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People and Events
Forty years of devotion

by Nan
The week just past had me meeting the new man in a younger friend's life, going for a friend's funeral, discussing another's divorce and finally the Anglophile in me being cheered by the announced next British royal family wedding. The prognosis for Sophie's and Prince Edward's marriage is that it will be a success since they have had a close relationship within the royal family for five years.

All these bring memories to mind - anguished and joyful; soul satisfying and heart wrenching. Christmas and New Year, for that matter any festivity and any new beginning, brings on an onslaught of emotions, recriminations and remembering. That's life - emotions and love, death and emotions - sadness, gladness; unsatisfactoriness throughout. But hope and smiling dispel gloom and ignite the spark of full living.

Two British writers
Then I read an article about the marriage of Iris Murdoch and John Bayley - she the more famous British novelist and he the university don. She is 79, he 73. She has 26 novels to her credit, targeting the intellectual reader; he literary reviews, and a couple of less known novels.

They are in the twilight of their married life and almost at the end of their lives but, as he says, they have drawn closer. "There is a certain comic irony - happily, not darkly comic - that after more than 40 years of taking marriage for granted, marriage has decided it is tired of this and is taking a hand in the game. Purposefully, persistently, involuntarily, our marriage is now getting somewhere. It is giving us no choice - and I am glad of that."

That is wonderful, more so when one reads that Iris Murdoch is suffering advanced Alzheimer's and John Bayley is the caregiver - lovingly and devotedly so. Women do that sort of self-sacrificial caring, hence it is doubly wondrous that he is looking after her" a very nice 3 years old" but completely withdrawn from the world around her. She gets a flicker of light in her eyes, driving momentarily the blankness in her face, only when she sees her husband.

He has written a book Elegy for Iris in which he writes all about them: his falling in love with her as she rode a bike past his window in Oxford and about her now - their daily routine ending with watching Teletubies on TV. One truly goes back to a second childhood in advanced years. The book has been praised and criticised as taking advantage of Murdoch's condition.

Bayley says he would not consider putting Murdoch in a nursing home unless she becomes completely unmanageable. This not only because she depends on him and has the slightest of speak ignited within her when he is around, but because he loses his purpose in life when he is without her. He likes the solitude after he has settled her for the night, but he cannot think of him being alone. "I don't know what to do by myself when she's not there."

Then and now
The book, the writer of the article I read says, is divided into two parts: Then and Now.

Then deals with his falling in love with her at first sight when she was a brilliant young lecturer teaching philosophy at St. Anne's College, Oxford. She took longer to fall for him, but fall she did eventually.

They decided not to have children instead they directed their energies to furthering their careers - novelist ending up as a Dame of the British Empire and Professor of literature at Oxford, and literary critic.

Now details her succumbing to the dread disease. How chillingly frightening it is just reading about Alzheimer's. I notice we are comparatively safe from it. I cannot remember any relatives having it, nor friend, come to think of it. But in the western world it seems to claim the many. Rita Hayworth, Ronald Reagan and now Iris Murdoch are but three we know of consumed by memory loss and lack of muscle control.

In early 1990 Iris Murdoch was having a question and answer session in Israel when she found she could not find the words she needed. She had trouble remembering things, lost track with reality and could not write. Mercifully she did not realize what was happening to her and not being overly self-concerned, she did not descend to depression now show anger.

He writes that they are drawing closer to each other, truly close, symbiotically. Yes, when did, once passions have died, nerves quitened down, demands reduced, jealousies evaporated, a couple could draw much loser to each other and be symbiotic rather than predatory or parasitic. Passion and passionate love are body stirring, emotion inflaming and very satisfying but produce destructive emotions too. Settled down, quiet love is so much deeper and better and safer.

What happens, one asks, when Iris dies? Will Bayley also die or live happily alone minus the burden of looking after a very ill wife? He could die if the purpose of his life dies with his wife. If not, he could grab the freedom got after a long period and maximize it. There will however be no gentle passing on for him.

Weaker but stronger
Women are stronger. The husband dies but the widow, young or old, draws on an inner source of strength and lives on, often making the most of the years remaining. And making the most means, in Sri Lanka generally, giving more of oneself and what one has to others, leading a more religious life, continuing with responsibilities and once they are gone devoting even more time to spiritual development.

Widowered men find themselves anchorless and rudderless, and may drift. In many instances they die soon after the wife's death.

As the elderly population increases in many countries more of what I have written will occur. Japan has the highest number of aged and even in Sri Lanka, senior citizens might soon form the largest age group. They are not welcome being non-contributors to GDP. GNP and parasiting themselves often on others' per capita income!

I was told recently by a senior citizen who experienced it that in hospitals now they do not care for the older patients. They do not expend as much time and effort on the over 60. Justifiable admittedly, though many over 60s have much to contribute. They are free from the emotions that drain the younger and distractions that intrude. They are also that much richer with experience. To Plato as he stated in his Republic, only an over 70 could be considered a true Philosopher Head of State.

So World, don't discard the older person!

Book Review
Story woven around two elite families

by Kirthie Abeyesekera
'CINNAMON GARDENS'
BY SHYAM SELVADURAI
Publishers: McClelland & Stewart Inc.
Hard Cover, 389 pages, $ 29.99 Cdn.

An enchanting scene of a tree-lined street in Cinnamon Gardens adorns the elegantly-bound book - a Christmas gift for me from my grand daughters, Tamara and Dilani, under graduate students at the University of Toronto. Tamara has autographed the book for me for "Our shared love of literature. Shyam Selvadurai's novel is indeed a literary treat It's written mainly for a Sri Lankan readership that can easily relate to the people and places that form the backdrop to the fascinating narrative.

