Saturday 17th December, 2011 ANALYSIS 8 Editorial COMMENTARY

BY CARLO FONSEKA English and professed the Since this was not forthcoming Perera, a leader of the LSSP who Christian religion. The LSSP agi- immediately, many of the under- was a political prisoner in jail at he history of free education tators for social reform pointed privileged children who have Bogambara at that time. He The Island in is the history out that social class based on only acquired an equality of wrote a little book called ‘The Tof an aspect of the class property was the crucial factor degradation seem to be hell-bent Case for Free Education’ which struggle in our country. The LSSP that created the language and on preventing the wealthier chil- was published in 1944. Its impact Published by Upali Newspapers (Pvt) Ltd. came into existence on 18 religious distinction. While it is dren from acquiring an education was probably crucial in tilting 223, Bloemendhal Road, 13. December 1935, as a party of pub- true that differences in language, of superior quality. This is basi- public opinion in favour of free Tel: 011-2497500, 011-2497571, 011-2497572, 011-2497573 lic intellectuals who were religion, dress and even caste cally the stage of the class strug- education. In fact he went so far Fax: 011-2497543 inspired by the ideas of the polit- served to sharpen the class dis- gle in the field of education we as to say that the decision to rec- www.island.lk / E-mail: [email protected] ical philosopher Karl Marx (1818 tinction, the fundamental differ- are currently going through. ommend free education from – 1883). Marx regarded ‘social ence between the classes derived Needless to say, providing a quali- kindergarten to university is Advertising Dept. class’ as a necessary category for from the possession and non-pos- ty education to all eligible stu- “the one redeeming feature in understanding the distribution of session of wealth. Based on his dents would require a more equi- the Report of the Special Tel: 011-2436892 Fax: 011-2344252, 011-2497543 wealth and power in a given soci- analysis of class differences, table redistribution of wealth in Committee on Education”. ety and the struggle between Dr.CWWK arrived at his diagno- our society than obtains at pres- Circulation Dept. classes as the main motor of his- sis of what was wrong with edu- ent. In plain English, government Tragic Irony tory. The founding fathers of the cation in the country. He conclud- will have to allocate a much high- The free education scheme LSSP were all born in the first ed that (1) it is English education er proportion of the country’s introduced in 1945 did not have Tel: 011-2497568, 011-2497519, 011-2497580 Fax: 011-2334564 decade of the 20th century. that is dividing the people of the GDP to education. As we know, an immediate impact on the Phillip Gunawardene (1901); Dr. country into two classes and (2) the country’s outlay on education ordinary people of the country. S. A. Wickramasinghe (1901); Dr. Saturday 17th December, 2011 N. M. Perera (1905); and Dr. Colvin R. De Silva (1907) were all greatly influenced by the heroic Russian Revolution of 1917 led by Lanka Sama Samaja Party celebrates 75th anniversary Vladimir Lenin. They all received Jumbos & monks their higher education in western universities. In the 1930s they he UNP's leadership conflict appears to returned home as radicalized have transcended mundane politics. young men and plunged headlong Free education into politics and began to talk TFour Mahanayake Theras have written revolution to the masses. They to UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe urging introduced the concepts of social class and the class struggle into him to give up party leadership while retaining the vocabulary of political dis- the post of Opposition Leader so that his course in the country. So perva- and the LSSP deputy, Karu Jayasuriya, could lead the UNP. sive was their immediate impact that these concepts came to be The prelates are entitled to their opinion but used even by politically conserva- their request is rather baffling. If Ranil is not tive leaders in their public speeches. Perhaps the best exam- fit to be the UNP leader, how come they consid- ple of this trend was CWW er him good enough to lead the entire Kannangara, widely regarded as Opposition? the Father of Free Education in Sri Lanka. Here is what he told What makes the venerable Mahanayake the State Council in May 1944: Theras think that the UNP will recover if Ranil “…We have two classes of society in this country, divided by steps down? He is only part of the UNP's prob- English education. The affluent, lem. That party is in the political wilderness the rich, the