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| Tuesday, 11 May 2004 |
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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.
Stick to the anti-tobacco treaty We observe very often that special days are held in reserve to commemorate each and every event and aspect throughout the year. Out of them various diseases have got special days to talk about the disease, the cause and as to how to control or cure it. But the next day we will forget everything completely. Is this attitude prudent? Today the leading cause for many of these diseases is smoking. How far have our citizens thought about the cost of smoking, economically, socially and health wise? The majority of our people may not know that it is the most preventable cause of premature death. Five hundred million people living today in the world are projected to die of tobacco related diseases unless we take strong action against it. The major reason for it is 80,000 - 100,000 children and teenagers become addicted to smoking everyday throughout the world. As such, strong action must be taken to prevent youth smoking by educating the entire society of the damage that it does to human beings. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) the world's first health treaty which was adopted unanimously by the World Health Assembly in May 2003 is expected to save millions of lives worldwide by promoting effective policies to help children reject tobacco use and to help adults quit smoking. A survey released by the American Cancer Society very recently reveals that two thirds of Americans insist that the US should sign a tough new international treaty to protect the world against the spread of tobacco related deaths and diseases. Accordingly 66per cent of Americans either "strongly" or "somewhat" favour the treaty while 25per cent "strongly" or "somewhat" oppose it. Seventy three per cent of non-smokers and 53 per cent of current smokers are likely to favour this historic treaty. When the tobacco industry throughout the world aggressively expands its marketing activities we presume that this treaty is our chance to defuse the world's ticking tobacco time bomb, which threatens the lives of hundreds of millions of people. The American Cancer Society which was founded in 1913 is dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by saving lives, diminishing suffering and preventing cancer through research, education, advocacy and service. Up to this period, 104 countries have signed the FCTC treaty and ten have already ratified. It is a pleasure to note that Sri Lanka too has ratified this treaty. All the decision makers, medical experts, media and finally the general public in Sri Lanka should be aware that there is a growing global movement calling for the FCTC's swift implementation and expose any attempts by the tobacco industry to derail the treaty and stall ratification. DR. WASANTHA DISSANAYAKE, Homagama I recollect a news item appearing in the international "TIME" magazine nearly 20 years ago when the then Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yu who was confronted with a political problem, and how he reacted is most amazing. The present leaders should take a lesson from this incident. It was 8' clock in the morning. The Prime Minister of Singapore was on his way to his office when usually he had to pass the Royal Golf Links. He was astonished to see one of the Cabinet Minister's official vehicle parked near the Golf Links when the Minister concerned should have been on his way to office or should have been in his office by then. The Prime Minister on reaching his office requested his secretary to send an urgent fax to the Minister concerned requesting him to forward his letter of resignation immediately. Hours later the Minister handed over his letter of resignation. The Prime Minister's parting words were "Now you can play golf for the rest of your life!" No wonder Singapore is streets ahead of Sri Lanka! SARATH GUNASEKARA, Nugegoda It was revealed in one of the Sunday newspapers of April 25 that when JHU MP Omalpe Sobitha thera asked from UNP leader why his speech was in English when congratulating the new Speaker when in fact the majority in the country spoke in Sinhala, his evasive reply was that he could proceed uninterrupted by his opposition parliamentary colleagues. These days there are so many dissertations and analyses by our belated pundits on the winds of political change especially regarding rejection of Mr. Wickremesinghe and his party. What I feel is that he could not build up a genuine empathy with the voters, who gave him power and placed their confidence in him during the last election on 2001. Puerile statements like enabling youth to wear gold bracelets and jeans, and strengthening them financially to become the owners of video decks do not endear them to him. Such baubles do not entice them any more. Further, when a statesman speaks at an august assembly like the Parliament he should speak to the masses. If he tries to keep the opposition members in the dark, who are also representatives of the people by adopting a foreign tongue, such tactics will have a boomerang effect. He should realise that among his supporters and the floating voters, there are as many or more handicapped, because of a desperate educational system. The rural masses will not be friendly disposed towards such brown sahibs whose ethos are quite different from theirs. If we try to be strangers in our own land we will be sent to Coventry. A. C. I. Fernando, Katubedda The ailing Rajarata University and the UGC The University of Rajarata caters mainly to the North Central Province which comprises both Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa Districts with a land area of approximately 980,000 hectares and a population of 1.1 million. The potential for development in this Province is enormous and a University in the NCP has a major role to play in realizing this potential. Pherhaps, it is because of this reason that Rajarata University of Sri Lanka was established in November 1995 and ceremonially opened by the President on January 31, 1996. During the past few years, irregularities, mismanagement and favouritism have become very common at Rajarata University (RU). Proper procedures are not