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by Dr. Tara de Mel

We have been reading, for too long, articles in newspapers and journals on education, its qualitative development, English medium education, private sector participation in education.... and so on. While most of these articles are written by erudite scholars, some are by concerned citizens of this country.

While this shows the heightened interest of the public on this subject, it also drives home a very salient point. For years while academics debate, philosophers pontificate and politicians contemplate, what we fail to realize is, that several generations of children have lost many opportunities they will never get again.

Take the much talked about case of English medium education as an example. Offering the opportunity of English medium education to children attending state schools, has been perhaps the most discussed and debated point in recent times. This subject has been focused at several forums - some held in exotic locations for high profile personalities in the public and private sectors, while others have been simple seminars held in school halls in villages. Newspapers have been publishing articles both for an against this idea for a long time.

Meanwhile, schoolchildren who wanted to and could have been beneficiaries of such a scheme, have completed their school careers.

They have either entered university or enroled with some form of tertiary education and training, or they are simply unemployed and may have even become part of the vulnerable lot that end up as cats-paw for varied political activities.

The irony or sometimes the hypocrisy of this exercise is as follows: While years are spent on this seemingly endless and meaningless debate on whether or whether not to introduce optional English medium education, the debaters themselves have ensured that their children, or some times their grandchildren, have completed their secondary and tertiary education in the English medium. Some are guaranteed university places in Sri Lanka or overseas and are assured of firm employment. These same people who debate, are permitted to choose the language of their choice for their children, but not so for those with less influence and affluence in our society. The latter have to abide by the decisions made by the former who, through good fortune, have the choice.

While a variety of international schools spring like mushrooms all over the country and try to appease the demand for English medium, they sometimes not only provide a sub-optimum quality of education, but they also rake in a substantial amount of the family savings. Still, parents will move mountains to help children reach their goals. So what goes wrong with our system? What has made us, over the years, guilty beyond reasonable doubt of depriving the large majority of children an opportunity they could only get once in a life time?

Today, many persons involved in the education sector know the struggle with which optional English medium for A'Level science classes was introduced in 2001. But just a few people know of the meticulous planning that took place to ensure that teachers were trained. Meanwhile, the arrangements made to institutionalize a long term, consistent mechanism of having a pool of master trainers in English and thereby a ready - made arrangement for all teachers to be continuously trained in this area, are known to just a handful.

The very few moments of satisfaction I enjoyed during that period were when appreciative students and parents from schools from afar, like Bandarawela, Badulla, Ratnapura, visited or called the Ministry to say a simple "thank you".

The subsequent plan to introduce English medium at Grade 6, got off a little too late. If it is to succeed, kids have to get the new books ahead of time and of course the teacher training must be vigorous, continuous and of good quality. The decisions that had to be made in this connection were tough and sometimes unpopular. Nevertheless they had to be made.

My experience in the education sector - both as a participant in the policy making process while in the National Education Commission and as an implementer of policy in the Ministry - has been relatively little but, the past 6 years taught me much.

It taught me that the easiest decision, was not to do anything substantially different to what was in existence, ie: no decision at all. It also taught me that any change that seemed "controversial" was best left untouched, if one was to be popular.

Therefore it was no surprise that introducing English medium education, like certain other critical policy initiatives, was left untouched. Naturally the headaches were less and the troubles were few that way. Some other areas that provoked outcry, like private sector participation in education, a new school admission policy, introducing the Common General Test for A'Level, formalizing School Based Management, critical curricular reform, teacher performance appraisal, banning corporal punishment in schools, were also considered too dangerous to promote.

What ails our system is precisely this reluctance to change. Who will want to take on "Change" and see it through to its finality? Very few will want to see mega shifts in policy implemented. But providing a sound education with quality is also about providing opportunity - not just for the children attending the urban and elite schools in the country, but also for those that trek miles to reach their schools in remote villages. And this demands constant change, as situations and possibilities change.

Lee Kwan Yew, as described in his memoirs "Third World to First" had the political courage, the intellectual depth, and the emotional balance to bring radical changes into the education system of Singapore during that nation's growth and development. Looking back now, he says he always aimed to do "what was correct, but not necessarily politically correct".

Today Sri Lanka remains a pygmy next to the giant nation state nurtured by Lee. Thousands of Singaporeans now enjoy a first class education system comparable to many in the Western developed world and we Sri Lankans pay handsome fees for a Singaporean education.

Ironically about 5 decades ago many Singaporeans, like Lee Kwan Yew, dreamt of having an education system comparable to what Ceylon had, then.

Of late, some newly liberalize east European states and certain Latin American countries - all of which belong to the "developing" nation category have brought in significant new initiatives into their systems of education as well.

Sadly, all these happen around us while we continue to struggle with our policies and our decisions.

While our scholars ponder and our politicians wait for the "correct" time to come, who pray will be the victims of this fruitless game of wait and see? None other than other people's children.

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