigarette he sucks poisonous chemicals such as nicotin, carbon monoxide and tartar. When he exhales he puts these poisonous fumes into the air forcing even non- smokers to inhale. Everyone knows that smoking is the main cause of lung cancer which kills thousands of people every year. Smoking causes many other diseases too. Fiyaz Zareen
Love to the rescueOur motherland needs many things. Enough food to serve the country, fresh water and shelter, clothing and jobs are the most important things we need today.But all the countries in the world including our mother land, could get an easy answer to all these questions! And that is through love, caring, understanding and peace. It all begins with tomorrow's people like us, children and teenagers. We must fight against hatred, war, misunderstanding and selfishness. If they do not cut trees in useless greed, we would get more rain. Sunshine, rain and good soil will give us good natural food from mother nature. You come to the world with nothing, but you go from the world with the riches of love you have treasured. If everyone understood the problems of others and gave a helping hand the world would be a better place. Romanthi Fernando
Progress of educationStamp News 54From educationists let us move on to see the development of education in modern Sri Lanka. The year 1869 is particularly significant in the history of education
in our country. That was the year Earlier, in 1834 a Commission was appointed to supervise and control Government schools that existed then but the mission schools which were seven times as much as government schools did not come under the Commission. In 1841 the Commission was dissolved and a board called the 'Central School Commission' was appointed "for the instruction of the population of Ceylon". It was on the recommendation of a special Commission of Inquiry appointed in 1865 that the Department of Public Instruction was appointed. J S Laurie was the first Director of Public Instruction. He was almost
immediately succeeded by W H Sendall (later Sir Walter Sendall) who contributed
a lot towards the development of Government The next notable landmark was the part implementation in 1944 of the recommendations of the Kannagara Report which brought in free education up to university level irrespective of medium. It also created Central Schools which made it possible for the children of ordinary people to receive the benefits of the fuller English medium education of the day. After 1956 a large number of Maha Vidyalayas were established in rural areas. Collectors should be familiar with stamps which have been issued from time to time to mark significant milestones of many schools. The release of four stamps to mark the centenary (Siyawasa) of education in this country on 10 July 1969 was of special significance. These featured the Convocation Hall of the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya (04 Cents), lamp of education with the backdrop of the Buddhist flag signifying the Buddhasravaka Dharmapeetaya (35 cents), Uranium atom (50 cents) and a graphic design to represent science education (60 cents). By 1969 there were four universities, 6 junior universities, 25 teacher
training colleges and around 10,000 schools in the country. The number
of teachers was 114,000 and the student population 3,000,000. By 1995 there
were over 175,000 teachers and the number of students had risen to 4,194,448.
All about Royal College'Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon' (1907) edited by Arnold Wright has this interesting account on the establishment of Colombo Academy in 1835, later named Royal College. It is an extract from a report by J Harward M.A, Director of Public Instruction at the time the book was published. It says:"The Rev J Marsh M.A had gone out to Ceylon as classical and mathematics
tutor to the Kotta Christian Institution under the Church Missionary Society.
He had, however, left that institution and had come to Colombo where he
acted as Colonial Chaplain at St Paul's Church, and in 1835 started a private
school for the sons of the upper classes among the Ceylonese. The school
met a want that that had been felt for some time, and the leading Ceylonese
residents at once petitioned the Governor, Sir R Wilmot Horton, to support
it. The decision of Government was prompt and was carried out with considerable
liberality.
In January 1836 the school became a Government Institution under the title of the Colombo Academy with the Rev J Marsh as its Principal..... No very advanced work was done, but the teaching was sound and thorough as far as it went, and the effect on the students was certainly good and many of them rose rapidly to high positions in the service of the Government. The main cause of the success of the school was the high personal character of its first Principal, the Rev J Marsh, a remarkable man who had in a very marked degree the gift of rousing and maintaining noble aims among those who worked under him". Two stamps (60 cents & Rs 7) were issued on 29 January 1985 to commemorate
the 150th anniversary of Royal College falling in October that year.
Most members of the weasel family have long slender bodies and short legs.
They run in a loping fashion. Most of them are fierce hunters, but some
will eat plants and insects.
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