Prof. Ratnajeevan Hoole, vice-chancellor of the University of Jaffna,
delivered the Munk Centre lecture at the University of Toronto on
Saturday 21, April 2007.
Vavuniya, a traditionally backward district, was above Jaffna as recently
as 2 years ago. It is probably because some of the displaced teachers
and students from Jaffna are re-settled here. It had taken these past 4
years of ceasefire for Jaffna to rise above Vavuniya, albeit slightly. I
suspect that with the resumption of war, next year's numbers will be lower
again. The table also shows how Ratnapura and Matara have come up
while backward Tamil districts like Mannar remain far behind.
Today the Tamil situation is propped up by the standardization policy that
we opposed so vehemently. In the G.C.E. A/Level results of 2005, out of
the first 165 students from the much sought after medical/bioscience
stream, there are only 5 Tamils!
Jaffna is now a backward district and will have fewer places without this
classification. Batticaloa, where performance is lower than in Jaffna, is
fighting for backward status. It shows that someone from Jaffna used
influence to give Jaffna a status of which Batticaloa was more deserving.
The only good thing ? as standardization moved towards regional quotas
under criticism, lower castes and regional peoples entered the university
in greater numbers. Originally regional quotas were used up by the
regional high castes. But combined with the war, as these high castes
move to Toronto, London and Oslo, the lower castes left behind now
suddenly have a chance.
Cheers
PERA |
Search All News and Discussions