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The government was forced to capitulate to rising public anger over the inclusion of an atrociously inappropriate weblink in the English module for Grade 6 children and withdraw the offensive book from the curriculum for 10- or 11-year-olds.

Not even the sudden visit last week of Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, donning her Education Ministry hat and carrying with her a library of Grade 6 English modules, to explain to the Venerable Malwathu and Asgiri Mahanayaka Theras of the Siam Nikaya that though, ‘We had made a mistake in printing this inappropriate weblink in the Grade 6 English module, nowhere in the book have we asked anyone to press it’, had been to no avail to quell the rising fires of public protests.

If she had left convinced that she had fully convinced the Mahanayaka Theras of seeing the wisdom of her logical reasoning—for example, when a mother places a bowl of steaming rice on the table in front of her hungry children, she is not asking any of her children to serve and eat it—she couldn’t have been more wrong.

In the early days of showing her intent to reform the entire educational system alone, she had declared at a press conference, ‘We will make Montessoris our universities and make universities our Montessoris.’ Later, when her pet project was soon reaching fruition, while simultaneously the country’s Tourist Board chairman was revealed as attempting to place Sri Lanka on the global tourist map as a paradise for LGBTQ folk, it brought a fiery backlash from the country’s indignant religious leaders.

As Sunday Punch commented on October 5, the first to breathe fire and brimstone was no less than the Cardinal of the Catholic Church. In a fiery pulpit blast, he declared, ‘Though we are unsure whether the President is aware or not, we hope he understands the seriousness of the matter. Citizens must be vigilant against those seeking to undermine Sri Lanka’s cultural values.’

His outrage was shared by the Mahanayakas of the three Nikayas, who followed suit and, questioning the political leadership itself, issued a jointly signed letter of warning to President Anura Kumara declaring:

‘We emphasise that promoting unethical practices under the guise of economic development is a short-sighted act that leads to anarchy in a country. The government should refrain from such actions and focus on promoting morality and values based on the country’s long-standing cultural values. If not heeded, the government will have to suffer the severe consequences of public opposition to these unworkable amendments.’

DEFIANT TO THE LAST: "We will ensure justice to Grade 6 schoolchildren'. But not, 'Justice delayed is justice denied'

Furthermore, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, in a Sunday attack three days after Christmas, launched a scathing tirade on government plans to radically reform education and enthrone literature promoting LGBTQs as the third sex of the human species in school classrooms, with students brainwashed in their formative years to accept this freak deviation of nature as part and parcel of nature?

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith charged, ‘The government is now getting ready with teachers and textbooks to teach sex education to children from Grade Six. Some organisations are trying to destroy the cultural and moral foundations of our country. What is the meaning of this? Is this really education? Isn’t it the parents’ responsibility to teach such matters to their children at the right time?’

But these criticisms from religious leaders, some of them specifically levelled at Harini’s avant-garde educational reforms that tap-danced to the rhythmic beat of emerging western Gen Z trends that blindly worshipped at a Woke altar in utmost faith, were neither regarded by her as impediments to her reform programme nor as insurmountable Gibraltarian Rocks to hamper its successful implementation when schools opened anew in the new year.

Then, standing in the uplands of power and fame, when her political world was her oyster, Harini defiantly declared, ‘Come what may, no matter the obstacles, no matter who objects, I will implement my educational reforms, which include sex education in schools.’

On December 30th, a day before the year ran out, the scandalous weblink was exposed by an educational activist monk, and the balloon burst.

Hardly a week later, it set Harini—Prime Minister of this country, no less—on the road to Damascus. It was her own spiritual journey to the uplands, this time to seek at the feet of the religious custodians of the sacred Sri Dalada, the untold blessings of the Triple Gem.

But after her much-publicised visit to the religious groves of the Mahanayakas in Kandy, accompanied by a troupe of media men, perhaps the impeccable style in which she was welcomed and the polite and patient hearing she received within this tranquil enclave of erudite monks may have left her with the soothing but deceiving impression that her educational reform programme had received the blessings of the Maha Sangha.

If she had felt more confident on her return from Kandy’s blessed groves and needed more supportive gestures to sustain those confident feelings at the same optimum levels, she received them abundantly.

With two brave knights on either side to protect and defend her virtuousness should an occasion arise at a planned media briefing, Vijitha Herath and Nalinda Jayatissa spared no pain nor effort to save the damsel further distress whenever she was under some pointed assault.