The author of 'Funny Boy' however, is still obsessed with his own homosexuality which he projects in Balendran, the key character in his new book.

Selvadurai's story is set in the colonial Ceylon of the '20s It is woven around two upper-class Tamil families who live in Colombo's elite quarter - Cinnamon Gardens Mudaliyar Navaratnam (Peri-Aiyah) is a feudal land owner and a domineering father. While studying in England, his son, Balendran, (Sin-Aiyah), had a male lover, Richard Howland. When the son returned home however, he came with a half-British bride, Sonia. A loveable personality with a balanced blend of head and heart, she's the daughter of Navaratnam's brother who has married an English woman, Julia Boxton - though marriages between brothers' children are frowned upon - then and now. Selvadurai told a television interview that had he been in Sri Lanka, his gay orientation notwithstanding, he would probably have married and raised a family, since Sri Lankan society has yet to accept homosexuality as a way of life.

Two decades after Balendran from England, Howland visits Ceylon with the Donoughmore Commission. The Mudaliyar, a Member of the Legislative Council, aware of his son's relationship with Howland, wants him to have Howland influence the Commission to reject Ceylon's demand for full self-government. He wants the British governor to' retain all his powers, "otherwise, we will replace a British Raj with a Sinhala Raj, and then, we Tamils will be doomed." Navaratnam's elder son, Arulanandan, has been banished to Bombay for the crime of marrying a low-caste servant girl in the household. The son later learns that his father himself has a skeleton in his cupboard, having seduced the servant girl's mother. The other is the Kandiah family of three girls, Annaluckshmi, Kumudini and Manohari - nieces of Balendran - and their mother, Louisa. Annaluckshmi, a character based on the author's great-aunt, is the 'emancipated heroine of 'Cinnamon Gardens.' A teacher at a Christian Missionary school in Colpetty, she is greatly influenced by the Headmistress, Miss Lawton, while struggling to choose between her career and marriage which' according to prevailing traditions, would take her freedom away.

Nancy, the adopted daughter of Lawton and Annaluckshmi's confidante, falls in love with the school clerk - the humble Vijith Jayaweera, a Sinhalese-Buddhist. Selvadurai weaves his story cleverly between the two families who grapple between maintaining traditional Hindu-Tamil values, and coming to terms with the changing times.

The political scene and characters are sketchy and convey little to the reader not familiar with the history of that era.

Names such as The Ceylon National Congress, Ceylon Tamil Association, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, A. E. Goonesinghe, Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, Arunachalam, E. W. Perera and R. S. S. Gunawardena are brought in with little said about them, and with really no relevance to the main story.

Yet, Selvadurai's novel is compelling. It has come a long way from his well-acclaimed award-winner, 'Funny Boy' His prose is flowery, with intimate descriptions of the country's landscapes and life-styles during colonial rule.

In 'Cinnamon Cardens,' Selvadurai, in his lucid style, revive memories of the rickshaw; of liveried servants in palatial houses; of a patriarchal society of dutiful sons and obedient daughters; and, of a nation in the grip of race, class and gender distinctions

He paints a charming picture of the quaint Galle Face Hotel and takes you along the ramparts of Galle where Balendran, while married, strolls with Howland.

The author, now 33, has lived in Canada since he was l9. The Canadian debate continues whether Selvadurai is a Sri Lankan writer, a Canadian writer or a gay writer. He told The Toronto Star's Judy Stoffman that he's a Sri Lankan writer, but that he cannot ignore the last 14 years of his life in Canada. He makes no direct comment about being a gay writer, except to say that through his novels, he hopes to achieve change in Sri Lankan society and the way it views homosexuality.

He says the President (of Sri Lanka) has read 'Funny Boy' and that homosexuality is still illegal in Sri Lanka, but that a repeal is under discussion. Yet, beyond the 'gay' horizon, away from the political scenario and a little bit of history, 'Cinnamon Gardens' is a heart-warming story. Essentially, it is an insight to human feelings and emotions. The author, through his writing skills, captures the reader's interest. I would have liked a different ending to his absorbing work which I could not put down till I'd finished it. At the end however, I was left in mid-air, so to say. But the joy of reading it, lingers.

The American Dream

by Piyal Gamage
Following the impeachment vote against him for perjury and abuse of power, President Clinton's approval rating rose from 68% to 72%. Many will wonder how this could be. The answer can be found in what has now come commonly to be called "the American cult of victimhood". The London Economist once had an editorial on this. There are "victims" all over America. They are not the murdered, the mutilated, the raped or the sexually harassed but the persons who committed those crimes. These are the unfortunates whose mothers did not love them or whose fathers forced them to eat spinach thus ensuring that later they would take to a life of crime. Bleeding hearts all over America empathise with these poor criminals.

Recently, a young mother shopping in a department store with her two children, slapped her little son for bullying his sister. The mother was arrested and led away in manacles! The Bobbitts went to court, but she was acquitted of maliciously emasculating him (she had suffered years of humiliation!) and he was acquitted of harming her (he had paid the price upfront!).

A thief trying to break into a school at night through the roof crashed to the floor and was injured. He sued the school and was awarded a million dollars damages. The school had no business to have had a roof with rotten timber which could not support the weight of a respectable burglar!

