LTTE PS: The Status of Schools

by LTTE Peace Secretariat, January 8, 2008

The Status of Schools in theTamil Homeland After Recent SLA Onslaughts

Education was and still is a most revered aspect of the Tamil value system. This has earned the Tamil Diaspora the well deserved recognition it has received in all the countries where they reside today. The Sinhala dominated Sri Lanka Government has for decades set about to destroy this foundation of the Tamil society that has been its source of strength.

Schools damaged, displaced and confiscated by HSZs Aug. 2006-Dec. 2007

During the three decades of attacks on Tamil civilian institutions, schools have borne the brunt. The number of schools destroyed and displaced by such attacks over the three decades would be close to 1000.

The Sinhala Government’s efforts to destroy the educational foundation of the Tamil people go far beyond the destruction of school buildings. A severe teacher shortage was maintained in the Tamil schools for almost a decade during the 1990’s. The method of production and the quality of Tamil textbooks produced by the Sinhala dominated government for use in Tamil schools has been and is even today a thorny issue.

The militarization with which students attend school in Sri Lanka Government occupied parts Tamil homeland does not auger well for learning. Neither is the situation in the LTTE administered parts, where students attend school in constant fear of aerial bombardment by the Sri Lanka Government.

The Table shows the number of schools that were damaged, displaced and confiscated under the guise of High Security Zone. These statistics cover only the period of approximately the last 18 months. The PDF provides the full details of the affected schools. It is not hard to gauge the damage done to the education of children by such attacks on schools that has gone on for three decades.

A PDF version of the full list of affected schools in Tamil homeland from August 2006 to December 2007 can be downloaded here