| by Hana Ibrahim
( December 30, 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Guardian) When the leadership training programme for new entrants to
universities was first announced last year, opposition to it emanated from
various quarters. Most of it came from the parents of the students, followed by
students themselves. Yet the government showed little interest in listening and
continued with the preconceived plan of action to instil what it deemed was,
discipline, in the new undergrads.
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The recent history of Sri Lanka has borne witness to many a socio-political upheaval, both in the North and in the South, which had to be crushed with brute force and ruthlessness.
However, last year’s debate on the issue did
not focus on the expenses each of the chosen students would have to incur in
this so-called ‘leadership training’. But the training programme that just got
underway has raised another issue of concern, with some parents protesting the
exorbitant expenditures involved in prepping their children for this needless
adventure in Army, Navy and Air Force camps. Their grouse adds weight, as this
added expenses come at a time of year-end festivities and preparation for new
school terms, placing an unnecessary burden on purses that can only be
stretched so far.
The parents have already spent enormous
amounts of money educating their children. In present day Sri Lanka, less than
two per cent of the student population gain university entrance, making higher
education a tough competition. Most of the parents undergo untold difficulties
in raising the necessary funds to educate their children; some mortgaging their
land and jewellery and some borrowing at staggering rates of interest from
loan-sharks.
To bear these expenses, at a time when
essential food items are skyrocketing more due to State-imposed tariffs and
wonky taxing policies, where racing cars are conveniently exempted from tariffs
and taxes, is a herculean task. It is
simply beyond any man’s comprehension how the government can be so blissfully
oblivious to the hardships and suffering they themselves impose on an average
family.
According to some parents, the students
qualifying for university entrance and called up for leadership training had to
spend more than ten thousand rupees (Rs10,000) to buy the items required for
the two-week-stay at military camps.
The parents’ grievance is justifiable and
legitimate. In the words of a student who received four ‘As’ at the 2011
Advanced Level examination, “It’s Christmas season and we are completely broke;
Rs 20,000 was spent on all the items we had to buy for the leadership training,
including the costs for getting to the military camp, which is at the other end of the country. We
weren’t able to do anything for Christmas.”
The Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) has joined
this chorus of protest and condemned the ‘leadership programme’ in no uncertain
terms. It has said the training programme had nothing to do with young
students, teachers or even academics and the Higher Education Ministry was
throwing away money that should be used to develop State universities.
The Union’s agitation against the
‘militarization’ of the students’ minds is well founded. Why the rulers chose
the university students, quite apart from other sectors of the demographics, is
worthy of attention. And the economic argument put across by them is even more
relevant in today’s context of rising costs of essential items such as food,
transport and housing.
But, when the rulers choose to disregard the
difficulties of the common man and start pandering to the rich and super-rich
classes, where does one turn to? Are we breeding another generation of rebels
who might see alternatives to a democratically-elected government and seek
other methods of governance?
The recent history of Sri Lanka has borne
witness to many a socio-political upheaval, both in the North and in the South,
which had to be crushed with brute force and ruthlessness.
When students are requested to bring two
white bed sheets, two white pillow cases, two saris, matching shoes, a pair of
rubber slippers, three passport size photographs, one mug and a plate each, the
barren feeling that descends on them could be lethal in provocative
circumstances. The endorsement to this agitation of the CTU, lent by the
Inter-University Students’ Federation (IUSF) would only make matters more
difficult for the authorities.
Something needs to be done and done fast.
(The Writer is the Editor of the Ceylon
Today, a daily based in Colombo, where this piece originally appeared)
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