A white man, travelling on the Manhattan subway was mugged and robbed by a gang of four black hoodlums. A few weeks later it happened again. A week later it happened a third time. He decided to carry a gun. When he was attacked a fourth time he shot all four hoodlums injuring all but not killing anyone. One of them however, was crippled permanently. He sued and was awarded two million dollars damages. The white man had to sell his home to pay the damages, he had to move to another neighbourhood and he lost his job.

Bill Clinton, punished for his crimes by the House of Representatives, is in the same plight as that poor crippled hoodlum.

In America it is the criminals who become the folk heroes. Billy the Kid, Bonny and Clyde, the James brothers, Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Bill, they all have achieved the status of cult figures. The people whom they robbed and killed are forgotten.

Technologically, the Americans lead the world. They have produced, in addition to giant airliners and highly complicated weapons of mass destruction, including missiles, of frightening sophistication.

John Fowles wrote: "If anything stands condemned, I suspect it's the ridiculous notion that advanced technology produces richer human beings when it is becoming only too clear that the contrary is true...The absurdity is that they (the Americans) have managed to turn themselves into the most culturally deprived people in the advanced west." (John Fowles: Daniel Martin)

Another endearing characteristic of the American people is their tendency to go gung-ho over a president who bombs non-white people in large numbers. Harry S. Truman, who killed close on two lakhs of non-combatant Japanese men, women and children, is regarded as one of the greatest US presidents.

Nixon; Reagan, Bush all got immediate hikes in popularity whenever they bombed Asians or Africans. Clinton, too, played this card on the eve of his impeachment but all it got him was a 24 hour respite, at the cost of 68 Iraqi lives. Had he killed 10,000 Iraqis perhaps he might have had a more rewarding result.

America cynically accuses Iraq of not complying with UN resolutions. Actually, America has the utmost contempt for UN resolutions and, in fact, has consistently and relentlessly used its veto to block UN attempts to punish Israel for defying UN resolutions. Similarly, America accuses a highly civilised country, China, of human rights abuses. America uses this as a weapon in its economic aggression against China. The truth of the matter is that America is one of the world's worst offenders in the field of human rights. A recent Amnesty International report claims that "across the country, thousands of people are subjected to sustained and deliberate brutality at the hands of police officers. Cruel, degrading and sometimes life-threatening methods of constraint continue to be a feature of the US criminal justice system."

Believing in free enterprise with an almost religious fervour, they have privatised prisons and turned them into profit-making capitalist ventures. Private corporations make huge profits by cutting down on the amenities of the prisoners. AI reports that the contracting out of prison management to private corporations has resulted in a drastic deterioration in prison conditions.

So there you have it. This is America. This is the American dream. Sigmund Freud, when he was 52, visited America. He returned to Vienna in a few weeks, disenchanted. He told Ernest Jones: "America is a mistake. A gigantic mistake."

For students of higher education

Asoka Dhamma Lipi
Author Professor Abaya Aryasinghe
Printers: Seneviratna Printers,Homagama

Asoka Dhamma Lipi with the sub-title 'Fourteen Rock Edicts' is authored by Professor Abaya Aryasinghe who is a well-known archaeologist in Sri Lanka. His work is perhaps the only comprehensive compilation in Sinhala written for students of higher education in view. He has selected only fourteen rock edicts which have been treated as principal rock edicts by pioneer scholars. The inscriptions of king Asoka have opened a new vista for the study of Indian history. Before the discovery of these inscriptions there existed a wide gap in the long history of India. It is to the credit of our scholar monks who identified Devanampiya Piyadasi of the inscriptions with Asoka of our chronicles as one and the same monarch.

Writing a short introduction to the Asoka Dhamma Lipi, Professor M. B. Ariyapala states that this book would be an indispensable source for the study of history, archaeology and Buddhist Civilisation in the sub continent. He is of the view that author Aryasinghe is undoubtedly the best person to undertake this study as one of the few students of professor S. Paranavitana has produced.

He humbly states that his volume could be comparable to a newly born baby resulting from the deep researches of pioneer scholars both here and elsewhere. India received its due place in history and world civilisation since the discovery of Asoka inscriptions which endorsed her literary traditions. Consequently Sri Lanka received the essence of culture from Jambudvipa through the Dhamma-Vijaya policy of Asoka.

Asoka gave up war mentality after the Kalinga war. He abhorred division of the Buddhist Church (Sangha-bheda) as referred to in his Sarnath pillar inscription. He was the first ruler in the world to appoint Dharma-Mahamatras (Ministers for promoting morality).

Professor Aryasinghe's attempt to bring his work to the required scholarly plane by adding Sinhala translations, annotating knotty points together with guidance to find-spots is commendable. It is my opinion that Asoka Dhamma Lipi deserves a special niche in every library and book-shelf.

Professor Kamburugamuwe Ariyasena

Education - the Sri Lankan experience

by Quadijah S. Irshad and Ahmed Fazly
Fifty year old Kamala works as a Domestic hand, for a household in Bambalapitiya. She can sign her name and read a few words. On being told to note down a list of things to buy she says with an ironic smile " Baba, If I can do this, I don't need to work here."

According to the UNICEF State of the World's Children's Report 1999, Kamala is one of the 855 million people - nearly one sixth of humanity who are functionally illiterate. Nearly a billion people will enter the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names - much less operate a computer or understand a simple application form. And they will live in more desperate poverty and poorer health than most of those who can. They are the world's functional illiterate - and their numbers are growing.