followed in appointing academic and non-academic staff. Last year, academic staff members were appointed to the Faculty of Agriculture without following the proper procedures. In September 2003, in the same faculty, a number of teaching posts for specific subjects were advertised. After six months, interviews were held even for subjects which were not advertised. The vacancies still remain unfilled, and as a result, the academic work of the students are considerably affected. A few months ago, a person with a B.A. second class, who is a close associate of the Vice Chancellor has been appointed to the Dept. of Sinhala as a lecturer, overlooking eight others with higher qualifications. This appointment was made in spite of protests by a large number of academic staff. A Dean of RU has been using a laboratory attendant to make his meals while the work of the laboratory was neglected. The University Council has approved the appointment of a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Social Sciences and humanities to the post of Head of the Dept. of Social Sciences, but the V.C appears to be not in favour of this person. As a result, the post of the Head of the Dept. of Social Sciences remains vacant for almost one year. This list can go on. The Rajarata University Council is the executive body and the governing authority of the University. Some of the irregularities and mismanagement at RU were reported by the writer to the Council of Rajarata University and to the Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) about a year ago. However no action was taken either by the Council nor by the UGC to remedy this situation. In an article entitled "Rajarata's shame and the UGC" (DN Dec. 18) the writer brought to the notice of the public, these irregularities and mismanagement as they have the right to know whether the money that is spent on RU is properly utilized by the authorities. However, up to now, neither the Chairman, UGC nor any of its members has responded to the comments made in this article. Even the Vice-Chancellor of RU and the Rajarata University Council remain silent on these issues. If the UGC, the VC and the Council of RU have any degree of self respect, it is their duty to enlighten the public on the truth of the issues. Rajarata University, like many other institutions in the country have not shown any development during the last few years. For example, the authorities have not been able to provide the students of the Faculty of Agriculture with even some of the basic facilities. The students who were selected to the Agriculture Faculty, RU based on the G.C.E. AL 2003 are yet to be admitted. It is the responsibility of the UGC to see that the large sum of money allocated to Rajarata University is properly spent, for the benefit of the country. Last year, around Rs. 100 million was spent for RU, but, this Commission appears to have miserably failed to take action to stop the irregularities and mismanagement at RU. Due to the inability of the authorities including the UGC to take appropriate action, the situation at RU has got worsened. The VC and some Deans are acting according to their whims and fancies without following rules and regulations. As a result, a large number of academic and non-academic staff are disgusted and they have asked the VC to resign. This pathetic situation would not have arisen if the authorities took appropriate action early. It is time that at least the President, as the new Minister of Education, take appropriate action to prevent further deterioration of Rajarata University, which has an extremely important role to play in the socio-economic development of the country in general, and North Central Province in particular. DR. C. S. WEERARATNA, Former Professor of Soils and Water Resources management, Rajarata University It was a pity that elections were flixed undermining the smooth function of education and examination. GCE (O/L) and (A/L) dates already fixed were postponed. Children are the treasure of the country, they will be the future leaders of the county but they seem to get scant respect from the greedy aspirations of politicians seeking power. A long stretch of holidays at the end of March upset the discipline and regularity of the education of the growing child. In anticipation of the long closure, much home work was given, so much so, a child in grade 2 has to spend about 4 hours in the evenings to complete same. Rising up in the very early hours of the morning, rushing hither and thither, the parents in spite of so much inconvenience and hardship, tend to their children and rush them to the school. In fact, living just opposite a school I can see little children arriving at the school around 6.45 am (our clocks are half an hour advanced) at a time when darkness is just passing away making room for light. Some parents are feeding their children standing at the entrance to the school. How do our politicians view this? With least concern, because their children are invariably in international schools while some others have sent their children abroad. A second vacation following close on the earlier vacation commenced at the beginning of this month and will continue for nearly 40 days. Teachers in their anxiety to complete the prescribed syllabus have rushed through and given 'Assignments for the vacation' covering a wide range of work. I was able to closely follow a grade 3 girl student of a leading school in Kandy, working and struggling with the home work, closely assisted by a parent teacher and retired grand parent teacher, who themselves with all their experience appeared tired out with the wide and varied type of complicated written work combined with drawings, pictorials and scissor and paste jobs. Just imagine the case of a school going child whose parents are illiterate or away to earn their wages to make ends meet! Commissions are appointed, Electoral Reforms Committees are appointed. A criminal waste of time and public money, because the outcome of these are nil. We continue to be plagued by the party system of government. Parents have to give serious thought. Must children and education be sacrificed to satisfy power greedy politicians? You have the remedy, make yourself heard. S. Thambyrajah, Colombo 3 |
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