      |
||
|
|
||
|
Morning Spice by Ginger
Appointment of less qualified English teachersGinger has a letter from a reader living down St. Rita’s Road, Ratmalana. He says Ginger does not know "his onion". I presume he inadvertently dropped the ‘S’ and he meant onions and not onion or else he would have been guilty of general misconception about Ginger or even be suspected of trying to be a little risque but judging by the context of his letter Ginger feels that it was written with a genuine concern over the appointment of English teachers and the pretty low standards that prevail currently.
According to him a pupil who studies English under his wife and only succeeded in getting an ordinary pass at the O/L levels is now an English teacher herself. How come? He wants to know and so does Ginger. The only defence that Ginger could put forward on behalf of this teacher is that she could be a late developer or that the examiner may have known less about the English language than those who sat for the paper. It would not have been the first time such a thing would have happened. This fact however Ginger must state and that is that a saner rationale must be worked out as far as the recruitment of English teachers is concerned or we will not be getting anywhere with our plans to improve English.
Lady lawyers and childbirth
Possibly one would not associate a lady lawyer with child birth. Not that it is not her birth right to do so. The fact is that the natural inclination is to credit her with loftier pursuits than confining herself confinement. Ginger is of course speaking in a very superficial sense.Laywers of the fairer sex being women in every sense have the propensity as all other women to love, marry and have children. The latest study done in the US however suggests you cannot have your cake and eat it. They have to take it easy on their work. Working for more than 45 hours a week can increase their chances of a miscarriage by 300%.
Shock waves in Japan
The Japanese economy has yet to recover from the shock waves that ran through it but the country is trying hard to adjust to new realities with radical structural changes and corporate reshuffle. Some of the most pronounced changes seem to be the stopping of the practice of appointing top bureaucrats. When they retire to the upper rungs of companies. More attention is now paid to the opinion expressed by middle rankig juniors when new moves are made.In Japan there was usually a life long association, between worker and employer. Life time employment is no longer, the common axion with most companies. The company in turn does not expect their work forces to follow them blindly but be led more by one’s conscience.
Recently I watched on Rupavahini a question and answer session by President CBK on proposed new education reforms that are due to be implemented from ‘99. I have not studied the proposals but according to what the President said, most of them sound quite good and overdue though one wonders how it would be possible to teach English from Year-One when there aren’t enough qualified teachers to teach the subject from year-three and some of the remote schools have not seen an English teacher for years. Anyway we have to wait till the plans are implemented to assess the results.
In this type of discussion, the normal practice is for top officials to express their views quoting reports, researches, statistics etc. without the participation of anyone at grass root level. Hence the presence of two students, one from Colombo and the other from distant Bibile representing two areas with widely disparate opportunities and facilities was very significant specially because the new system is said to be student-centred.
The implementation of the new proposals calls for the active participation of officials of the Ministry, Education Offices, Principals, teachers, students and politicians at all levels, the provision of buildings, playgrounds, libraries, equipment, the full quota of qualified teachers etc. As such it will be advisable to discuss the subject at length at seminars, PTA meetings, school assemblies, etc. so that all those involved will be well informed of the changes due, how they will be implemented, how they will affect the students, their advantages and benefits etc. and they will get the opportunity to express their own views. Thus the planners will be able to learn about any problems and snags which they had not envisaged. Such discussions with all those named above throughout the country before Jan. ‘99 is a must for a good start.
Nobody will dispute the fact that our Education Offices have been notorious for inefficiency, indifference and lethargy throughout. They did very little to help ease the problems of schools, specially the small schools and to solve teachers’ problems. Even though the number of offices and Directors has proliferated and there is now a Director in charge of just 30 to 40 schools. The situation, I am afraid, has not improved. Hence before the implementation of the new proposals the Ministry of Education (MoE) has to re-organise, revamp and streamline the work of these offices so that nobody could pass the buck and cause any delay in the implementation of the programme.
According to the new proposals, a teacher has to work in a given school for a minimum period of three years and no teacher will be allowed to remain in the same school indefinitely as is happening now. Very welcome news, no doubt. But political interference in the matter of appointments, transfers and promotions specially in the education sector has long been the accepted practice. It is no secret that even top officers promoted the cause of their favourites overlooking seniors. Most politicians and teachers who have the political clout will not take kindly to this new rule. But since the implementation of new programme calls for strict discipline at all levels the Minister of Education and the President will have to have an iron will and use an iron fist in these matters not to allow a few vote hungry, self-seeking politicians to scuttle the proposals.