Functuinal Literacy
Statistics reveal that Sri Lanka has a high literacy rate of 90%, which is commendable considering that we are situated in South Asia where almost two thirds of women and one third of men are illiterate. Experts say that over fifty years of free education and progressive policies of successive Governments and NGO's has enabled to achieve this.

Dr. Hiranthi Wijemanne Programme Officer of UNICEF said that Sri Lanka has achieved a great deal in improving the literacy of its population but she added that there are still areas that needed improvement.

According to Dr. Wijemanne, there are two aspects to literacy. One is the literacy rate derived from census and reflected by statistics. The second, and more important aspect is the functional literacy rate. Functional literacy "is the knowledge and ability necessary to function as a fully developed person in society."

'The functional literacy of Sri Lankans is lower than the literacy rate," said Dr. Wijemanne. She further added that great emphasis should be placed in improving the functional literacy of women as it is significantly lower than that of men.

Former Professor of Education, Swarna Jayaweera, a member of the National Education Commission and currently attached at the Centre for Women's Research (CENWOR) also echoed the sentiments of Dr. Wijemanne's sentiments regarding the low functional literacy rate in comparison to the 90% literacy rate.

She also added that although there is no standardised test for evaluating functional literacy micro-studies conducted by, for instance CENWOR and the University of Colombo have revealed the prevalent low functional literacy rate.

Quality of Education
It is Simply not enough that children attend school. The Quality of education is what matters most. Says Dr. Wijemanne' " How knowledge, skills and values are transmitted is as important as what is learnt."

According to educationists the post-independence education system functioned effectively during the first few decades. During this period Sri Lanka's educational institutions produced numerous scholars scientists, administrators and National figures of prominence and distinction.

Yet, despite the apparent achievements according to findings of the Presidential Task Force on General Education Reform, in recent decades the picture has changed. There has been a sharp decline in the standard and quality of education at all levels. Serious shortcomings have appeared at every level of the education system.

According to UNICEF what is taught in schools often has relevance to the children's daily lives. Child labour experts have also found that some children would rather work than be subject to a school regime that is irrelevant to their needs. Statistics reveal a dismal situation. Recent studies show that only about a fifth of grade five children attain mastery in writing and even less in Mathematics and Health. At C.C.E. Ordinary Level 1995 the failure rate in all eight subjects was one in 10. At G.C. E. advanced Level one in Eleven failed in all fours subjects offered.

The National Education Commission has worked out a composite index on the status of transport, housing, water, sanitation and family income in 1990. According to this index the districts range from Colombo the most developed to Moneragala the least developed.

Prof., Lakshman Jayatileke, Chairman of the National Education Commission said the demand for education reflected by the enrollment rates are very high even in the areas that do not have a highly developed infrastructure, like Ampara, Moneragala and Kilinochchi. However, he conceded that the schools in these areas to do not have the facilities to provide the quality education needed to meet this demand.

He said that the huge participation rates is evidence that parents and children in these areas " see education as a way out of poverty and adversity."

He also said that the shortage of teachers is a major problem in these backward areas, since most teacher are unwilling to work there.

The Govt. of Sri Lanka - UNICEF programme of co-operation, recognises that poor teacher performance is a major cause of iow learning achievement. According to latest statistics the country s teacher pupil ratio is 1:23, which is significantly better when compared with 1:67 in Bangladesh. However in some deprived areas and urban slums the ratio rockets up to as much as 1:120.

One solution to this problem according according to Prof. Jayatileke is to recruit teachers from areas closest to them. The Plantation areas presented a special challenge as the community is not generating enough people qualified to become teachers.

The revised curriculum, under the educational reforms for year I was implemented last year in the Gampaha district . Preliminary studies have shown that this programme has been largely successful from the point of view of both teachers and students. Starting in January 1999, the Year I reforms will be implemented throughout the country.

As part of the new reforms programmes have been developed to train teachers with the necessary orientation needed to effectively handle the new syllabuses and teaching methodologies.

According to the Governments' public Investment programme, the main policy thrusts during 1997 - 2000 are to improve the quality of education, reduce regional disparities in educational facilities and the expansion of university education.

Educating the girl child
" Educating a woman is educating a whole family,'! says Dr. Wijemanne. The implications for girls' education are particularly critical.

According to UNICEF a 10% increase in girls' primary enrollment can be expected to decrease infant mortality by 4.1 deaths per 1000 population. Each extra year of school for girls can also lead to a reduction in fertility rates, as well a decrease in matemal deaths in childbirth. In Brazil, illiterate women have an average of 6.5 children, whereas those with secondary education have 2.5 children.

Illiteracy begins as a sad fact of daily life for millions of children who are, more often than not, girls. The reasons are numerous. For girls their gender alone may keep them home, locked in subsistence chores.

Malathi lives in a slum area near Thalakotuva Gardens, Narahenpita. She would love to go to school but never has. As a result she cannot read nor write. At 19, the chances are that she never will. She did not go to school because she had to take care of her two younger brothers while her mother had to work for their survival.

According to studies the early years of a child plays a very crucial role in shaping the child's mind, attitudes and behaviour pattems. Hence a mother plays a most crucial role in development of a child. The National Plan of Action for Children (1991) identifies home based early child development as an area of intervention. A home based programme is widely considered as a cost effective way of instituting a culture of stimulating young children in the home, where parents assume their righfful roles as their first teachers of their children.

