In 1948, Sri Lanka attained independence from colonial domination of the British. Sixty years later, Sri Lankans are on the verge of declaring another form of Independence- defeating terrorism and assuring territorial integrity of the country – for territory is an important aspect of Independence. National address of the President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapakse at the 61st Independence Day celebrations, focused on several crucial issues such as human security, social justice and dignity of the citizen. As I understood, through his speech, he was proposing a new project as the massive undertaking of the defeat of the LTTE is almost accomplished. The President was offering a plan to transform subjects who are alien to prospects of freedom and equality, into modern citizens. He was expressing his lack of trust “on the bill-boards in […] cities as “the true extent of […] development” (National address of the President of Sri Lanka, 04th Feb, 2009) and eloquently emphasized the importance of strengthening the power of sovereignty through standardizing the lives of the poor. Objective of this article is neither to discuss the defeat of terrorism, nor is it to converse on the national address of the president. Instead, it would attempt to illustrate the fate of the countrymen + women of the post-independence and discuss what ‘a good education’ as pointed out by the president as a means of elevating livelihoods would result with the current education system in Sri Lanka.
In 1948, Sri Lanka was declared an independent nation state on the basis of popular sovereignty and equal rights to citizens. The Sri Lankan was defined. Peoples’ representative mastered the means of “win[ning] a place in the habits of people’s hearts” (Philip Pettit). Sri Lankan state which was defined by the ideas of freedom and equality began to be characterized in the terms of majoritarianism. Sri Lankans were left fractured along the sensitive lines such as language, religion, race and nationalism. In the meantime, unknown to themselves, they were subjected to another form of dissection – into subjects and citizens. The notion of participatory citizenship retreated in the face of government technologies promising to deliver maximum well-being at the minimum cost.
Even though the masses were drawn into organized political movements, they were kept distanced from the evolving forms of the modern state. Value of the subjects was reduced to the instrumental use of the vote contained by the domain of strategic politics. Apart from the subjects, there is a small section of culturally and politically equipped citizens. They are known as the civil society as I articulated in a previous article.
The President in his address recognized the importance in making the subjects aware that the sovereignty lies with them as the bulk of the population. A ‘good education’ according to him is a direct means of reinforcing the power of sovereignty by rendering a better social status. If he means to achieve it with the current education system, I have a little hope; how far he will go. I am grateful for the public provision of education for I am one of those who have highly benefited from it. However, the quality of the education provided is a Chinese puzzle. The policy makers boast of attaining the universal basic education (primary and secondary) but there are significant shortfalls in mastery of basic language and numeric skills, with the mastery of English being very low. Moreover, there is a disparity in performance between urban sector and rural sector. According to statistics presented by the Department of Examinations, more than half of the G.C.E. (O/L) applicants disqualify for G.C.E. (A/L). Internal inefficiencies accentuated with lack of external efficiency of the education system are largely blamed for the existing unemployment and under- employment among the educated. It explains the secondary causes of youth unemployment generated by the miss- match of skills with the demand of the market. High private expenditure born by the parents has attributed to the reversal of the redistribution theory. In Sri Lanka, instead of redistributing from the rich to the poor, public education has helped maintaining existing social, economic inequality because it is the affluent class who benefit from the free education whereas the poor are discriminated with  a limited choice and little access to higher education due to high private expenditure in the post secondary level. Education budget itself faces problems with short of funds for the capital investments in education. Largest share of the education expenditure of the government contains salaries and wages. During the recent years, there was a decreasing trend in the allocation of funds for education expenditure. Moreover, public examinations held by the Ministry of Education managed to attract public attention by innumerable mistakes committed at the cost of students.
I appreciate the step taken by the president in considering these neglected issues and giving it an effort to bring them forth. It testifies for his aptitude in visionary politics. I trust that he will take measures to overcome limitations in the getting through mechanisms such as education and economy. Voice of the stomach matters more. As things proceed, the value of Kilinochchi war has reduced to an entertainment good of Rs.100/= in the market. Venders of Kilinochchi VCDs promise that the entire family can watch it for about 21/2 hours. Besides, it is an open secret that the primary reason which drives youth to the army is poverty- not patriotism. Government will live safely in the war sanctuary for the moment but will have to face the Reality very soon.Â