"Education Ministry does not know name of first astronaut who stepped on moon !"

(July 29, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Can an Education sector do anything beneficial or worthwhile for the children or their education when it is headed by a moonstruck Minister and run by a Ministry which does not know the name of the first astronaut who stepped on the moon ? , asked UNP M.P. Madduma Bandara when addressing a media conference at the UNP media unit today (29 Jul) .

The blunders and bungles of the Education Ministry and its sectors under this Rajapakse Govt. are already legion to the detriment of the country and the future generation ; and while it is the consensus that this Govt. is heading the country’s education on the sure road to perdition , Mr. Bandara exposed another monumental blunder committed by the Govt.’s educational Publications Dept. misleading the students : in its History grade 2 publication it says , the first man to step on the moon was Yuri Gagarin in 1961. This Govt.’s Education Ministry and its publications Dept., the governing bodies of SL’s most important educational sector ., expected to be manned by high profile Scholars and educationists do not know it is Neil Armstrong and not Gagarin who accomplished this. What is more ? the publication could not spell even the name of Gagarin rightly , the man who made the first moon mission – it had spelt his name as Gagari . All these problems boil down to one grave mistake this Ministry in particular , and the Govt. in general are committing – politicization of the Govt. sectors and Ministries, whereby incompetent and inefficient Govt. cronies and stooges get appointments over those who are competent and qualified, he pinpointed.

During the time of the UNP , Minister Nissanka Wijeratne resigned over a Prison Dept. issue coming under his Ministry. In India , the Railways Minister resigned over a train derailment . But , in SL , this Education Minister who had ruthlessly and recklessly devastated the future of the student generation is still clinging to his portfolio like a leech sucking out their blood and life destroying their educational careers. Yet , the President of SL seems to be deaf , dumb and blind to these problems , Mr. Bandara lamented.

Referring to the Uva Provincial Council (PC) elections , Bandara said , the Govt. cannot even ask for the votes from those in Uva , let alone hold elections , because, for the last 15 years the PA Govt. was in power ,and though the Uva province was governed by the PA and its Chief Minister for the last ten years , yet nothing was done for the development or upliftment of the province . All the development started by the UNP for the Farmers and others of the province have been withdrawn by this Govt. he regretted. Ranil Wickremesinghe Govt. laid the foundation for the construction of an Airport. There was also an irrigation scheme for the Farmers . Despite the fact that the Uva province is the poorest in the country , this Govt. on the other hand is only pampering and enriching those in the President’s electorate – Hambantota : the Airport project has been shifted to Hambantota while the water supply too has been diverted to it depriving the people of Uva even drinking water , for they are now struggling with a water shortage, he noted.

As the Govt. is aware that it cannot win elections on people’s popularity , it is stooping to the worst of violence and unlawful election activities. The Govt. Candidates’ posters and cutouts are displayed ; even in the close vicinity of police stations and Courts . Yet , no action is taken against them . Govt. property and vehicles are also being used in violation of election laws while the Police are made to turn a blind eye , he asserted.

-Sri Lanka Guardian