Under the proposed educational reforms awareness programmes' specially targeted at mothers will be conducted. It is hoped this will sensitise them to the importance of the early child development and home based learning activities of their infants

According to UNICEF the competence of children at the entry point to formal education is inadequate for them to follow the national education programme. This insufficient competence weakens their achievements in primary education as well as other aspects of life. This is due to the fact that an estimated 75% of Sri Lanka's children do not attend preschool. An important cause for this is the inadequacy of knowledge of parents, especially that of mothers to stimulate the development of their children during daily family activities.

An important and positive aspect of the proposed educational reforms is that Early Child development and Pre school education are recognised as an integral part of the education system which leads to the total development of a child.

Compulsory Education
"A fundamental right of the child is that every child has a right to go to school," says Dr. Wijemanne. The 50 year old Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, the world's most universally embraced Human Rights instrument also proclaims this fact.

According to statistics approximately 14 percent of the children in the compulsory school going age (5 -14 years.) do not attend school. Dr. Wijemanne complained that the compulsory education legislation for children of 5-14 years has not been properly implemented.

She added that there are "lots of children who do not go to school. Take the street children, beggars, child prostitutes and domestic servants. These kids have a right to go to school you know."

Prof. Jayatileke disagreed with criticism that the compulsory education law, which was enacted last year has still not been properly implemented. He said that the law has already been gazetted and under the law, two committees which are responsible for its implementation, one at school level and the other at divisional level have already been put into place.

He said that the school level committees are responsible for identifying the children in the areas who are not attending school and the reasons behind their non attendance. They will initially meet the parents and find out why the child has not been sent to school. Accordingly they will explain to the parents the proper cause of action to be taken in such cases. They will then check up periodically on what is happening to the child.

Twelve year old Kumar of Thimbirigasyaya lives a ten minute stroll away from a government school. Yet he carries baskets for "Nonas" at the market in the mornings, and does odd jobs for people in the neighbourhood in the afternoons - for pocket money. Both his sisters go to school. Kumar does not, because he has a learning disability. Kumar's case is not an isolated one. Sattar, 13 of Padukka cannot read nor write. He has never been to school because he does not have a birth certificate.

According to Dr. Jayatileke, the parents of children without birth certificates will now be able to furnish additional documentation, such as an affidavit, or a letter from the local Grama Niladhari to admit the child to school. Activity schools will also be established for children who cannot gain admission to classes appropriate for their age.

If the school level committee was in operation Kumar and Sattar and many other kids who do not attend school due to various other problems will be able to find appropriate solutions.

Secondly, the divisional level committee which is a high powered one, includes officials like Directors of Education or Police personnel who are able to take official action if necessary in cases where the child is prevented from going to school.

Where compulsion is concerned, Prof. Jayatileke said that having Police personnel to check the homes that have non schooling children will persuade the parents to send them to school. "Starting with the official identification of the children who do not go to school and if necessary' official pressure and compulsion would be sufficient to convince parents to send their children to school."

Responding to criticism that there are no punitive measures in place to punish offending parents or Guardians Prof. Jayatileke pointed out that in most cases the cause of children not sent to school is not because parents are averse to any kind of schooling or do not realise the value of schooling. It is because of socio-economic problems like poverty; break up of households and even ignorance of minor procedural matters like not getting a birth certificate. "Parents," he said, "are helpless in these situations and punishing them would be a double tragedy."

He added that because of these reasons the National Education Commission was opposed to introducing any penalties for parents or Guardians for not sending their children to schools. However in cases where a child of school going age is found to be employed by any person or even subjected to abuse the necessary laws are already in place to prosecute and punish the offenders

"The mudalalis in posh households in Colombo who employ children, and the pedophiles should be punished, since these are very grave offences and the law is very clear on that."

War torn areas
The overall drop-out rate upto year nine in Government schools, according to the latest statistics was 3.9 for the entire country. But in the war torn areas of the North of the country the rate is 12.2% - more than three times the national average.

Dropout rate upto year nine in Government schools in the Northern province (1991/1992)

Districts Male Female Total
Jaffna 12.2% 9.7% 11%
Mannar 33% 30.4% 31.8%
Mullaitivu 17.4% 15.9% 16.7%
Vavuniya 12.2% 9.5% 10.9%
Source: Dept. of Census and Statistics.

The conflict in the North and East has deprived many children of their basic right to education. Dr, Hiranthi Wijemanne said "It is more important for children in the war torn areas to go to school for many reasons."

"Most of these children are traumatized victims of the war. School will give some sort of normalcy for them. It would also prevent them from getting into combatant situations and school is a definite way of reducing stress levels in the life of these distraught children."

According to the findings of the National Education Commission poor performance as a nation, civil strife, high crime rates and high suicide rates are but a few indicators of the failures of the education system.

Responding to a question on the impact of the reforms the situation in the war torn areas. Prof. Jayatileke said that the present conflict has virtually put a halt to the progress of education in these areas. He conceded that the reforms will have little effect if the social conditions do not change.

"Children in the border areas don't have schools to start with. They have been bombed out or destroyed. Children are displaced and made refugees. This cannot be put right simply by reforming the education system."

On being asked about solutions to overcome this issue, he said "this is not a matter for reformists like us. What the Education Ministry wants us to do is to improve the schools. In order for reforms to take effect in these areas there must be a social condition that enables it."

"There should be social rehabilitation and buildup of those areas, and peace should be established first." He said: "Only then can education take over."

The UNICEF report adds that just $7 billion more each year for the next decade is sufficient to achieve universal primary enrolment by the year 2010. This is less than the amount Europeans spend on ice-cream & the Americans spend on cosmetics. In South Asia the additional amount needed is just $1.6 million.

