Letters to the Editor
View(s):Democracy itself is at risk
We are witnessing a disturbing global trend: the rise of right-wing governments and ideologies that threaten the safety, dignity and rights of minorities in countries across the world.
From Europe to South Asia, North America to Latin America, right-wing leaders are increasingly using fear, nationalism and scapegoating to gain power. Immigrants, religious minorities, LGBTQ+ communities, and other marginalised groups are often the first targets of these campaigns. History has shown us where this kind of rhetoric can lead — yet it seems we are forgetting the lessons learned at such a high cost.
These movements don’t arise in a vacuum. Economic inequality, disinformation and lingering colonial attitudes have created the perfect storm for the spread of hate and division. But what’s most dangerous is the normalisation of these views in mainstream politics and media. When discrimination becomes policy, and prejudice becomes patriotism, it’s not just minorities who are at risk – it’s democracy itself.
We must not stay silent. Now is the time to stand up for human rights, challenge racism and xenophobia wherever it appears, and defend the inclusive values that truly make nations strong.
Moiz Mohsinally Hasanally Esufally Colombo 5
For the children of Gaza
I see my grandkids free to enjoy each day
Waking up in their comfy beds to a warm drink and play
Then breakfast and off to school they go
Like a lot of kids all over the world I know.
Yet….not so for some who’ve suffered far, far too long
Their homes bombed and gutted and we watch, feeling helpless and forlorn
Children of Gaza, forgive us – a world far removed from your pain
Where not just politicians but all of us seem so unmoved just watching in vain.
I’ve learned that the God I believe in wants us to defend the fatherless
And the oppressed and be voices for justice, truth and righteousness.
So, I ask myself today yes, in May of twenty-twenty five,
As I watch families rolling into bombarded Gaza just rubble- how will this nation ever thrive?
Do I speak out in defence of the oppressed? the helpless and lost?
Sadly, we may do so in small circles but not in a wider arena, why not?
Lest we or I be misunderstood!!? Oh, may I be forgiven!
Knowing my heavenly Father’s will it is to be there for the broken
Now as I watch, the tears cannot be held back and oft I wish I could be there
Just to hold a mother and her baby; to make a child laugh; smile and feel secure
Can it be ever justified? Oh no never, it sinks in ever strong and slowly
For I see the God I worship walk in human form among the lowly.
The despised the rejected; yes, the ones in pain and hurting.
He sees beyond externals to a heart that is broken and bleeding.
So, let’s you and I the world over be voices for these children
We cannot and must not ignore any longer but listen to our hearts and hasten
Help me see their hopelessness, sadness and fear;
Confusion and disbelief as aid is stopped from getting ever near.
We’ve failed these beloved ones; I’ve failed You too, dear Lord
Yet I now get pen to paper to ‘voice’ what’s going on.
Sarla Williams
The NIE needs a fresh look for the sake of our education
It is with a sense of sorrow and disappointment that I pen these few lines to draw the attention of the Minister of Education to a white elephant that costs a colossal sum to the tax payer.
I was a trained graduate teacher in the Ministry of Education for 13 years. Thereafter I joined the academic staff of the National College of Education, Kalutara having acquired post-graduate qualifications in the process. I was there for 24 years and during this long period I had a good opportunity to see how the Institute of National Education was functioning.
At the entrance of the institute, one can see its motto “ Guardian Stone of the Nation’s Education” (guardian stone means Muragala in the vernacular). The NIE was the brainchild of the then Education Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who established it in the early 1980s by a Parliamentary Act with the intention of redesigning and revitalising the whole gamut of primary and secondary education in the country.
Mr. Wickremesinghe wanted to set up a new trend in the area of teacher education giving in-service training and opportunity of exposure to teachers to modern trends in education. But his dream did not come true.
The reason is that the heads of the NIE who were appointed from time to time, the directors, the project officers (at present called ‘lecturers’) were keener on earning foreign degrees and making foreign tours under the pretext of studying the systems of education in different developed countries and have failed to do what they are expected to. They went and came but the system of school education stagnated.
The main tasks that come under the purview of the NIE are designing of syllabi and curricula for primary and secondary level, designing school text books, teacher education and training, conducting researches on new methodologies, introducing new education reforms etc. They spent years and years but the same O/L and A/L examinations continue. One change that I can remember during my time was that Grade One to Grade Twelve changed to Year One to Year Twelve. and vice versa after a decade. The designation of project officers at NIE was changed to lecturers.
One of the NIE’s national tasks is designing text books. This can be better understood by the list of names of the people involved. There are consultants, overseers, authors, writers , editors etc. If one goes through the first few pages after the front covers of the books to the first chapter, one can see the number of names which counts 20 or sometimes even 30. Some from the Ministry of Education and the Department of Publications have managed to creep in.
In the English text books, they try to make every student who sits the English Language paper at GCSE (O/L) a professor of English. Without making the child familiar with day-to-day vocabulary, they teach very remote technical jargon from the areas of rocket science and volcanology.
There are also certain people who become consultants of the NIE in different projects after their retirement. Most of them don’t keep pace with what is happening in the education sector outside the ministry and the NIE. Some have earned their doctorates after their retirement. The government sector also accepts degrees earned at any private university as long as it is approved by the UGC.
I appeal to the Minister of Education to design a solid criteria for officers of the education sector for their higher education qualifications.
The Minister needs to pay much attention to the sad state of affairs and design a new NIE which can sail in the turbulent seas ahead.
D. Dharmasekara Via email
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