Category Archives: education policy

For Reflection: Sir John Kotelawala’s Speech at STC Prizegiving in 1954

Mt. Lavinia 1954 Prize Giving-Address by the Right Honourable Sir John Kotelawala, K.B.E., M.P. — with thanks to Harry De Sayrah of Sydney, who added this little preface “When politicians were literate and articulate …………………..” with a few highlights and an arbitrary  selection of photographs inserted by The Editor, Thuppahi 

1954  PRIZE  GIVING.  Presided  by  The  Warden, Canon  R.S.de Saram, MA , OBE.,St. Thomas’  College,  Mt. Lavinia. ……………. *Prime Minister of Ceylon, at the Distribution of Prizes,* …………. *S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia, Saturday, 31 st July,1954*

When I played for Royal against S. Thomas’ many years ago my intention, which was shared by my team-mates, was to give the Thomians a good drubbing, and, if that was not possible, at least to give them a test of endurance. Much as I value the opportunity which I now have of presiding at your Prize Distribution, I shall endeavour to do neither this afternoon. I mist congratulate the Warden on his Report, which illustrates what opportunities schools like S. Thomas’ have of continuing to play a leading part in the training of our youth and the moulding of their character.

Continue reading

2 Comments

Filed under accountability, anti-racism, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, demography, economic processes, education, education policy, electoral structures, ethnicity, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, language policies, life stories, nationalism, parliamentary elections, performance, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, unusual people, world events & processes

Jaffna on the Boil in the Late 1970s & My Experiences There

Sarath Amunugama, on “Visit to Jaffna and the Evolving Tamil Political Scene” …. https://island.lk/visit-to-jaffna-and-the-evolving-tamil-political-scene/ ….. Being an Excerpt from volume two of His Autobiography

While tensions were rising between the two communities in 1978 I suggested to my Minister Wijetunga that we should visit the Jaffna peninsula for an inspection tour since Kokavil had a radio transmitter and the Japanese planners were proposing the erection of a TV transmitter also in the same location.

Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, anti-racism, centre-periphery relations, economic processes, education policy, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, island economy, life stories, nationalism, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, world events & processes

The Hill-Country Tamils: Their Shitty-Situation Then … and NOW

Ahilan Kadirgamar, in Daily Mirror, 21 November 2022, where the title reads “Hill-country Tamils and Crisis Times” …. with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

When our country collapses before our own eyes with one of the deepest crises in historical memory, from what vantage point should we analyse our predicament? Sri Lanka’s political economy over the last two centuries is anchored in the travails and strivings of Hill Country Tamils. Their sweat and blood, that began with the horrifying journey from South India two centuries ago as indentured labour to work in the coffee and later tea plantations, were central to building the country’s modern economy under British colonialism. However, their position in society, and for that matter even the writing of their history, was marginalised. And despite the great democratic and social welfare advances in Sri Lanka with universal suffrage in 1931 and a powerful legacy of free healthcare and education, the social, economic and political life of the Hill Country Tamil community is characterised by struggle amidst persistent crisis times.

‘Ceylon tea’ gave Sri Lanka the recognition in the world map, but the plantation workers are still languishing in their ages-old abode, known as line rooms and continue to be marginalised in education, community wellbeing and healthcare.

Continue reading

3 Comments

Filed under accountability, anti-racism, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, charitable outreach, communal relations, cultural transmission, demography, discrimination, economic processes, education policy, electoral structures, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, landscape wondrous, language policies, legal issues, life stories, modernity & modernization, plantations, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, social justice, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, tolerance, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, women in ethnic conflcits, world events & processes

Mrs. Rushira Kulasingham breaks New Ground as Principal of Jaffna College

DBS Jeyaraj, in his website  = https://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/80044?fbclid=IwAR2GGyIjtQCq6lqAwL_R4u87OXaFqx3FWNKwq50r5IxGEpv7xsbnDhicZ5A 

 

The Jaffna College Alumni Association wishes to announce to the alumni across the world that the Board of Directors of Jaffna College have appointed Mrs. Rushira Kulasingham as the Principal of Jaffna College with effect from the 1st of January 2023.

Mrs. Rushira Kulasingham

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, cultural transmission, democratic measures, economic processes, education, education policy, ethnicity, female empowerment, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, life stories, performance, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, teaching profession, unusual people

University Federation of Dons condemn Sri Lankan Government’s Actions

Item in The Island, 1 August 2022, where the title runs thus “Dons Condemn Suppression of Aragalaya”

“Tyrannical governments and illegitimate leaders throughout history have led their societies to destruction”

The Federation of University Teachers (FUTA) says that the Wickremasinghe-Rajapaksa government lacks any legitimacy and it should stop taking cover behind the Constitution.In a statement condemning what it termed as “repression of aragalaya activists by the current regime” the university teachers have said that “the tyrannical governments and illegitimate leaders throughout history have led their societies to destruction.”

Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, democratic measures, disparagement, education policy, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, landscape wondrous, Left politics, legal issues, life stories, patriotism, performance, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, social justice, sri lankan society, unusual people

From Banda to Gota

Laleen Jayamanne, in The Island, 20 & 27 July 2022 where the title runs thus: “Teargas cinema and Rukmani Devi”

“I have never found anything to excite the people in quite the way this language issue does”–– Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike to a journalist.

If true, this observation attributed to Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike, is quite chilling in its cynicism. ‘Excitement’ is a political emotion here and SWRD appears to take a distance from it, observing somewhat clinically, how ‘this language issue’ stirs up ‘the people’. Politicians are especially crafty, cunning, when they know how to excite people with ideas that they themselves may or may not truly believe in.

A protester covering the eyes of the Bandaranaike statue at Galle Face

Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, anti-racism, art & allure bewitching, centre-periphery relations, citizen journalism, communal relations, cultural transmission, democratic measures, economic processes, education policy, electoral structures, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, insurrections, island economy, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, modernity & modernization, nationalism, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, power politics, press freedom, Rajapaksa regime, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, social justice, sri lankan society, trauma, truth as casualty of war, vengeance, world events & processes

Royal: The History of a Hostel & the Sociology of a School

Uditha Devapriya, in The Island, 2 July 2022, with input from Uthpala Wijesooriya, Pasindu Nimsara, and Keshan Themiraarchival images courtesy of the J. R. Jayewardene Centre

Somewhere in July, the Hostel of Royal College, Colombo will unveil its annual Day. Organised after seven long years, the Hostel Day will incorporate a number of aesthetic, cultural, and sports events. Many of them have been held over the last two months and a few are yet to be finalised. In the face of an unprecedented economic crisis, it has been a challenge to have held them at all. For the residents of the Hostel, it has also been a baptism of fire, no less than a continuation of what was once a long tradition.

the young co-authors    Royal Colleg Hostet – Group Photo

 

Continue reading

2 Comments

Filed under accountability, architects & architecture, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, democratic measures, economic processes, education, education policy, electoral structures, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, language policies, life stories, modernity & modernization, performance, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, teaching profession, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes

Chance Events in the Making of the Four-Volume Documents of the Ceylon National Congress

Michael Roberts

 In 1977 a sizeable stock of historical manuscripts was made available to the public by the Department of National Archives in four volumes entitled Documents of the Ceylon National Congress and Nationalist Politics in Ceylon, 1929-1950. This outcome was the result of a substantial body of work. It was also the outcome of several fortuitous encounters.

Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under architects & architecture, British colonialism, communal relations, cultural transmission, education policy, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, language policies, Left politics, life stories, nationalism, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, unusual people, world events & processes

Addressing Sri Lanka’s Future in June 2009

Michael Roberts, reprinting here an article that appeared in FRONTLINE vol. 26/12, 19 June 2009 … with this title “Some Pillars for Lanka’s Future”

“One can win the War, but lose the Peace” — A cliche this may be, but it is also a hoary truism that looms over the post-war scenario in Sri Lanka. The triumphant Sri Lankan government now [must] address the human terrain rather than the fields of battle.

 

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, democratic measures, demography, devolution, discrimination, economic processes, education policy, Eelam, electoral structures, ethnicity, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, language policies, legal issues, life stories, LTTE, modernity & modernization, plural society, politIcal discourse, power politics, power sharing, prabhakaran, Rajapaksa regime, reconciliation, rehabilitation, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, suicide bombing, Tamil civilians, tamil refugees, Tamil Tiger fighters, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, UN reports, vengeance, war reportage, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes

Honouring and Grieving Sam Samarasinghe: Academics in USA

 

 

JOHN HOLT, 24 November 2021

Very sorry to hear of Sam’s demise.   haven’t seen him much in the past several years, but Sam and Vidya were very key to my education about Sri Lanka and, in addition to inputs from C.R. and Kingsley, to the early success of the ISLE Program. We managed to bring Sam and Vidya to Swarthmore College for a year circa 1990 or so, and from then and there they creatively parlayed their experience to move permanently to the US, though Sam stayed with ICES periodically for many years and encouraged our cooperative presence with that venerable institution.

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, anti-racism, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, democratic measures, economic processes, education, education policy, electoral structures, ethnicity, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, language policies, legal issues, life stories, modernity & modernization, nationalism, parliamentary elections, performance, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, power politics, riots and pogroms, security, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, teaching profession, tolerance, trauma, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes