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Schoolboy’s tragic death raises questions over child-safety regulations
Prabath and Nilmini Wijesinghe from Thalawathugoda would not have imagined that their playful nine-year-old son who waved goodbye to them and got into the school van on Tuesday would come back home lifeless in a coffin.
Senith: The young victim
A grade four student of Ananda College, Colombo, Senith Wijesinghe’s killer was a turf roller lying in a corner of the school grounds. The playground was packed with students practising for the upcoming sports meet and Senith and a few of his classmates chose to play with the turf roller that weighed about four tonnes.
The boys had bought small packets of ‘bites’ (deep fried flour balls) and were crushing them using the roller. Tragedy struck when Senith, attempting to pull it back, got pinned against the wall and his little body was crushed by the five foot iron handle.
By the time Senith was taken to the Lady Ridgeway Children’s Hospital (LRH), death had claimed his young life. LRH director Dr. Ratnasiri Hewage said the boy was brought to the hospital at 7.50 in the morning. The boy was pronounced dead on admission. Dr. Hewage said in the absence of external injuries a post mortem had to be held to ascertain the cause of death.
Colombo’s Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) Rahul Haq said the victim had suffered multiple injuries to the heart and abdomen.
“The victim’s liver had been severely damaged and with this kind of injury a child would not even survive for one or two minutes,” he said.
When the Sunday Times visited the victim’s grandfather’s residence in Malabe where the body was lying, family, friends, parents of students and students were grieving over the shocking death “The child’s mother is still in a shock from the time she heard about the tragic accident. Senith’s two sisters Sehana (11) and Sehara (5) are also distressed by the sudden demise of their brother. If only the authorities were a bit watchful,” lamented the grandfather, Jayantha Wijesinghe.
Meanwhile Teachers’ Union President Joseph Stalin charged that the Education Ministry had failed to introduce child safety regulations in schools in spite of several deaths being reported.
He also pointed out that the increased number of students in national schools had created an imbalance in the teacher student ratio.
“There are about 50 students in a class and the teacher is unable to give individual attention to each. A student should not be just another number but one who is able to get a teacher’s attention. The situation is worse out on the playgrounds where there is a clear case of lack of supervision,” he said.
Mr. Stalin also criticised the fact that the school had continued with an event to mark the admission of scholarship top scorers following the tragic event.
The Sunday Times also learns that the injured child had been taken to the LRH in a three-wheeler.
The school’s principal Kitsiri Liyanagamage had told the media later on that this was an isolated accident and the school could not be held responsible for it. He said they carried on with the scheduled event sans the entertainment itinerary as a mark of respect.
Schoolboys lineup for their colleagues last journey
The school’s Old Boys Association (OBA) president Lalith Senanayake said the school had begun investigations into the incident and the OBA was extending its support to the school in its inquiry.
“Discussions regarding safety measures within the school premises and how such accidents could be averted are taking place,” he said, adding that the Education Ministry had earlier sent instructions regarding the safety of children within the school premises.
Education Minister Bandula Gunewardena addressing the media after visiting the LRH said that the Director of National Schools had
Grieving parents. Pix by Indika Handuwala
been instructed to hold an inquiry into the death.
Attempts by the Sunday Times to contact Mr. Gunewardena, Education Ministry secretary Anura Dissanayake and the Ananda College Principal regarding the inquiries and Education Ministry instructions failed.
Meanwhile National Hospital, Accident Service director Dr. Kapila Wickremanayake said of the 2,691 schoolchildren treated last year 274 were related to accidents within the school premises.
Health Ministry spokesman D.Wanninayake said that annually about 500 students die due to various accidents. Adding that the statistics were obtained from hospital reports, he said, between 10,000 and 20,000 students were treated for injuries every year.
| Roping in prefects, parents to supervise students’ activities
Action is to be taken to ensure that school authorities supervise students not only during lessons and sports but also before and after school time and during the interval, following a recent spate of freak accidents. The School Health Unit of the Health Ministry’s Family Health Bureau (FHB) has already initiated action along with the  Dr. Ayesha Lokubalasooriya. Pic by M.A. Pushpa Kumara Education Ministry’s Quality Education Unit to discuss the processes needed for such supervision, following the incident in which a student of Ananda College, Colombo, died after being crushed by a heavy roller, the Sunday Times learns. We will discuss this crucial issue of supervision when children are on their own either within the school or in the playground and issue a circular, said FHB’s Consultant Community Physician Dr. Ayesha Lokubalasooriya under whose mandate falls ‘School Health’. If schools lack staff to carry out this important task, they should seek the cooperation of parents or train their prefects, she said. To prevent accidents in schools, the school authorities should also send a small team around weekly to evaluate dangers or risks to children in the school environment, she said, pointing out that now this task is performed once at the beginning of the year by the Public Health Inspectors (PHIs). The PHIs visit schools with a detailed checklist and if they find “unhealthy” areas such as mosquito-breeding places or unhygienic preparation of food and “dangerous or risky” situations such as exposed electricity wires or walls that may collapse, they inform the Principals as well as the zonal and provincial education authorities. However, the schools themselves need to monitor and evaluate their environment for possible dangers and take immediate measures to overcome those risks, she reiterated. The other urgent need that Dr. Lokubalasooriya pointed out was the training of staff and even older children on an “emergency response” in times of a crisis which should include the performance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Each classroom should also have at least one person competent in basic First Aid while the emergency numbers that a school should call should be easily available, according to her. She was concerned that Health Science had been removed from the list of compulsory subjects in Grades 10 and 11 and pointed out that in the long-term this could have serious repercussions. Now, children in those grades have a choice between the subjects of Health Science and Information Technology (IT). With IT being identified as a technical subject which will help secure jobs, more and more students, especially boys are turning to this. Only about 40% of the students are taking up Health Science for the Ordinary Level examination, she lamented.
High-handed behaviour of Ananda prefects  Some of the senior boys who behaved in an unruly manner When journalists arrived at the Malabe residence of the victim’s grandfather where the body of 9-year-old Senith was lying, prefects of Ananda College spoke to them in a threatening manner and forced them to leave the premises. They said that the Education Ministry had instructed the prefects not to allow media personnel near the house. Some senior students were seen discouraging family members, including the victim’s grandfather, from speaking to the media. “You must not report anything or carry any photographs of this incident,” shouted one prefect.
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