influential, those due to several factors such as its opposition to that can afford to pay, attend one kind of school imparting the the country's war effort, its failure to rival higher education which is given President Mahinda Rajapaksa and its sub- in a foreign tongue… the official N. M. Colvin S. A. language of this country is servience to external forces hostile to Sri English… and no one without a Lanka. Karu may have been supportive of the knowledge of English can fill any that poor children cannot get a has never exceeded 3% of its All it did initially was to waive war to some extent but the fact remains that he high post…”. Again, in March good education because their par- GDP. For its part, throughout its the fees in English schools. 1947, in an address to the Inter- ents cannot pay for it. In line history of 76 years the LSSP has These fees were being paid by pulled out of President Rajapaksa's govern- Asian Relations Conference held with this analysis and diagnosis, consistently advocated the alloca- the wealthier parents and they ment at a critical juncture months before ter- in New Delhi, Dr. CWWK present- the logical remedy suggested tion of a greater proportion of were the ones who benefitted ed an analysis of the socio- eco- itself: the country’s GDP to education. immediately from Dr. CWWK’s rorism was defeated; his exit threatened the nomic situation in Sri Lanka that 1. replace English with Its record of advocacy on educa- free education scheme. The full stability of the ruling coalition, which was a prevailed in the first half of the Swabasha as the medium of edu- tion bears recapitulation. impact of the free education prerequisite for steering the military cam- 20th century which necessitated cation. scheme would necessarily take the reforms he initiated. He said 2. make education free from Free Education & the LSSP 20 to 30 years to manifest and the paign to success. If other UNP MPs propping that “…in Ceylon education in kindergarten to university. The truth is that the Father of public were not far-sighted up the government at that time had followed the Christian schools was the Free Education in this country enough to appreciate this fact. Lessons Learnt Dr. CWWK did not conceive the suit, the Rajapaksa regime would have col- passport to office and material Moreover, free education is prosperity…[He spoke of] the Basically this is the remedy idea of free education. The idea essentially a socialist measure lapsed bringing the war to an abrupt end. division of society into…two that successive governments in of free education was conceived and Dr. CWWK was identified Today, one hardly sees any difference between classes, namely the English edu- this country have implemented in the head of Mr. A. Ratnayake, with right-wing conservative pol- cated classes who were given since Independence. The Free the member for Dumbara in the itics. Adam Smith, to my knowl- Ranil and Karu. Both are pliable tools in the posts of varying administrative Education Scheme began in 1945. State Council (1936 – 1947). As edge, never advocated free educa- Sir Ivor Jennings has recounted hands of the so-called international communi- importance under the govern- Education in Swabasha com- tion. What is more, influential in his autobiography, ‘The Road ment and the rest of the country menced in 1946. In due course members of Dr. CWWK’s own ty and its NGO arm. these measures certainly served to Peradeniya’ the Special who spoke their mother tongue… party were well-known public to achieve a more equitable dis- Committee on Education in the The Mahanayake Theras have in their letter [and of] the vast gulf developed opponents of free education. So, tribution of wealth and power in State Council headed by CWW to the UNP leader mentioned the Buddha's between that section of society it came about that in the public that had the privilege of learning the country. Free education in Kannangara had met and delib- erated 87 times and were ready eye the LSSP activists were per- advice to the Licchavis embroiled in a pro- English and had adopted an alien Swabasha reduced inequality. to sign the Report at its final 88 ceived by the electorate as the tracted dispute, in a bid to justify their inter- faith, and the rest of society who Many children from less privi- meeting. It was at this final more authentic and genuine used the mother tongue and who leged social classes were empow- vention in a matter that is purely political. But, meeting that the Member for advocates of free education. had resisted proselytization”. ered to improve their social and the Enlightened One was wise enough not to economic status through a higher Dumbara had asked whether the