The actual expenditure on education by the Sri Lankan Government, increased by 68% between 1992 and 1996. In the next five years, Government's expenditure on education is expected to reach 4.5% of GDP.

Compared to the other countries in the region, as Dr. Wijemanne put it, "Sri Lanka has done very well. She then added "but look. We've got to do so much more for the kids".

Public-private partnerships in urban development

Dr. K. Locana Gunaratna
Chartered Town Planner & Chartered Architect
According to current policy, national development should be achieved through a 'mixed economy', in which both the Public and Private Sectors participate. There has been in the last two decades a greater and increasing emphasis on Private Sector participation in comparison to earlier policies. Despite the policy and some related successes, the overview of progress in this area over two decades of attempted cooperative endeavour, is disappointing. The popular diagnosis today identifies the problem as being within the Public Sector. This is why such institutions as the Public Enterprise Reform Commission (PERC) have been established. Institutions in the Public Sector are seen to require reform and re-structuring.

More recently, one of the measures being vigorously promoted for collaborative effort between the two sectors is the establishing of public-private partnerships (PPPs). There is strong support for such relationships from many international and bi-lateral aid agencies.

This paper starts by briefly glancing back at the histories of the Public and Private Sectors in Sri Lanka to see their respective strengths and weaknesses. Secondly, the present context will be considered with respect to likely actors in the needed partnerships. The attempt finally will be to identify and focus upon the main areas of action needed to improve the environment for public-private partnerships in Urban Development.

A Backward Glance
The British colonial period saw many successful collaborations between the Public and Private Sectors in this country. In fact almost the entire economy, which relied on the establishment and growth of the plantation industry, was based on such collaboration. It may be recalled that the colonial government enacted laws which dispossessed some sections of the indigenous peasantry of their traditional homelands, which in turn enabled the British colonial private interests consisting of individuals and firms to purchase those lands for the plantations at very low prices. The colonial Public Sector then built the roads, bridges and other infrastructure including the first railways through very difficult terrain, and, made substantial improvement to the Colombo harbour, mostly to service the Private Sector plantation activities.

Even scientific organizations such as the Tea Research Institute were established in the colonial Public Sector for the direct benefit of the colonial Private Sector with only a meagre 'cess' being levied from the latter. These were indeed early examples of very successful PPs in which both the Public and Private Sectors benefited hugely. It is clear to most that these partnerships enriched the colonial British economy. Whether the country as a whole and the indigenous population at large, gained, is very much a debatable point.

The years of the Donoughmore Constitution beginning in 1931, the Second World War years 1939-1945 and the period that immediately followed 'Independence' in 1948 saw major changes in development emphasis. Great strides were taken in rural development including substantial improvement to the health and education situation throughout the country. A prominent consequence was the transition from an almost total dependence on the colonial plantation economy towards an agriculture for self-reliance in food production. These changes strengthened the Public Sector and weakened the Private Sector.

The foreign exchange crisis of 1959 and related import substitution policies placed even greater reliance on the Public Sector. Several important new institutions, government and semi-government, were created. More than 20 semi-government industrial corporations engaged in the manufacture of goods such as steel, tyres, plywood, textiles and ceramics came into being. Such agencies as the Survey Department, the Irrigation Department, the Highways Department, the State Engineering Corporation, the Gal Oya Board later re-constituted as the River Valleys Development Board and the Mahaweli Development Board gained vigorous roles to play in the developmental effort. The Public Sector grew to a pre-eminent position and thus became the main repository of professional and technical expertise, this was the case even in the mid-1970s.

Meanwhile, the remnants of colonial private enterprise all but disintegrated, collapsed and disappeared. Perhaps the only survivors were those companies that diversified their interests to activities encouraged by the new indigenous development policies.

The import substitution policies that followed the foreign exchange crisis in the 1960s also led to handsome incentives to the local Private Sector to set up new industries. There was a response. Some new industries were established which did save foreign exchange for the country. But some of these were of a frivolous nature and were referred to by many economists of the day as "seeni bola" industries as they contributed more to local consumption than development.

Perhaps the most successful examples of private enterprise that emerged then was the Tourist in Industry. These activities were generally based on the 'package tour' for foreign visitors who were mostly industrial workers from Europe who visited the country on pre-paid holidays.

Public Sector dominance continued in Sri Lanka through the 1960s and well past into in the mid-1970s until a major policy shift, which came with the change of goverment in 1977.

The Current Context
Ours is a Third World Country. Most TWCs have been subjected to colonial dominance at some period in their histories. Underdeveloped areas, both functional and geographic, remain in these countries as wounds of subjugation. Geographic underdevelopment is of greater concern here with reference to the main subject at hand, namely, urban development.

From the geographic and spatial point of view, most TWCs, especially the smaller agrarian countries, have startlingly common characteristics. One is the presence of underdeveloped geographic regions. Another is a skewed and deformed distribution pattern of towns referred to as 'dendritic distortion'. The third is 'primacy' where one city substantially predominates over all the other urban places in the country.

Underdeveloped regions are different from 'lagging regions' found in the Industrialized Countries. Underdeveloped geographic areas in the TWCs are not poor because they lack resources. They are poor because they were neglected, and, that was because the resources they had were not of special interest to the colonial economy. They were deprived of investment and consequently infrastructure became concentrated elsewhere. It is this neglect over a prolonged period that caused the noted distortions. These deformities will not correct themselves. The operation of market forces alone cannot be effective. Intervention is necessary at the highest national policy level.

