Thursday, 1 August 2013 01:11
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PROTESTS are a daily staple of Sri Lankan life. Every member of society has at one time or the other been beset by protest rallies by either groups or an individual. The latter has taken centre stage in the last few days, opening up new quagmires within the public system.
A teacher of Royal College stunned many when she chose to protest her transfer by climbing onto the roof of a school building on Tuesday. While many, including Education Minister Bandula Gunawardene, condemned the act as “degrading the profession of teaching,” fairminded people will argue that the protest was a symptom of much larger issues plaguing the education sector.
According to the teacher, her transfer papers had been given because she and two other teachers had given evidence against the school Principal. To her mind this was an act of “revenge” for revealing abuses of power. Despite front page coverage of the stunt, it is unclear whether her claims will be looked into and investigated independently.
It is no secret that deep politicisation, cronyism, corruption and mismanagement are just a few of the massive problems that have engulfed schools. Given this tenuous situation, how fair is it to condemn one teacher for taking drastic action? Without an independent services commission to appeal to how can people such as this teacher obtain justice?
Another issue is budgetary constraints. Even though the Government in its 2013 Budget raised funding allocations to the Education Ministry by 6%, this is wholly inadequate given the inflation rate, which is almost touching the double digit level. In fact many research organisations have pointed out that the Government has systematically reduced money for the education and health sectors since 2006, resulting in a serious shortage of resources.
Lack of funds was prominently discussed when a schoolgirl was caught for stealing eight coconuts to obtain funds to paint her school. As teacher unions subsequently pointed out, the Government had in recent years delegated maintenance activities to schools, resulting in teachers having to pass on the burden to parents. Even though the furore touched off a media frenzy, motivating the Government to ban fundraising projects, this is an unsustainable move. With so many burdens, the Education Ministry, Treasury and other stakeholders need to provide real solutions to the education system.
Another instance when the public system has failed to deal with an issue is over the allegations of water pollution in the Gampaha district. Following vehement protests by residents and an unto-death fast by a Buddhist priest Public Relations Minister Mervyn Silva allegedly took the industrial law into his own hands when he walked into Hayleys Group’s Venigros Ltd. and ordered its closure, endangering 600 jobs and key supplies for exports. The residents are demanding that the authorities provide pipe borne water to the area free of charge and a relocation of the factory involved. However, the company insists that it has obtained all environmental certification and cannot be held responsible for the pollution. Observers are also worried that the standoff, unless resolved amicably, will send a red signal to other investors.
Gathering samples and conducting an independent investigation will take time. Therefore authorities need to intervene and provide water till a long-term solution agreeable to all is found. Law and procedure exist to provide justice, but when that is undermined by a faulty system or uncontrolled ministers, the result is injustice and chaos.