Unsurprisingly, therefore, Dr education received in Swabasha. Report provided for Free CWW Kannangara, the Father of ask any of the Licchavis to step down as a solu- Analysis, Diagnosis & Remedy Education. When the answer was Free Education who introduced It is easy to see that the medi- However, over the decades it tion to their problem/s. He only advised them became clear that in the modern no, Mr. Ratnayake, supported by this scheme in 1945 was rejected um of education (English) and many others had urged that the in 1947 by the Matugama elec- extolling the virtues of compromise, consen- religion (Christianity) were the world an education received exclusively in and through Report should be amended to torate in favour of Mr. Wilmot A. sus, reconciliation etc. Today, some Buddhist two characteristics which Dr. provide for free education. It is Perera, a socialist supported by CWWK used to define the classes Sinhala or Tamil prevented chil- monks have even got into active politics pur- dren from rising as far as their on record that initially Dr. the LSSP. That was, perhaps, in he recognized. The underlying CWWK was in favour of a the fitness of things. After all, portedly to cleanse it. That their presence in assumption is that language and natural talent could take them. In the event what a monolingual scheme of generous scholarships free education was one of the ten religion created the privileged to bright students from poor Parliament has failed to be a catalyst is clear if education in Swabasha enabled reforms passionately urged by classes. In their propaganda, the families and not for a scheme of students to attain was an equality Karl Marx himself in the famous the rapid deterioration of the standards of the LSSP leaders endeavored to free education for all. of educational degradation. Dr. Communist Manifesto published explain to the masses that ‘social However, after the policy of national legislature is any indication. A few CWWK had called free education in 1848! And history has finally class’ is a category determined free education was democratical- in Swabasha ‘a pearl of great shown that the free education years ago, one of them even got assaulted in mainly by the share of the mate- ly decided by the Committee, Dr. price’. The more perceptive stu- scheme introduced by Dr. CWWK Parliament! rial wealth of the society that CWWK supported it to the hilt has not turned out to be the members of a given class own. In dents receiving this education and worked untiringly to make it The recently concluded election to the post of pearl of great price that he this view, at one end is the prop- gradually realized that Dr. a reality. He had to do so because claimed it to be. The struggle Chief Incumbent of the Sri Pada Viharaya ertied class (the haves) and at the CWWK’s ‘pearl of great price’ important members of his own turned out to be an unholy affair owing to rig- other end the un-propertied class was in fact a cheap imitation and party including its leader did not now is in search of the genuine (the have-nots). In Sri Lanka by not a genuine article. Therefore, favour the free education article advocated by the LSSP. ging and other malpractices. Parliament was and large, it was the propertied they began to demand a quality scheme. As it happened, the The people of Sri Lanka clear- told the other day that a government minister class who were educated in education currently available principal advocate of the free ly prefer Evolution to only to children of the wealthy. Revolution! notorious for desecrating one of the holy education scheme was Dr. NM places the Buddha is believed to have visited, had resorted to intimidation, financial induce- ments and plain thuggery to influence the out- come of that election. Some monks were pre- vented from voting! The question is why the Mahanayake Theras did not urge the members of the Maha Sangha to select someone from among them as the chief priest of the Sri Pada temple through consensus without having an election. The custodian of Sri Dalada Maligawa is also elected, isn't he? Elections to that post are bitterly contested. Why can’t the Diyawadana Nilame be selected through con- sensus? This is something that the most vener- able Mahanayake Theras should give serious thought to, we respectfully suggest. Much ven- erated Sri Dalada and Sri Pada are far more important to Sri Lankans, especially Buddhists, than Sirikotha! An election is the best way to pick a political leader unless he or she becomes the unani- mous choice of his or her party.Since the UNP lacks such unanimity, let the next leader be elected or re-elected. That is essentially an internal affair of the Jumbo party.Why should others worry about it?