A national urban policy is needed which explicitly encourages the development of secondary (medium) and tertiary (small) towns and which, simultaneously encourages only moderate growth in the primate city. If the local Private Sector is to participate in this effort and PPS are to be effectively established, there must be, inter alia, strong and attractive fiscal and other incentives given to the Private Sector.

It must also be observed in the current context of Sri Lanka, that the 'mixed economy' and PPPs are no longer matters for debate except perhaps at the polemical level. The issues here are to do with creating an engendering environment for PPPs, with how best they should be structured, and how to increase the probability of their success.

The essence of a partnership between two parties is that both parties must profit from the joint effort. This should be clear at the outset and the procedures should be transparent to both as well as to all concerned. It would be unsatisfactory if one party profited at the expense of the other. Lessons may be learnt from the colonial experience where there were many examples of close and successful collaborations which were implicit partnerships. While the Private Sector made good money, the personnel in the Public Sector were paid well and enjoyed high status. In fact, these officials were paid well to see that the Private Sector and the colonial economy thrived. All benefited, except perhaps the country and its indigenous population. The task now is to create and enter into PPPs which are not merely mutually beneficial but are selected for their propulsive force to achieve national development.

There are, broadly, three types of Public Sector agencies that are likely to be involved in urban development activities. These are government departments, government corporations and government research and training institutions. The first category comprises such agencies as the Archaeological Department, the Buildings Department and the Town and Country Planning Department. The second includes such agencies as the Urban Development Authority, the National Housing Development Authority, the State Engineering Corporation, the National Water Supply and Drainage Board, the Land Reclamation Corporation, the Electricity Board, the Roads Development Authority and the Mahaweli Authority. One must also consider the line Ministries dealing with social infrastructure such as Health, Education, Posts and Telecommunications and their decentralized and/or 'devolved' counterpart agencies at the sub-national regions and local authorities.

There are about four types of agencies outside the Public Sector which could get involved in urban development activities. They are: consulting firms; construction contractors; non-profit non-governmental organizations (NGOs); and community-based organizations (CBOs).

It must therefore be recognized that consideration should be given to about 12 types of possible PPPs.

Engendering Environment for Partnerships
There are three main aspects to be considered in creating an environment conducive to Public-Private partnerships. One concerns the legal aspect where the specific terms and conditions of working relationships are set out. It would be desirable to review closely and critically examine the various legal contractors that have been used in the recent past and to improve and develop them to create standard generic forms that are appropriate to the different kinds of partnerships.

Institute's representatives could also participate in a wider professional group to develop more generic types of agreements. These could then be adapted to specific professional circumstances.

Procedural Aspect
Another aspect that needs consideration is that of procedures in Public Sector agencies. Procedures for selecting Private Sector 'partners' for needed services and also the procedures to pay for services that are rendered. The only selection procedure well known to government agencies applies to the selection of building contractors by inviting tenders. While there are examples of use as well as abuse, what is also unsatisfactory is that these same procedures have been applied in other circumstances such as the selection of consultants. Here too there are examples of use and abuse.

In many of these cases, the crux of the problem is how a public official takes decisions on selection and on payment. If an official takes a decision or even makes a categorical recommendation, he opens himself to criticism and perhaps even to accusations of corruption. Therefore, the official invariably avoids taking decisions and refers the matter, often without recommendations, to committees or boards. Reference may sometimes be made, where the procedures dictate, to a Cabinet Appointed Tender Board.

There are examples of situations where even such Boards have delayed decisions for months and sometimes even not taken decisions at all. The fact is that the system discourages decisions by officials on technical and professional grounds. It encourages officials to refer decisions upwards, which go sometimes to the political level.

Attitudinal Aspect
As things stand today, perhaps the most important aspect concerns 'attitude'; the attitude of the partners towards the relationship. While government policy encourages public-private partnerships in broad terms, the prevalent attitude between the parties that could work in partnerships is often one of suspicion and mistrust. The reasons for this, probably have to do with mutual perception of each other, more than any other single cause. It may be useful at this point to briefly examine some of these perceptions, at least in stereotype.

On the one hand, some management personnel of the Private Sector perceieve the Public Sector as being bound in 'red tape', badly managed, lacking in innovation and inefficient. They see government officials as slovenly and lazy individuals devoid of a sense of responsibility, and what is worse, to be motivated sometimes by bribery.

On the other hand, some Public Sector personnel percieve the Private Sector as consisting of 'crooks' many of whom are less intelligent and less educated but are better paid, and, who use their knowledge of English as a weapon of discrimination, some of whom cannot even speak their own 'mother tongue', are devoid of any sense of nationalism and national pride, and, who maybe relied upon only to sell any valuable national assets for 'a song' to foreigners as long as they can make a 'fast buck'.

They also see the Private Sector as lacking in any true innovation and originality, and, what passes for these attributes as being the slavish mimicry of the West, delayed perhaps by a decade or two.

It is also ironical that the very source of inspiration and salvation to managers in the local Private Sector i.e. the corporate bosses of private enterprise in the West are themselves being asked by their own management gurus to look East for their future ideology.

There may be truths in both sets of perceptions but there are also many misconceptions. It must be recorded that some of the major achievements in national development since universal franchise almost 70 years ago, concern the fields of health, education, food production and hydro-electric power generation. Achievements in these fields bear witness to wise public policies implemented through the Public Sector. The bulk of the expertise in these areas and also in other fields of science and technology, currently reside in the Public Sector. These are facts.

