The message you gave to the country is worth a million…
There are thousands of government schools in our country. If we look beyond Colombo, we can see how many poor schools there with bare minimum facilities for the students. (Sri Lanka Latest News)
Even though the children of Colombo have all the facilities, a small percentage pass at least the ordinary level examination. The story is also known as
‘Kolabata kiri gamata kakiri’ But if the students are keen to study , it doesn’t matter whether they are in the village or the city, children will learn wherever they are.
Recently, we came across two schools with very poor facilities with clay walls in social media. One of these schools was revealed by a girl named Nisansala Gamachchi who appeared on Sirasa TV’s Lakshapati program.
She passed her ordinary level examination from Matara Atapatthukanda Junior College, a difficult school with mud walls, with 9 A passes in the GCE ordinary level examination. I was interested in telling you about the Nisansala girl’s difficult life because it serves as an example for children attending other difficult schools.
Nisansala had faced the O/L exam in the year 2018. She recently came to the Sirasa Lakshapati program and reminisced about the beautiful memory of her school.
‘I came to this program from a small and beautiful village in Matara. It has a beautiful environment. There are beautiful people. Villagers are like one family. I went to Matara Atapatthukanda Junior College up to my O/Level.
I really like that school. I love that village too. I enjoy village life. It makes me happy. We have to go to our house through a small road with a canal on one side and a field on the other side. But urban people live in concrete jungles. Our classroom is made of clay surrounded by sticks.
Children bring saris from home to make the class beautiful. That is, the dust falls from the roof and the heat decreases. No AC. Instead, the sari is hung to allow the wind to come. On rainy days, the class gets wet. The class have to be washed every morning.
We love rainy days, because they don’t teach during rainy days. In our school, there were three students with A9s, A8s and one B. Not a single school in the suburbs had such a number of A 9 passes. 21 students appeared for the O/Level examination. All 21 of them got qualified to do advanced level.
The teachers of this school also worked very hard. They taught us in the morning and in the afternoon for free. Even though I went to the city school for high studies, I still love the village…’ This girl expressed her experience in the Lakshapati program with a very humble happiness. She never thought that living environment was difficult. She embraced life with happiness.
Nisansala got 3 excellent passes in A/ level exam which she sat from Narandeniya National School in the year 2022, and she is currently studying in Bio System Technology at Sri Jayawardenepura University Faculty of Technology.
Information about another similar school was reported to us from Mahasenpura, a very difficult region of Trincomalee district. Most of the buildings of old Medawachchiya Vidyalaya are made of clay and sticks.
The parents do not have the resources to send those children to schools in the city with more facilities. There is no bus service in the village to provide transportation facilities. People travel many kilometers on foot. No transport facilities people have to go a long way to find drinking water.
Because of these difficulties, the parents of the area have built a hall out of clay and given their children a place to study. Sasindu Harshana, who is studying in the 8th grade of the school, commented on this difficult school.
I used to study at Ruwanpura School. Ruwanpura village is very far from our village. Transportation facilities are very less. Our parents have no money to spend. So, the principal of the school where we are studying now, together with parents and teachers, built a hall for us to study. The teachers who teach us are volunteer teachers. We don’t have books, pens and pencils to study. If possible, we request you to help us….’
The principal of this school had also sent a letter to Reverend Balapitiya Ratanananda about the shortcomings and difficulties in the school. It stated that Parana Medawachchiya Vidyalaya was started on 04.05.1949 and the classes up to the ordinary level, were limited to the fifth grade due to the war situation at that time.
The principal’s letter stated that the school declined due to the villagers leaving their homes and the reluctance of teachers from other regions to come to the school. Also, due to the end of the war, since there is a peaceful environment, classes can be started from year five to eleven, and the principal’s letter further requested that remedies be taken for the shortage of teachers and the lack of facilities.
How many authorities are responsible for education in our country? How many politicians are there? We often see how they get involved in multiple arguments in the parliament for days. But why don’t they want to do something honestly for such a difficult school? Why can’t they see these?
Everyone who can lay eyes on these little ones is requested to help. These children also want to come out of this village as good citizens of tomorrow. They don’t have a proper chair or table. For these children, four volunteer teachers travel a distance of 30 kilometers and come to the school amid a thousand difficulties.
Teach children to enjoy life. Life is not about money. Teach children to overcome life’s challenges. Do not teach children to appear as a loser in front of society. Teach them to get up every time they fall. Accustom children to both joy and sorrow.
It is also important for parents to remember that the example of parents leads to a good life for their children. Parents also have a great role to play in order to give birth to a good generation of children for the society and country of tomorrow.