There is bound to be teething problems at the beginning and probably for a year or two, but well begun, they say, is half done and the MoE should embark on the preparatory organisation without further delay because the new system is going to affect many generations to come.
S. Abeywickrama
Nugegoda
Buffaloes at wedding ceremonies
I doff my hat to Mr. Arun Dias Bandaranayake who deserve public plaudits for aptly using the word ‘Buffaloes’ on some drunkard, uncivilised ruffians whose behaviour at a wedding ceremony caused annihilation to agelong traditions and decorum which our forefathers jealously guarded for centuries for the sake of posterity. I am referring to the very educative T.V. programme on Rupavahini which was telecast on Wednesday November 4, 98 at 9.15 p.m. captioned "Kadamalla’.
Two wedding ceremonies were shown in this programme. One conducted by Buddhist monks in a temple amidst the chanting of ‘Seth Pirith’, blowing of conches and the throbbing of drums. Another in a hotel when the newly married couple was about to leave for their honeymoon. Normally the custom practised so far at this juncture was to shower the couple with confetti by relations and friends. But here what happened were the newly weds were showered with dirty water, daubed with remnant food or some dirt, raised both the bride and the groom high in the air and rocked them high and low another couple was bullied, tortured and humiliated in the presence of helpless elders, relations and parents. This was barbarism behaviour of highest order which should be stigmatised and these barbarians should be ostracised to maintain the sanctity and serenity of a dignified family occasion.
I am beholden to this gentleman for the bold use of appropriate words in refering to these bullies without fear or favour.
On 10-11-98 "The Island" carried a news item where a bridegroom, a resident of Peliyagoda had,died due to alleged ragging on his wedding at a leading hotel. Peace loving general public is anxiously awaiting to see the culprits involved in this heinous tragedy are brought to book.
Time is ripe now to say halt to this ignominious behaviour which could even lead to homicide as in the case of the unlucky victim of Peliyagoda. As this barbarism is spiralling faster than a tornado the people should be educated about the pernicicus effects of these ‘wedding ragging’ by the clergy of all the religions in their sermons and preachings, so that we could preserve our much treasured traditions in our wedding ceremonies and avoid unpleasant happenings and tragic consequences.
Lionel de Silva
Katugastota
Tea-puthra’s reply to citizen D’s letter in the Island (9/11/98) on the Indian labour issue is a canard in itself. According to this letter the land used for hill country plantations was virgin mountain rain forest. The letter also refers to a distinguished visiting naturalist’ (not named) who advised the government of the day against the harmfulness of denuding rain cover. This is a gross misrepresentation of facts.
The British government engaged itself in a gradual stripping of land ownership of the Kandyans through legislation. The following are some laws detrimental to the Kandyan peasantry.
1. 1820 October law passed to stop repurchase of land by the seller.
2. 1840 Crown Land Ordinance which enabled the transfer of all forests wastes unoccupied or uncultivated land to the crown.
3. 1856 Temple Land Ordinance No. 10 which requested all lands held by the temples be surveyed and partly the expenses borne by the temple. Since the temples had no money to pay they abandoned the claims and such land came to be vested in the crown.
4. 1897 waste Lands Ordinance No 1 which enabled the government to declare vast tract of territory as crown land.
The British acquired the lands of the Kandyans and the temples in this manner. As a result people were dispossessed of their lands.
Canard No 2 of Tea puthra is that Indian labour was recruited ‘because the locals disliked to work on the plantation’. The British had a deliberate policy to ‘plant’ Malabar colonies (not Tamil as claimed by the Tamil lobby) in the up-country, after the 1848 rebellion of the Sinhale. The government’s closest adviser during the riots Lt. General Herbert Maddoch who himself was a coffee planter is said to be the ‘evil genius’ behind the policy of severe repression. He persuaded. Emerson Tennent (secretary of The Board of Control) to establish colonies of Indians to work on the lands confiscated from the rebels. The labour was indentured migrant labour. The government did not promote Indian labour as the home government felt it was akin to Irish agriculture labour. Quite rightly it has proved a source of ‘conflict’. Yet there was political expediency in planting a Malabar population in the hills after the rebellion because’ Éthe Malabar coolies and their superintendents of the estates can very well hold the country’ in the eventuality of another uprising. The documents also mention that the Malabar had a , a strange antipathy to the Sinhalese’.
