Fr. Michael Rodrigo and Education for Justice
November 10 will be the 37th anniversary of the killing of Fr. Michael Rodrigo, OMI, popularly known as Fr. Mike. He was killed while I was a student at St. Peter’s and…
Education
Evolution, Not Revolution
I have a few comments to make about the rather inevitable and predictable recent attempts on social media to try and attack and diminish Dr. Harini Amarasuriya’s authority via comments about her…
Voters Want More Government Spending on Health and Education
As Sri Lankans head to the polls, most voters want the government to increase spending on health and education according to the latest findings from the Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS).…
Re-inventing the Idea of University: Response to Professor Jayadeva Uyangoda Part 2
Middle class consciousness, non-involvement in politics The middle class consciousness of graduates who were able to climb the social ladder (we call it social mobility in sociology) was shaped by the modernist…
Re-inventing the Idea of University: Response to Professor Jayadeva Uyangoda Part 1
A recent article published on Groundviews by Professor Jayadeva Uyangoda titled Re-inventing the idea of University: Some Reflections and Proposals deserves wider attention. Given the fact that the university education sector has…
Re-inventing the Idea of University: Some Reflections and Proposals
There are two reasons that motivated me to select this topic. The first is my desire to share with you my conviction that the ruling idea of university in Sri Lanka needs…
Understanding the Gender Gap in the Workforce
The issue of female labor force participation in Sri Lanka has remained a subject of discussion for several decades yet tangible progress in improving it has been elusive. As the country grapples…
Teaching English for Promoting Social Cohesion
Had we had just one language in the world, human history would have been written without many of the ugly stains caused by racial and ethnic conflicts. Of course, one may point…
Religious Indoctrination Violates Children’s Rights
Hobson’s choice is not that bad because it offers you two options: you can either take what is offered or take nothing at all. However, the tradition of parents indoctrinating children with…
Mainstreaming Education for Children with Disabilities
Despite having a high literacy rate, free education and good humanitarian development indicators, Sri Lankan society’s attitudes towards the disabled are still mired in the past although the country has 1.4 million…
Love for Saree or Fear of Change?
A statement made by a teachers trade union has opened up another social debate. This is about the female teachers’ school attire. The union points out that just like in any other…
GotaGoGama: A Learning Curve
GotaGoGama is gone. Gota has returned. Things have regressed in the past two months or so. The nucleus of Sri Lanka’s popular protests have ceased to exist. Its last days were a…
Life after this Death?
“All that is solid melts into the air…” Marx and Engels (The Communist Manifesto) The socio-economic edifice that is Sri Lanka’s informal sector is collapsing. According to the 2020 Labour Force Survey,…
A Failed Government is Destroying Our Children
In May 2022, over half a million 16 year old Sri Lankan children sat their O’Level examination. Passing this exam is necessary for them to continue with their schooling. This batch (referred…
Popular Struggles and Education
Following the token general strike last week against the backdrop of the ongoing protests to oust President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s authoritarian regime, a few school principals have been grumbling about students being deprived of…
