The Path to Peace: Equal Access to Quality Education for All
By Shiranee Dissanayake
Today, Sri Lanka stands at the brink of a very decisive turning point in its history. In the months ahead, hopefully, the foundation will be laid at a political level to finally eliminate the inequalities, and discriminations, resulting from prejudices, misconceptions, biases and myths, which have hitherto plagued the thinking of the political leadership, the rebel groups and civil society alike.
The outcome of the initial talks are indeed encouraging, where consensus has been reached in several areas. If properly implemented it will go a long way in helping to put an end to hostilities and pave the way towards peace. However, the crucial question is; can political consensus alone bring about the climate necessary for peace?
In a rapidly advancing global environment where the focus is on creating knowledge societies and where competition is rising, absence of war alone will not bring about the peace and contentment that the people of this country are yearning for. The course of events that have led to the current situation has demonstrated that one of the principal factors that have spawned this sense of discrimination is the feeling of inequality among marginalized groups. This has been further compounded by inherited prejudices, misconceptions, biases and myths nurtured along its way by elements with vested interests within all communities.
Marginalization, however, is not limited to any one community. Most people in the developing world are cocooned within closed communities with little or no interaction with the outside world. This has resulted in alienation among communities even within one country. It is no secret that the majority of people in the developing world are excluded from the processes that determine their future. Poverty, social exclusion, lack of opportunity, lack of access to knowledge and information and the inability to make their voices heard are some of the main factors which have contributed towards alienating them from the rest of the world. Undoubtedly the most effective means of breaking the barriers of alienation is equal access to knowledge, information and communication.
As the country is poised to usher in a new era of peace, the time is now ripe to start on a new course by setting in motion new strategies based on the lessons learnt. It is vital that the future generations are provided with the tools of empowerment to reflect, discern, and act to better their lot in life, which will inevitably help to establish and sustain a lasting peace.
Maria Montessori shed some light on the path to peace when she said, “establishing a lasting peace is the work of education. All politics can do is to keep us out of war”. Orienting the future generations towards healthy mental attitudes, and behaviour and guiding them in the path to peace is the work of education, and will have to begin at the Montessori stage itself.
The recent peace talks have initiated action to put an end to hostilities between the government and the LTTE. Now, it is for the planners to ensure that the future generations that will constitute the political leadership as well as the civil society of this country are correctly oriented towards peace and are ready to meet the local and global challenges of the future. In this context the main problem that has to be attacked at the very root is social exclusion, which results from poverty.
Poverty deprives people of opportunities to better themselves through education. Fortunately the unprecedented advances in information and communication technology have made it possible for international knowledge to be made available to everyone irrespective of their position, gender, social or financial standing. The fact that knowledge can be accessed from any location at any time opens up a wide range of opportunities for those who do not have the ability to travel to centres of learning due to cultural, economic or other reasons. ICT therefore transcends the barriers of distance, poverty and deprivation and opens up opportunities for e- learning which is one way of opening the floodgates of education and information to all. It is left to the political will of those who wield the reins of power, to provide this opportunity to marginalized groups if further alienation is to be averted.
Massive efforts are currently underway in Sri Lanka to give connectivity to rural areas and provide the necessary infrastructure and ICT training to the villages, affording rural communities to be integrated into the knowledge society. However, achieving the desired results in producing a peace- oriented quality leadership and a quality civil society, demands proper orientation through quality education. This involved giving them skills of interacting discerning and reasoning, and developing self-discipline, integrity, honesty, respect, tolerance, and empathy and the ability to compete with global competitors among others.
The vital factors in this equation are English Language Competency and Computer Literacy coupled with quality trainers or teachers who are adequately equipped to facilitate e- learning.
As the country stands at the cross roads of peace, the time has come for all including the political leadership, parents, teachers and others involved in the national planning process such as the public service and the media to get their act together. It is time to realize the vital importance of bringing up the future generations as knowledgeable, individuals with healthy mental attitudes and put into action a national plan to empower marginalized societies to achieve social justice through equal access to quality education which is a vital pre-requisite for a lasting peace.
