| by Gajalakshmi Paramasivam
( April 21, 2013, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) I write in response to the Sri Lanka Guardian article ‘Schooling in the US and Jaffna’ by Yovahn Y.R. Hoole
Young Mr. Hoole obviously does not feel for Jaffna as I do. My children who are older than Mr. Yovhan Hoole would not compare the two systems as this young man has. They would not because they have been groomed to respect other cultures on equal terms as their own. Our children primarily feel Australian but when amongst those who feel Sri Lankan – they do feel Sri Lankan. They therefore do not relate to (leave alone judge) one through the other. To me this is also a serious form of racial discrimination and coming from a son of Tamil parents – it is shameful. Conduct as an educated individual is far more important than the grades one gets. This comparison is like someone with a grade 8 qualification as the highest, being compared with Professor Hoole – the relative of this author. My father was only grade 8 qualified but he taught me to respect my elders and my teachers. Just this morning my dear friend Mrs. Parames Sivananthan said to me that she was grateful to her parents for teaching her and her sisters about Saint Yoga Swami’s sacred work and more importantly to have faith in Swami and God. I then said to Parames that I was ever so grateful to my father who had faith in Yoga Swami. It’s through my parents that I had the opportunity to develop faith in Yoga Swami. Yoga Swami is considered guru by many of us and yet he did not qualify highly through the official system of education. His work is such that it leads us to realize the divinity within us. No education system is higher than one that leads us to the Truth.
I now believe that the value we receive from our teachers is more their commitment to work. The technical matter is a strong medium through which we connect to their minds. Those who feel strongly about work and caring for their families – share that strength with us. Those of us who take just the technical knowledge from the teachers – are learning for a living and not for life itself. This is not as strong in the Australian system compared to the Jaffna system. But in Australia also they have structured protocols about when and where one has the authority to express judgment on others. Going by the above author’s expressions – the American system seems to be less than the Australian system. The author says ‘I am now finishing grade 11.’ At grade 11 I did not compare even the two Jaffna schools I studied at – Holy Family Convent and Jaffna Central College. It was not my place to do so until I had the official responsibility and / or I was seriously affected by one system and hence relate through a similar system to share my experience with those who had the responsibility to provide a satisfactory system – including my parents at that age. As migrants we often reconcile between our system and the system of our children and this is participation in the new education system.
The author states ‘The first problem with Sri Lankan education is that it doesn’t cater to the aspirations and talents of students, but instead emphasizes a strict curriculum. This stifles growth and innovation in brighter students and puts students who have difficulties further behind.’
This was also the system that prevailed during our times. To date I do not feel that my education system was any less than those of my children. In fact in terms of work I have matched their performance without needing any Australian qualifications. Hence I believe that other Sri Lankans would likewise perform well in other environments when they have the need. If they on the other hand learnt the way an American child learns – they would have great difficulty in the Sri Lankan workplace – as Professor Hoole and his wife experienced when they returned to Sri Lanka from the USA. The dollar cannot be simply related to the rupee. Likewise the American work experience cannot be directly applied in the Sri Lankan environment. What could be compared is their deeper work value. It is for this reason that Universities are required to focus on Research and go to the roots of issues. That gives us the independence. If one wanted apparently world class education – there are International schools in Sri Lanka. But those graduates would have difficulty appreciating the language of the local school students. Jaffna University is not like Harvard University. Yet, I was able to receive knowledge shared by Professor Krishnaverny University of Jaffna at equal level to the knowledge shared by Professor Bruce Dowton of Harvard University who is currently the Vice Chancellor of Macquarie University here in Australia. If one is able to connect to the minds with equal effort – then the standards are taken as equal. The purpose of education is to bring minds together through common principles and values so we would share our intellectual discoveries.
The young author states ‘The worst part about Jaffna is that what some teachers can’t teach us, they try to beat into us through savage corporal punishment’
This was not the case when I grew up in Jaffna nor is it now in the schools that I am associated with – including Jaffna College to which relatives of this author are still associated with. Corporal punishment in Sri Lanka is something that is likely to flow from the Government itself and hence it’s a reality. Those of us who have had exposure to less violent systems of education ought to continue to share our experiences with those who continue to use the stick. I do do this each time I come across such examples of violence which so far have been outside the official environments. One was within a group sponsored by expatriate Tamils. When we donate we need to also ensure that we structure systems that connect the two cultures – so that the beneficiaries would have the best of both worlds.
In Jaffna, I myself do not apply directly the methods used in Colombo, leave alone Australia. Jaffna is used to ‘control’ rather than ‘management’. Those who ‘possess’ tend to control. Management requires sharing as if we are One at the roots. Comparing the American system with the Jaffna system at the surface is also a form of control. One needs to go to the roots of the two systems and know whether they are serving the needs of their respective environments.
The young author says ‘This has extended to teachers making students bleed. A sadistic teacher would go about chewing his cane with a cruel smile. When he hit us I was never sure which was worse, the pain or his spit. Once I was slapped by him until my glasses broke, causing a wound just millimeters away from my eye, and then seeing as this wasn’t enough he beat my hand with a stick until the stick broke and my hand was swollen, all for missing a Saturday class. In the US he would be immediately fired and criminally charged, but in Jaffna when this was reported with a doctor’s verification the principal could only warn him; after this happened a second time, I saw him still at school. The only thing positive was the survival skills we learned. The smallest boy in class would never get whacked because he would howl every time he thought he would get hit.’
There you go! In these areas it is about survival. In many American schools migrants – especially Muslim students must be facing similar problems in different forms. At the physical level – they may seem different and less violent. But taken as a whole they also have their share of problems in the USA.
Ultimately it is about discovering that we are One – including through our diverse education systems. Diaspora Tamils who care must continue to be engaged with the education system that groomed them. Until they pay their dues – they do not have the ownership rights to criticize. Paying dues does not end with donating money in return for status. One needs to place oneself in the system – so that the value system that worked for us would continue to support Jaffna through the younger generation.
The education system of each country needs to first serve the needs of its citizens before satisfying the wider world. In other words, Sri Lankan education system is for Sri Lankans first and not for Americans.
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