Tea-puthra also should be reminded tnat all the countries were colonized by migrant population the ,Aryans, Normans, Slavs, Magyars, Gauls and others. In the case of Sri Lanka it was Kallathoni Vijaya’’ and his retinue from North India.
The communal riots of 1958, 1977, 1981 and 1983 have, been condemned by the Sinhalese. Isn’t there worst violence perenially committed against (but endorsed by Tamil leaders) the Sinhalese ,the Muslims who are no party to this conflict and also Tamils. Why harp on the abberations when there is planned, deliberate and constant violence emanating from the north.
To say that Mr. Thondaman preferred the UNP is banter. He has demonstrated that he is a man of many political hues. He is a PA minister and a UNP MP.
It is going through the records of colonial administration one would get a realistic view of what happened. By now the people of this country are privy to the contrivance of the sociologists.
Tea-puthra has not fogotten the nationalist monks who have no connection with the topic. Can Tea-puthra name another country in the world where citizenship is granted on mere submission of an affidavit.
Arunasiri Dias
Colombo
Another budget has come and gone!
Since Independence 50 budgets had come and gone. So will be the 51st budget that has come to be openly discussed preparatory to being subjected to a face saving or rather a power saving and vote catching exercise; and thereafter, to be forgotten pending the dawn of another ‘D’-day next year. There are those who cry that this cloud that will clot the vision of our economic wizards for another twelve moons packs a silver lining. There are also others who are dismail that it does not serve those who stand and wait.
The category of those who wait for ever includes the ordinary public. They do not have powerful citizens organizations to air their views. The consumer protection or the rate payers associations and the like, we often hear of exist and exit as they arrive. Further, they are not politically potential or economically viable as the Mercantile sector or even as the unions of the higher echelons in the public sector, that are very close to politicians. As such, it is no wonder that the aspirations of the general public does not find their way to the budget.
The master mind of late President Premadasa, that bade those in the policy making realm of the public sector to take advice from the masses for whome various projects were designed, has conveniently been forgotten by forcing down decisions on the masses, who are always at the receiving end of woe and misery. We often hear of commercial jargon that "the customer is king" or the political pass-word that "farmer is king"; but, in reality there is nothing discernible. So is the plight of the middle and the lower grades of the public sector. Every consecutive government that comes to power, speaks of narrowing the ratio of disparity in the public sector salary structure. They also speak of giving more benefits to the working class. These utterances have turned out to be repetitions of fairy tales of tomfoolery.
The accusations of the masses that the public sector is lethargic and indifferent have to be taken as a direct slur on the upper strata of the bureaucracy, not so much as that on the subordinate white collar workers. It is the responsibility of those in charge of the government institutions to maintain efficiency and afford a good customer service. Instead, it has become a pathetic situation that they have become political stoogers, who are always moving with politicians or are at conferences, out on circuits or away on scholarships. It may not be an exaggeration if I say that some officers may have only a limited number of days in their career to stay in office to listen to the needs of the masses. The turn out at mobile Kachcheris testifies to this. Even the days assigned to public have found to be a farce as some responsible offices are often away on social obligations. Even if they are confronted, with complaints, they dodge the issues with a lame excuse blaming the subordinate staff or the political system. In this context the masses have still to stand and wait, not on their feet but on their knees to see whether the most indifferent and face saving top echelons of the bureaucracy would be persuaded to do their best by the public by giving fringe benefits like tax free vehicles. Will our parliamentarians take notice of these facts in the budget debate.
U. W. Senanayake,
Kandy.
Down to Earth
Improvements in rice varieties
Achievements and future prospects
by Derrick SchokmanIn the past 50 years, thanks to the "green revolution" that relied on improved varieties, coupled with the expansion of ricelands and irrigation, it has been possible for Sri Lanka to graduate from a heavy dependence on rice imports to one of self-reliance.
During this period rice breeders in the Department of Agriculture successfully developed a series of high-yielding varieties, and currently thirty of these varieties are being cultivated in over 90% of the total rice extent. They include 18 white rice, 7 red rice and 5 samba varieties in a range of 5 to 6, 4 to 4 1/2, 3 1/2 and 3 month age classes.
