of Sri Lanka
by Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam, Ph.D., May 1999
PREFACE
This report attempts to inform those who are in decision making positions the conditions of the violent conflict environment and the status of education in the NorthEast Province, and recommends actions that would stabilise and improve education and the life of the children.
The term “Vanni Districts” in this report refers to the areas controlled by the LTTE in July 1998 in the Vavuniya, Mannar, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi Districts.
Dr. N Ethirveerasingam
It is hoped that this report will be presented to the Governor of the NorthEast Province and the President of Sri Lanka and widely distributed to educators, parents, and international aid agencies. Most importantly, the report should receive wide circulation within the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports and the Zones, Principals and Teachers Associations for discussion, observations and their recommendations.
The violent civil strife that has engulfed Sri Lanka, especially in the NorthEast has adversely affected everyone living in the NorthEast and all the sectors, not just Education and Sports.
The report however restricts itself from reporting the situation in other sectors the author had observed. It is hoped that an in-depth study of the Health, Agriculture, Industrial and infrastructure status of the NorthEast will be conducted by independent consultants.
The problems and issues observed in education in the NorthEast are such that the solution is in the full transfer of decision making powers and finance in education, not mere decentralisation of administrative functions. In the recommendations, the Consultant has refrained from recommending, “patch up” measures to solve problems unless such measures are needed as an emergency measures while waiting for a political solution to the conflict, peace and reconstruction.
Although hundreds of persons, both in the education system and outside it, assisted in identifying and assessing the status of education in the NorthEast, the Consultant takes responsibility for what is in the report, including the recommendations.
Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam, Ph.D.
Los Angeles, USA
May 31, 1999