It is perhaps equally true that most of the expertise in the various fields of commercial enterprise reside today in the Private Sector. The policy consensus is that for further progress in the various activities in national development both Public and Private Sectors must come together and work together. Such partnerships cannot be forged when stereotype misconceptions and prejudice prevail.

Breaking down prejudices and creating an atmosphere devoid of mistrust and suspicion should be an important task for the immediate future, if Private-Public partnerships are to work well and benefit the nation as a whole.

Recommendations
Three sets of recommendation emerge from the foregoing discussion. They relate, respectively, to the three aspects discussed in the last section on an engendering environment for partnerships, namely: the legal aspect; the procedural aspect; and, the attitudinal aspect.

In regard to the first, the studies could be initiated with concerned professionals, to improve upon and develop suitable generic and standardized agreement forms that could then be applied to specific circumstances.

Changing established government procedures as called for in the second aspect, is a difficult task. Eventually, the Ministries of Finance and Public Administration will have to agree with proposed changes. Here too professional organizations may be enlisted for their assistance and support.

Regarding the last aspect, which is by no means the least in importance, a concerted effort has to be made. An on-going forum may be established where officials and managers of both Sectors can meet and interact with each other in such a manner as to engender mutual understanding.

Short mid-career educational programmes could be established and participation encouraged for both Sectors. A great deal of thought should go into this aspect and how prejudices could be broken down. The advice and assistance of educationists and those professions which cut across the two sectors may prove invaluable.

* A paper presented at a recent workshop organized by the Institute of Town Planners Sri Lanka.

He defeated a Prime Minister at the hustings

by Cecil V. Wikramanayake
An ardent Sinhala Buddhist all his life, he devoted a great deal of time, money and attention to Buddhist affairs, and perhaps the most meritorious act he performed was in seeing to the restoration of the Chaitya at Mahiyangana.

It is twenty three years since Patti-Mahatmaya died. Patti-Mahatmaya of Galle, as he is remembered by many even today. He was born Wijesekera Don Simon Abeygoonewardena, but all his life he was affectionately known as Patti-Mahatmaya of Galle.

Born at Naotunna, Matara, this man has good cause to be remembered by all those who knew him, and even by those who had never met him. He spent the best years of his life in the service of his village, his native town and his country, and has several firsts to his credit.

Way back in 1934, at the age of 41, (he was born on October 3, 1907) he started the first independent bus service, and by 1945 he was the Managing Director of the Galle Motor Bus Company, which had a fleet of 23 buses.

Patti-Mahatmaya was the first to have his bus tickets printed in Sinhala, and in his buses there were special seats reserved for the clergy, from whom, he had issued instructions to his conductors, no charge was made for their travel, no matter what the distance.

An ardent Sinhala Buddhist all his life, he devoted a great deal of time, money and attention to Buddhist affairs, and perhaps the most meritorious act he performed was in seeing to the restoration of the Chaitya at Mahiyangana.

For his village, Naotunna, he donated a five acre block of land that he owned, and on this land he built the Naotunna Junior School, entirely at his own expense.

Patti-Mahatmaya entered politics by joining the Sinhala Maha Sabha in 1945 at the instance of the late Mr. S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, and was the first regional president from Galle District.

Ten years later he entered the local Municipal politics, winning the Bazaar Ward quite easily.

In March, 1960, however, he created the sensation of the year, when at the General Elections held that year he defeated the late Dr. W. Dahanayake, who was then Prime Minister, shortly after the assasssination of the late Mr. Bandaranaike.

It was a sensation because everyone believed that the name Dahanayake was synonymous with Galle as far as General Elections were concerned.

He could not hold that seat when the July 1960 elections came round. Dr. Dahanayake wrested the seat back at that election.

But six years after his sensational victory, Patti-Mahatmaya was elected, uncontested, to the Bazaar Ward of the Galle Municipal Council, so great was his popularity, and after his victory went on to become Mayor of Galle.

While he was Mayor of Galle, he organised the Centenary celebrations of the council, at which he made a public request to the then Prime Minister, the late Dudley Senanayake, to solve the acute water problem that had been Galle's bugbear for a long time.

Today Galle has no water problem, thanks to the devotion and energy displayed by the man from Naotunna who became known to everyone in the country as Patti-Mahatmaya of Galle.

In 1970, when the United National Party refused nomination to Patti-Mahatmaya to contest the Galle seat, Mr. W. T. Wijekulasuriya, chief organiser of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party for the area, seized this opportunity to invite Patti-Mahatmaya to contest the seat as the S.L.F.P. candidate. He toured the country in the company of Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike, and his speeches contributed greatly to that party's victory at the general election.

Patti-Mahatmaya, running on the S.L.F.P. ticket, however, lost the Galle seat to Dr. Dahanayake by 1400 votes.

"Patti-Mahatmaya was always a man of action," reminisced Mr. Gamini Samarawickrama of Galle, an admirer and devoted follower of Patti-Mahatmaya. "He was always ready to help those in need, particularly those who were from poor families. If there was a family quarrel, he would go personally and listen to both sides before pronouncing his 'judgment' which was always accepted by those concerned, such was the love and respect people had for Patti-Mahatmaya.

"He was regarded by most people in the South as the 'hero of Ruhuna'. He was truly a Sinhala Lion and a son of Southern Lanka," Mr. Samarawickrama concluded.

Patti-Mahatmaya's widow, Charlotte, now in her middle eighties, lives with her youngest son at Karapitiya, Galle.

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