Some varieties have been bred to resist damaging pests and diseases eg. brown plant hopper, gall midge, leaf blast and bacterial leaf blight, and chemical control measures have been recommended for others.
Varieties have also been bred to tolerate iron toxic soil conditions, salinity and flash-flooding along the south and south-western coastal regions.
These new improved varieties have been labelled Bg, Bw, Ld and At depending on whether they were developed at the Batalagoda, Bombuwela, Labuduwa or Ambalantota research centres respectively (see table).
That is the present position. No significant advances have been made in varietal improvement since then, with the result that after 1985 when the highest annual maximum harvest of 127.5 million bushels of paddy (rough rice) was taken, there has been a period of stagnation. This has been caused by limitations not only in current rice breeding, but also to limitations in land and water.
The Chinese have gone ahead and developed real hybrids which produce significantly more than the conventionally improved varieties. Attempts to do the same here however have not been encouraging so far, because the high cost of producing hybrid seed has not been commensurate with the potential increase in yield.
So until and if Sri Lankan rice breeders were to benefit from Chinese rice research, varietal improvement here will be directed to developing better varieties only to replace those presently cultivated in unfavourable situations where the present improved varieties do not thrive.
Prospects
What then are the prospects of boosting rice production in the new millennium against such a background of limitations in breeding, land and water?The emphasis say our rice breeders will have to be on improving cultivation technology. Selecting an improved variety is certainly an important prerequisite to successful rice production.
But it is not the alpha and omega of the business. How well a variety performs will also depend on how well it is managed in the field.
Good management means broadcasting the seed or transplanting the seedling at the correct density; clean weeding; proper fertilizer applications; and the effective control of water and pests.
Our research officers have some special advice to farmers in respect of management. They say the continuous cultivation of rice on the same fields, even with correct fertilizer usage, can lead to diminishing soil fertility and dwindling yields.
It is therefore very necessary to offset such a happening by using carbonic manures such as green leaves or rice straw along with fertilizers.
And in respect of varietal selection, they warn against the growing tendency of farmers to go for short-aged 3 and 3 1/2 month varieties for the sake of quicker income generation. The danger in doing this is that these varieties can easily succumb to sudden climatic changes and pest outbreaks because they have no cultivation flexibility like the longer-aged 4 to 4 1/2 month varieties which have time to recover. 4 to 4 1/2 month varieties should always be cultivated instead of 3 to 3 1/2 month varieties wherever favourable conditions exist on terms of adequate water, and sunlight, because they have the greatest production potential of all age classes. The shorter-aged 3 and 3 1/2 month varieties are best meant for areas where less water is available.
Conservation
What happens to the traditional varieties that have been replaced by these 30 new improved varieties? Are they allowed to die out?By no means! Rice breeders are aware that the presently cultivated varieties have a narrow genetic base, which makes them vulnerable to new pests and diseases and changing environmental conditions.
To avoid any subsequent disasters arising out of such changes, live collections of these hardy traditional varieties (landraces) have been systematically maintained since 1967 in several agricultural stations.
In addition to these ex-situ live collections, there are over 3000 diasporas of traditional varieties, improved cultivars, weedy races and wild relatives conserved in the Department of Agriculture’s modern genetic resources centre at Peradeniya.
These will be utilized whenever necessary to further improve and offset deficiencies in cultivated rice, in order to sustain a virile rice production programme.
Table: presently recommended varieties
(5-6 months)
Variety Colour Resistance Bg 3-5 W - Bg 407 W - Bg 745 S (W) - Bg 38 S (W) - 4 - 4 1/2 month Bg 379-2 W BPH Bg 380 W GM, IP Bg 400 - 1 W GM Bg 400 W S Bg 403 W BPH Bg 450 S (w) GM Bw 451 W S Bw 453 W GM,IP At 401 R S At 402 R - (3 1/2 months) Bg 94-1 W - Bg 350 R GM Bg 352 W BPH Bw 266-7 W GM Bw 267-3 W IP Bw 351 R - At 353 R S, A At 354 W S Ld 305 S(R) GM Ld 356 S(W) - (3 months) Bg 34-8 W - Bg 304 W GM, BPH Bg 300 W GM, BPH Bw 272 - 6B R - Bw 302 W S, A At 303 R - BPH, Brown plant hopper GM. Gall midge IP. Iron poisoning S. Salinity A acidity W white rice R. red rice S(W) samba white S(R) Samba red.
