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| Friday, 4 July 2003 |
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Please forward your letters to editor@dailynews.lk in plain text format within the e-mail message, since as a policy we do not open any attachments.
Pedestrian crossings now most dangerous to cross A pedestrian crossing is the most dangerous place for any person to cross the road. One reason is that some crossings are not visible as they are defaced. Another is that they are marked without warning signs, hence the speeding vehicles cannot stop immediately to allow the pedestrians. As the vehicles are driven very fast the drivers simply try to ignore these crossings. Our pedestrians also assume that these crossings are the safest place to cross the road, as they have all the right to do so. Some walk easily and carelessly without giving an allowance for the motorists which lead to an accident. The vehicles are driven at such a great hurry, that if one vehicle stops to give way for the pedestrians another two vehicles would try to creep through, although they see the persons moving on the crossing. They even change the lane and move across and would cause an accident due to excitement. "Then where is the safety"? To make a pedestrian crossing safe a colour light should be installed or a Hump should be constructed on either sides and warning signs should be fitted on the road well in advance before approaching the pedestrian crossing. The markings should be regularly repainted to be seen clearly both day and night. Some motorists while seeing a pedestrian crossing far ahead increase the speed to pass through this and would not be able to stop even if they see a person suddenly crossing the road. Therefore the pedestrian has to give way first to the careless motorist or he may get knocked down. Big buses tearing at full speed care the least for the pedestrian crossing which are marked right across the road in busy areas. So the best advice for the pedestrians is to be alert and take full precautions while moving to the other side, if the pedestrian crossing is to be regarded as the safest place for crossing the road. It is the duty of the pedestrian to halt and look whether a vehicle is coming from left or right and walk quickly at a pedestrian crossing. After allowing the fast approaching vehicles to go only, that they should cross as if they do so at a railway track. Some pedestrians cross the road by Raising the hand ordering the close range vehicles to stop, some just walk looking down, still others walk slowly as they are weak, feeble or disabled by doing this people take a risk of assuming this as a point of suicide. Other danger is group crossing eg. Mother and two children or two to three persons in the same family and friends crossing in hesitation without being patient, this has been a very common occurrence for fatal accidents sometimes for more than one death. Therefore special care has to be taken with children and the feeble. So to avoid all this the only solution is to construct two humps on both sides of every pedestrian crossing with clear and visible markings where any vehicle is compulsorily brought to a very slow speed. Firstly this should be done near the schools, universities, all religious places, markets, hospitals, public offices, and hotels etc where there is panic crossing. BERTIE G. JIRASINGHE, I am little concerned about an announcement from University of Peradeniya through the Institution of Engineers (Sri Lanka Engineering News, June 2003) that the one graduate in so-called computer engineering is the first of that kind from University of Peradeniya. That one graduate really earned a B.Sc. Eng. degree with the computer sciences as his specialization. And he is not the first. It is the kind of carelessness by Faculty authorities at Peradeniya that leads to chaos in the lives of students. As far as I know, there is only a Department of Computer Sciences at Peradeniya's Engineering Faculty. There is no Department of Computer Engineering anywhere at Peradeniya. Similarly, although graduates in the discipline of Chemical and Process Engineering are listed by faculty authorities, there is only the speciality of chemical engineering and only the Department of Chemical Engineering. And as far as I know, there is no Department or speciality of Chemical and Process Engineering as faculty authorities list. Changing the name of a department is a lengthy process that must go through Faculty Boards, the Senate, the Council and the UGC. Even after that, the degree specialization can be changed only through further legislation amending the academic regulations through the Faculty Board and the Senate. A Dean and Department Head cannot effect changes as they fancy, as has happened, jeopardizing the validity of the certificates issued. As a result of the Department of Computer Sciences styling itself as the Department of Computer Engineering according to the whims of the Dean and the relevant heads, students are not sure if they are computer engineers or engineers specialising in computer science. Likewise, there is confusion between chemical engineering and chemical and process engineering. Students write up their resumes either way depending on the kind of misinformation fed to them by