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| Country Updates 2007 - Sri Lanka Country Contacts:
Summary: The National Coalition (CED) has appointed a national committee together with an events Coordinator to step up the planning for this years Global Action week. The Coalition is already ion the process of preparing a a dossier on the theme. Quality education for "Quality Education for All: End Exclusion Now". This Dossier will be presented to the head of State, Minister of Education, Members of the Cabinet and Members of the Parliament. In addition the dossier and a memo will be handed to all the provincial departments of education. A debate related to Quality of Education for selected children at National level is also planned. Currently, there is a media campaign to advocate for quality education in Schools. In order for there to be continuity, a follow up programme has been set in motion to select a school in a community where many children are excluded and with poor facilities. Teh aim is to campaign for provision of a quality learning environment for children attending school and find resources and funds necessary to improve the school. TA school will be selected in each of the nine provinces. 6 February 2008 Focusing the theme for the year, ‘Education as a Human Right’ the Coalition for Education Development (CED), Sri Lanka with the concurrence of its partner organizations planned, organized and successfully carried into effect the following activities for the Global Action Week, 2007.
The background and purpose of the Global Action Week (GAW) and planned activities were disseminated beforehand through a leaflet among the various sectors involved in the field of Education (see annex). The activities were planned and organized by a Working Committee the composition of which is given in the leaflet. The details of the activities are elaborated in the sequel. Media Campaign Media campaign was held on 23 March 2007 at Nagarodaya Centre, Colombo with the participation of print media and electronic media personnel. The aim of this campaign was to disseminate the purpose of the Global Action Week and make the public vigilant over the threats that would hinder the enjoyment of Rights of the deprived groups to education. During the media campaign Dr. G.B. Gunwardena, the National Coordinator, CED introduced the theme of the GAW 2007, ‘The Right to Education \’. This was followed by a presentation of opinions by three experts in the field of education – Prof. S. Sandarasegaram, Mr. A.S. Balasooriya and Ms. Padma Edirisinghe. Subsequent to it, the open media discussion progressed (see annex). The discussion has positive impact as reflected by the publicity given by the press and electronic media. A radio programme on the theme of the GAW was also conducted by the President and the National Coordinator of the CED on 24.04.2007 and was broadcast live by the radio. Display of Banners and Preparation of a Calendar With a view to drawing public attention and raising their awareness of the event, 50 banners which highlighted the slogan ‘Join up – education rights now’ were displayed in metropolitan locations, leading schools, zonal and provincial offices and the Ministry of Education. To support local campaigning, 3000 calendars were printed which portrayed the vulnerable groups of children who are more likely to dropout from the mainstream of education. They were prepared in such a way that they coincide with the year starting form the month of the GAW and were distributed with the assistance of the provincial coordinators. Essay Competition It is generally agreed that education is valuable, that it is a right in itself and that it is central in promoting other rights. In order to achieve the target of ‘Education for All’ by 2015 this idea should be inculcated in the future citizen, i.e. today’s child. With this idea in mind, an Essay Competition was held for children of the age group 11-14 under the title ‘Education is our Right’. The event was advertised in the press and applications were called from all over the island. Certificates were awarded to all the participants and prizes were awarded to the children who won the first three places in Sinhala medium and Tamil medium separately. Given below are the names of the children who won the first three places in the essay competition.
Oratory Contest For the children of age group 15-18, an Oratory Contest was held on the title ‘Do we have adequate opportunities to enjoy our right to education? The contestants were selected by advertising in the press. Certificates were awarded to all the contestants. As for the essay competition, monetary rewards were presented to the winners of the first three places in either medium. The names of the winners are as follows.
Activities at Provincial Level Keeping ‘Right to Education at the focus, the following activities were carried out at the provinces under the organisation of provincial coordinators and the peripheral CSOs. North Western Province
To activate the civil society and to hand over memorandums to the authorities, human chain programmes were also held at Nanuoya, Lindula, Watagoda, Norwood and Dickoya. Children lined up in the towns with placards, posters and head covers displaying the theme of the GAW, “Education is a human right- Let us join hands now”. Each porgrmme ended with a meeting where the importance of the involvement of Civil Society in safeguarding the right to education was stressed and memorandums with regard to local educational issues were handed over to local politicians and educational authorities. The programme conducted by Lindula students turned out to be a tourist attraction as well. Southern Province
‘Educating child is a long term investment’ ‘Education is our right’ ‘Every child needs a teacher’ ‘Let’s empower the child through education’ ‘Let’s free education from competition’ ‘Solve the problem of teacher shortage in rural areas’ ‘Ensure education for all’ ‘Make the distribution of resources equitable’
In order to achieve the target of ‘Education for All’ in the future, it is incumbent to bring all the non-school going children back to school today. Being cognizant of this, CED had identified seven sectors that are denied their opportunity to enjoy their Right to Education namely:
Sinhala – 1,500 Tamil – 750 English – 750 The dossier specifically sets out measures that may be taken by policy makers as regards each sector of children and was presented to the Minister of Education on 27 April 2007 at a national function held at Sarasavipaya, Colombo. The function was attended not only by the guests, educationists, CED personnel and members of the Civil Society Organisations but also by the representatives of each disadvantaged sector of children. Follow up The CED never thinks that the presentation of the dossier to the Minister and others is the finale of the event. The attention of the authorities has to be continuously drawn to bring the dropout back to the stream of education. It is encouraging that some donors and Civil Society Organisations have come forward soon after the event to support some of the children who have lost their education. Photos: Campaign Materials: |
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