Cultivating a Partnership Culture of Compassion
Image from As we lament the brutish culture that has taken root in our lovely paradise, it is interesting to delve deeper at the underlying physiology, norms and values that promote war…
Education
The Story of a Sri Lankan Constant
Have you ever observed Physicists? They are usually searching for constants, and separating them from variable quantities aren’t they? You must have heard of Plank’s constant, gravitational constant, the speed of light…
Exploring the ‘Chat Republic’: In conversation with Angelo Fernando
Angelo Fernando, in addition to being a long-standing columnist in the Lanka Monthly Digest (LMD) is also the author of a new book, Chat Republic: How Social Media Drives Us To Be…
Beyond Nostalgia: ‘Children of Olcott’ Must Revisit History
Review of: Mahinde Thamai Iskole (Mahinda is the School!) by Sundara Nihathamani de Mel (Suratha Publishers, Mt Lavinia, Sri Lanka; 220 pages; LKR 600 I have never been able to understand why…
Strengthening innovation in Sri Lanka: In conversation with Anushka Wijesinha
Anushka Wijesinha is a Research Economist at the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka and is one of the most prominent voices in Sri Lanka today championing innovation. We begin by…
Colonizing Childhood and Zionist Pedagogy: Interview With Prof. Nurit Peled-Elhanan
Nurit Peled-Elhanan is a professor of language and education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, peace educator and activist and co-laureate along with late Prof. Izzat Gazzawi of the 2001 Sakharov Prize…
The State of the Free Education System in Sri Lanka: Confessions of a Disgruntled Student
Image courtesy I am one of the 243,876 lucky students who sat for the Advanced Level Examinations in 2011. It has been almost one-and-a-half-years since then, and I received my university registration…
Updates on ground situation in Jaffna
After the violent unrest that started late November in Jaffna, (for photos and background, read has continuously received updates on the ground situation. In addition to forwarding these updates via email, we…
Challenges for a Sustainable Economic Development in Sri Lanka
Image courtesy Norwegian Embassy, Sri Lanka First of all, I would like to define sustainable development. According to the .” But it is important to go further in the definition: “.” This…
A Review of Quotas in University Admissions
Photo courtesy My good friend Somapala Gunadheera has made some thoughtful observations (, 10 Sept 2012) on the problems of University admissions, and noted that in my “ Tamil Language Rights in…
FUTA and Free Education in Sri Lanka: Question of Social Justice and Democracy in an Oligarchy
Photo courtesy The results of the so-called ‘mother’s examination’, or the year five scholarship examination of this year, have once again sturdily testified for the importance and significance of preservation and continuation…
“Inventors are like artists – we must celebrate and nurture them!”
For over two decades, Deepal Sooriyaarachchi made a name for himself as an innovative Chartered Marketer and Management Development Consultant. While holding top executive positions in leading companies, he also excelled as…
FUTA’s “6 percent for Education” in Sri Lanka: Sensible or Sensational?
Original photo courtesy “It was mainly symbolic”, is how FUTA President Dr. Ranjith Dewaisiri characterized the group’s demand of “6 percent of GDP for education”, which has now gained national attention. This…
Higher Education and its Disjunctures: An Interview with Professor Sasanka Perera
Cyberspace and virtual reality are intertwined in the context of today’s communication technology; this came to my mind while conducting this interview. Any thoughts on that before we get down to more…
Video on Mediated: Hard data on Sri Lanka, through art
Mediated is an art project that essentially seeks to create greater awareness around and engagement with aspects of post-war Sri Lanka’s ideational, constitutional, economic, social and religious challenges. Four individuals – a…