ONUR promotes unity via ‘Sahodara Pasal/Padasalai’

In a unique endeavour to encourage unity among school children to bring the diverse communities in Sri Lanka closer and help them to understand and respect diversity, the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR) recently joined hands with several Provincial Education Departments to launch a training programme to strengthen reconciliation in schools across the island.

The first in this series of experiential programmes was held in Anuradhapura in late 2016 and subsequently three more were held in the Eastern, Central, Southern, Sabragamuwa, Western and Northern Provinces.  The endeavour was followed by student exchange camps aptly called ‘Sahodara Pasal/Padasalai’ which were held in Batticaloa bringing together schools in the Eastern and Southern Provinces.  The schools were paired to continue reconciliation activities in the provinces and the programme concluded in Dambulla in the Central Province with the training extended for the diverse student population within the province. 

This programme held between schools of the Western and Northern Provinces concluded in Jaffna in late February, in which 112 students from 25 schools in the Northern Province and 88 students from 20 schools in the Western Province took part. 

Hundreds of students representing diverse ethnic, religious and linguistic backgrounds came together for a 5 day residential camp where they learned to live together, and had the opportunity to understand and appreciate diverse subjects related to Reconciliation, engage in activities and formulate an Action Plan to follow up before heading to their respective communities to work towards Reconciliation. During the programme, teachers from respective attending schools participated in session on Conflict Transformation and understanding their role in the process of creating National Unity and Reconciliation.

The key objective of this programme aims to create a pool of facilitators among teachers and education officials in the provinces while connecting thousands of students to become change makers in their communities. This approach is ONUR’s medium to long-term plan for the education sector to be implemented through National, Provincial and Zonal levels; where these initiatives evolve into a long term plan to foster relationships between the provinces and the wider student communities, in a sustainable manner.