the authorities. Then their official transcripts might say something else. And we as staff in our letters of reference might further contradict this. This leads to employers and graduate schools thinking that some fraud is afoot. I am aware of one case where a carelessly drafted transcript led to a student's rejection by a German University. Being aware of the problem, I personally take the precaution of writing my reference letters using vague terminology; for instance, that the subject specialized in the area of computer sciences/computer engineering. As the department head who set up the B.Sc. Eng. degree programme in the Computer Sciences at Peradeniya, let me also say that there have already been 20 engineers specializing in the computer sciences who passed out last year. It was a department in good health with 171 of the 320 first years wanting to specialize in the computer sciences when I stepped down as head. That only 1 student opted for the programme after I stepped down and graduated following the same curriculum and governed by the same regulations as the first batch of 20, and that he is being today mis-listed as the first computer engineer, is sad indeed. Even sadder is that the pioneering batch of 20 graduates appear to have been wiped clean off the slate into non-existence. I am particularly traumatized since I had come to see those 20 as my academic children. It is curious why the university would want to do that. Professor S. Ratnajeevan , English was the official language of the island, during the colonial regime, but after Independence in 1948, and with the implementation of the Official Language (Sinhala) in the country, English education faced a severe drawback, and the media of instruction in government schools was switched over to Sinhala. The motive was entirely political, regardless of later consequences, which given the impetus in 1956. Today, according to the time table, a period of 45 minutes per day is being allocated to teach English to students, and that too is not under any standardisation to suit all schools, both in the urban and rural areas. Most prestigious schools have graduate teachers to teach English, which facility is deprived to those attending ordinary schools. Is it not downright discrimination? I question so, because the English Language question paper, set for GCE/OL examination, is the same, regardless of the students' ability to answer it to secure a pass. Under these circumstances, the knowledge of English among the students, specially those in rural areas, does not reach a uniform standard. The Education Department is lukewarm about the matter, and does not take any attempt to bring schools in rural areas on a par with those in the urban areas. If at all, those who have passed English at the GCE examination have been appointed as teachers in rural schools. On the other hand, in most rural schools have no libraries for students to gain extra knowledge. To overcome this weakness, private tutories have come up like mushrooms, in every village and town, with good publicity. International Schools cater to the elite, charging exorbitant fees beyond the reach of the poor parents. These schools follow the English media to serve the required purpose. Private tuition fees range from Rs. 200 to Rs. 300 per lesson, which is prohibitive. The Education Department must treat all schools alike, with qualified teachers, good accommodation and essential facilities which the so-called 'good' schools provide. There should be no ex parte decision. If English education is to be given its due place, from an egalitarian point of view, all students will be benefited. ARYADASA RATNASINGHE, The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment should consider the possibility of liberalising the issue of Labour Licences. Presently certain restrictions are imposed by the SLBFE and those aspiring to obtain licences have to wait for more than 3 months, until preliminary investigations are completed to have their licences processed, despite the fact that all relevant documents are submitted in accordance with the stipulations. This procedure should be revised, since the highest Foreign Exchange earner in Sri Lanka is the supply of overseas man-power. Moreover the SLBFE too is benefitted when a levy is charged from all workers who leave our shores, to seek greener pastures in foreign climes. Prospective job seekers in the UAE are now required to have their O/L Certificates attested by the Foreign Ministry and also the UAE Embassy in Sri Lanka, even for minor categories like labourers. Our Minister should intervene in this matter and bring about some alternative measures to solve this issue. Otherwise most of our Sri Lankans will have to languish at home for want of O/L Certificates. In Colombo, the Foreign Agency business is dominated by those from the Eastern Province and most of them earn substantial sums of money by way of charging exorbitant amounts even for minor jobs like labourers with a paltry salary of SR. 300 without food. Stringent measures should be adopted when issuing Labour Licences to those from the Eastern Province because they are instrumental in bringing disrepute and dishonour to this trade by their crooked deals. MOHAMED NALIM, |
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