The outcome of the initial talks are indeed encouraging, where consensus has been reached in several areas. If properly implemented it will go a long way in helping to put an end to hostilities and pave the way towards peace. However, the crucial question is; can political consensus alone bring about the climate necessary for peace?
In a rapidly advancing global environment where the focus is on creating knowledge societies and where competition is rising, absence of war alone will not bring about the peace and contentment that the people of this country are yearning for. The course of events that have led to the current situation has demonstrated that one of the principal factors that have spawned this sense of discrimination is the feeling of inequality among marginalized groups. This has been further compounded by inherited prejudices, misconceptions, biases and myths nurtured along its way by elements with vested interests within all communities.
Marginalization, however, is not limited to any one community. Most people in the developing world are cocooned within closed communities with little or no interaction with the outside world. This has resulted in alienation among communities even within one country. It is no secret that the majority of people in the developing world are excluded from the processes that determine their future. Poverty, social exclusion, lack of opportunity, lack of access to knowledge and information and the inability to make their voices heard are some of the main factors which have contributed towards alienating them from the rest of the world. Undoubtedly the most effective means of breaking the barriers of alienation is equal access to knowledge, information and communication.
As the country is poised to usher in a new era of peace, the time is now ripe to start on a new course by setting in motion new strategies based on the lessons learnt. It is vital that the future generations are provided with the tools of empowerment to reflect, discern, and act to better their lot in life, which will inevitably help to establish and sustain a lasting peace.
Maria Montessori shed some light on the path to peace when she said, “establishing a lasting peace is the work of education. All politics can do is to keep us out of war”. Orienting the future generations towards healthy mental attitudes, and behaviour and guiding them in the path to peace is the work of education, and will have to begin at the Montessori stage itself.
The recent peace talks have initiated action to put an end to hostilities between the government and the LTTE. Now, it is for the planners to ensure that the future generations that will constitute the political leadership as well as the civil society of this country are correctly oriented towards peace and are ready to meet the local and global challenges of the future. In this context the main problem that has to be attacked at the very root is social exclusion, which results from poverty.
Poverty deprives people of opportunities to better themselves through education. Fortunately the unprecedented advances in information and communication technology have made it possible for international knowledge to be made available to everyone irrespective of their position, gender, social or financial standing. The fact that knowledge can be accessed from any location at any time opens up a wide range of opportunities for those who do not have the ability to travel to centres of learning due to cultural, economic or other reasons. ICT therefore transcends the barriers of distance, poverty and deprivation and opens up opportunities for e- learning which is one way of opening the floodgates of education and information to all. It is left to the political will of those who wield the reins of power, to provide this opportunity to marginalized groups if further alienation is to be averted.
Massive efforts are currently underway in Sri Lanka to give connectivity to rural areas and provide the necessary infrastructure and ICT training to the villages, affording rural communities to be integrated into the knowledge society. However, achieving the desired results in producing a peace- oriented quality leadership and a quality civil society, demands proper orientation through quality education. This involved giving them skills of interacting discerning and reasoning, and developing self-discipline, integrity, honesty, respect, tolerance, and empathy and the ability to compete with global competitors among others.
The vital factors in this equation are English Language Competency and Computer Literacy coupled with quality trainers or teachers who are adequately equipped to facilitate e- learning.
As the country stands at the cross roads of peace, the time has come for all including the political leadership, parents, teachers and others involved in the national planning process such as the public service and the media to get their act together. It is time to realize the vital importance of bringing up the future generations as knowledgeable, individuals with healthy mental attitudes and put into action a national plan to empower marginalized societies to achieve social justice through equal access to quality education which is a vital pre-requisite for a lasting peace.
posted by Blogmaster | 8:43 PM
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