| by Yovahn Y.R. Hoole
( April 20, 2013, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) In 2010 when my family returned to Sri Lanka my father bragged how Jaffna was the pinnacle of education anywhere and surpassed US standards. But I soon came to understand that the war had turned his pinnacle into rubble. After experiencing the different school systems, I came across the problems which I see destroying Sri Lankan schools. I wish to share my thoughts without giving any offence, particularly to my affectionate teachers. Being in a university town, I am comparing the best here and there. I am now finishing grade 11.
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. For example in the US, students in grade 9 can choose between the introductory Adaptive Algebra I and Calculus I depending on their skill level. This has been very effective, allowing a few students to take college level classes while still in grade school. This also allows for specialization in fields where students are most able while ensuring that they are relatively capable in other fields as well.
What is harder to correct is the inadequate commitment in many teachers. Many of my US teachers have master’s degrees; some have doctorates. They are well paid, sometimes over $70,000 for 10 months. But in Sri Lanka, good teachers leave teaching for better pay. Teacher comparisons may therefore be unfair.
I believe that good teachers are the ones that love their subject enough to spread its joys to their students, and who are skilled enough to teach it. In Sri Lanka some of my teachers couldn’t care enough to come to class or at least appoint a substitute teacher to give us work as in the US. This greatly questions their commitment to teaching. I found it hard to appreciate a class where all that my teacher did was read out our textbook which was moderate at best. If that is all the skill required to teach I believe any fourth grader could have taught just as well. Sadly I even had a teacher tell me that outside private tuition is for learning and school for extracurricular activities.
Furthermore the test questions were a complete mess. Nobody took the time to proof-read for grammatical errors or fact-check the questions. For my Health and Physical Education class in English we had the multiple choice question “In which country will the Olympics be held?” and the answer was supposedly London, although London is not a country; and, the phrase “next Olympics” not having been used, the Olympics could be in any of the countries listed at some future date. Almost every single question had a mistake. When these mistakes were brought up with the administration we were told that they were ministry papers and the school couldn’t alter them.
To further contrast the schools, consider my history classes here and in Jaffna. My Sri Lankan history class consisted of reading the textbook verbatim and memorizing it for exams. We didn’t ask questions because exams were off the book. In contrast in my US class the reading is done at home and my classes are discussions where we gain a thorough understanding of the text by asking questions with answers not found in the textbook which provided historical context. We have frequent supplementary readings, and essays analyzing literature which thereby also enhance our writing skills. Without the slightest doubt, the US academic method is far superior.
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 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.
The schools appear to have given up hope in education and instead resort to presentation over substance to hold on to lost school pride, it seems to me. A good example of appearance taking over substance is the regional “writing competitions” where instead of what we write, our handwriting is what is considered. For a good deal of the time, the students were constantly pestered to keep their shirts tucked in, their nails cut, and their shoes well-polished. A rather hilarious conflict arose when a student was scolded for a good 5 minutes for wearing “the wrong type of banian” under his shirt.
My father says I am as well-trained as AL physical science students in mathematics and far better trained in Java, Biology, English and economics, but weaker in physics and chemistry. A few of us here, when in grade 12 in August, having exhausted all mathematics, physics and economics courses at school, will be sent to the university during the afternoons as dual enrollees for second year university courses in multivariable calculus, differential equations, electric circuits and macro-economics. (Second year because the schools’ advanced placement courses overlap with university first year). This is part of the State of Michigan’s Enrichment program. The university fees will be paid by school. This is the ideal personally tailored curriculum.
I feel sad for my Jaffna class-mates who will do 13 years of school and even if they do well will go through delays and may not qualify as roundly educated. Many Jaffna friends displayed superior academic talent than I. It is a shame that the system fails them, with a ministry so officious that even an A-grade school fears to make suggestions on their lousy books and exams.
I miss my friends who were far more numerous there and my principal and my few teachers who were kind to me and tried their best as I struggled with my Tamil medium subjects. Even they can do little with the system they work with, despite their good hearts.
Courtesy: The Island, Saturday April 20, 2013.
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