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| Friday, 22 October 2004 |
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How C. W. W. Kannangara ushered in child empowerment by Afreeha Jawad
Among the few who thought and lived egalitarian ideals was C. W. W. Kannangara, better known as the 'Father of Free Education'. By freeing education from its bondage - the sole preserve of the affluent - he made this resource accessible to even the poorest of the poor which products we see even today in the varied social strata. To restrict Kannangara only as the initiator of free education is to discredit him. Indeed, it is a monotonous, ritualistic, routine way of describing him whose goal was sublime and all encompassing not surprising anyway, for a man whose contemporary across the ocean that harboured similar thinking and vigorously engaged in India's non-violent freedom struggle - Mahatma Ghandi. For those of us that institutionalised Kannangara all along, Susil Sirivardana's commemorative lecture on this illustrious personality was no doubt, if one may call it, a record straightening.
Sirivardana in an attempt akin to diving into the ocean's depths and finding the pearl very successfully analysed Kannangara's unique mindset, taking the audience with him on a voyage of discovery as it were to unravel the lesser known or even perhaps the unknown aspect of the Kannangara saga. Sirivardana described Kannangara's way of looking at education as creative and innovative because it was an attempt in village and school integration. Based on the collective effort of health, head, heart and hands his education system aspired towards producing an all round personality. Encouraging children into the study of the village economy, homegardening, construction and local resources coupled with sanitation, water supply, eradication of mosquitoes and healthcare not to forget art, music, literature and craft education were among other subjects that were to bring about the empowered child. While morning sessions saw children working in the field the evenings they spent in school. The remarkable examination results these students got, proved it all and continued that way even after his founding the islandwide Central Schools. The strategic location of such schools taking into consideration the locality's socio/economic environment and the churning of the complete human personality was evidenced in the products that came to be. By 1939, Kannangara's rural scheme was adopted by 500 schools where students even engaged in constructing wells, re-cadjaning their schools, repairing and colourwashing their houses. According to a Director of Education at that time, after 18 months of its inauguration the results in language and mathematics were unbelievable. Kannangara, the visionary with a good grasp of colonial society, had a holistic approach to education. He also had a remarkable intellect, persistence and tactical skills which paved the way for moral fortitude in which petty-mindedness found no place. His life was a trajectory of a visionary, de-coloniser and leader. Kannangara was in 1919 organically involved in forming the Ceylon National Congress and was soon into the Temperance movement - a popular Buddhist revival. Never flinching in the face of defeat, his strength came from his fidelity to values and ethics, integrity and authenticity. His multi-cultural reach was shown in his concern for estate people and the close friendship he had with Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan. He even campaigned for Ramanathan in the 1911. Educated Ceylonese vote which took the latter into the country's legislature at that time - the Legislative Council. His years in the Legislature and State Councils of 1923 and 1931 respectively, were not in vain as he worked towards a national re-awakening and remains a matchless figure even today. Addressing himself to the restructuring of Sri Lankan society and state, he acted with an inner spiritual growth - consistent and dynamic. The Kannangara legacy today is emulation-worthy. His 16 year long voluminous reforms included teacher education, estate schools, vocational training, free mid-day meal, Examinations Council and university education, which among other things were far-flung from the centre-controlled peripheries exercise and helped make education accessible to all. Sirivardana's outspoken delivery on the reverse of Kannangara's ideals deserved more than accolades as he pin-pointed one by one the moral degeneration witnessed in recent times. The Central Schools' decline arising out of party politics and mediocrity, the inter-divisional disparity which he described as shocking, the all-pervading gun culture, power criminalisation, warlordism in the political sphere, the shortfalls in the judicial system, its non-accessibility, justice bought at a price, the abuse and criminal behaviour in Parliament and policy reversal setting in with every regime change, were among Sirivardana's preferred highlights. Noteworthy also, alongside all these negative features, are the numerous socially responsible organisations emerging even though of late among which are the Sarvodaya, Marga, Thrift and Civil Rights Movement, Avadi Lanka, women's organisations, environment protectionists, academic, culture and youth groups. Calling for the winding up of what he saw as the 'Battle of Mind Sets' Sirivardana emphasised the need to reconstruct the Sri Lankan State and for the inclusion of an interim authority, leading to pluralism and people's participation, as in South Africa. He also insisted on the ushering of a win-win education order. |
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