But the jasmine garland she received in the last full measure of support was from the President when, by giving echo to her voice, he declared, ‘’Come what may, no matter the obstacles, no matter who objects, the educational reforms will be implemented.’

Then the crunch came, and the cookie began to crumble into dust.

With the arrival of former minister Wimal Weerawansa as the catalyst of change at the Malwathu Mahanayaka’s abode last Sunday morn, to seek the manifest blessing of the Maha Sangha Rathnaya before he began his Satyagraha campaign against Harini’s Grade 6 English module for 10- or 11-year-old schoolchildren, the die was cast on the controversial book and its fate sealed.

Even before 48 hours had elapsed after Wimal began his continuous Satyagraha campaign outside the Education Ministry—demanding the withdrawal of the scandalously warped module for 10-year-olds—the government, which had strongly defended Harini’s module as if it were the last copy of the Holy Bible, swiftly yielded and fell under the combined weight of increasing public opinion.

It was indeed an embarrassing setback for an all-powerful government that had avowed that once they had taken a step forward, they would never take it back, now, with the strange and unexpected turn of events, being forced to admit they had taken not one but several leaps back in postponing educational reform for Grade 6 students by one more year. Not a very promising start for the New Year.

As Wimal Weerawansa—the hero of the hour—folded his marquee and claimed success for his Satyagraha campaign, launched only after obtaining the untold blessing of the Maha Sangha first, he declared this was only a comma and not a full stop for his Satyagraha. ‘I will be back next year if the self-same errors are repeated or creep back into the books in some devious way,’ he said while departing the scene.

In spite of opposition calls to discuss the mooted educational reforms with teachers, parents, academics, educational reformists, and religious representatives of all denominations, the Prime Minister cum Education Minister, Harini Amarasuriya, jealously clung to her educational reforms and kept them within her sole preserve.

Furthermore, SJB MP Mujibur Rahman pointed out, ‘These modules have been designed and produced only for the first term of the school year. Neither the principals nor the teachers have any idea as to what will happen in the second term’.

If confusion had reigned in the classrooms, it has become—as Milton poetically put it in his ‘Paradise Lost’—‘worse confounded’. And the question needs to be posed: In the process of reforming education, has Harini fouled up the entire educational system by being an egocentric island unto herself?

Though the Grade 6 English module was entirely produced in-house, the mystery of ‘who dun’ the foul deed still remains unresolved. The Secretary of the Ministry of Education has lodged a complaint with the CID to investigate the matter, even as the minister remains in office.

The doctrine of vicarious liability, however, holds that ‘he who acts through another, acts himself’, and Lankan courts have even held that an employer can be held vicariously liable for intentional, criminal, or unauthorised acts of an employee if they are closely connected to the employment. In the case of negligence committed within the scope of employment, the superior will be held responsible for the latter’s failure to exert due diligence.

But in the chivalrous bid to save Harini from being forced to resign, the Minister of Health and Mass Media, Nalinda Jayatissa, appearing in his habitual role as the defending knight of the President’s Camelot—who had earlier asked the rhetorical question, ‘Should anyone resign for someone typing a single word wrong in the Grade 6 module? —kept a straight face when he announced on Tuesday at the Cabinet briefing that the Government had decided to postpone implementing the proposed education reforms for Grade 6 students to 2027.

The manifold reasons given for delaying its implementation, in spite of ironclad assurances of come hell or high water, it will not be withdrawn, were, it ‘needs to be reviewed’ and ‘the Government will implement the education reforms prudently and bravely’ and, of course, the showstopper: ‘We received a mandate to implement education reforms in two elections, as the NPP had talked about education reforms throughout its election campaigns.’

But does the mandate given not once but twice—or even if given three or four times—extend to printing modules for 10-year-old schoolchildren that contain weblinks to access adult gay chat rooms, without the Ministry disclaimer ‘You are kindly asked not to press the weblink printed herewith either wittingly or unwittingly’? ’?

After nearly a wait of three weeks, the official statement from the Prime Minister cum Education Minister’s office arrived on Friday evening. It merely said, ‘The government will move swiftly to ensure justice for Grade 6 students impacted by the postponement of education reforms, Prime Minister and Education Minister Dr Harini Amarasuriya said today.’ That’s it. End of nonsensical chatter. Foul.

Dusk has set in, and it’s still uncertain what the dawn will behold.