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Failures, politics and education
Saturday, 9 June 2012 - 11:24 AM SL Time
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An education minister in one of India`s poorest states, angered by his two children`s failure at examinations for the second consecutive year, is out for the state examination chief`s scalp, The Daily Telegraph reports. With the head of the examinations board determined to stand her ground without yielding to political pressure, a showdown is likely, we are told.
The Indian minister Baijnath Ram is his name- has blown a gasket unnecessarily. Some students who fail examinations, while in school, achieve great success later in life. Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Walter Scott, Charles Darwin, Lord Keynes were all dull students in school but they went on to change the world!
So, Minister Ram should not worry. His children may be in need of better guidance and tuition. Let them be wished well! However, should their failure become persistent, he should, instead of crossing swords with the examination chief and wasting time, involve them in politics, where failures go places. If the competition is too stiff in India, he could always send his children to this country, where failures are assured of upward mobility in politics and most of them become ministers! All it takes for them to achieve that feat is to lick boots or sandals of their political masters, which is their forte anyway.
Education Minister Ram`s predicament pales into insignificance in comparison to ours. He has only his children`s failure to contend with, but our problem is the pathetic failure of the whole caboodle of education ministers in the government as well as in provincial councils who bring chaos out of order, not the other way around. National universities are in an unholy mess. Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake is bellowing rhetoric, which provokes dons, undergrads and non-academics alike immeasurably.
A strike by non-academic workers has crippled universities causing examinations to be postponed. Trade unionists are as irresponsible as politicians they are preoccupied with struggles to win their demands to the neglect of their duties. But, the fact remains that the political authority never heeds their protests unless they down tools and take to the streets. Minister Dissanayake now tells us that his ministry is not in a position to meet the demands of the warring non-academics because it is up to the National Salaries and Cadres Commission and the Finance Ministry to deal with issues like salary anomalies. Technically, it may be so, but why can`t the Minister or his bureaucrats give aggrieved workers a patient hearing and reassure them without driving them to trade union action?
The government cannot wash its hands of the non-academics` salary issue. Surely, an administration capable of amending the Constitution at will and rushing the President`s urgent Bills through Parliament at the speed of light, so to speak, showering pay hikes on politicians and allocating billions of rupees for carnivals whimsically must be able to sort out a simple matter like salary anomalies with ease.
Universities are likely to suffer a one-two punch before long the academics are demanding solutions to their problems including a pay hike. There are signs of another strike on the horizon. The Higher Education minister`s ostrich-like posture will be of little assistance to him or the country. He must pluck up the courage to grasp the nettle. He ought to urge the government to find ways and means of sorting out problems the university system is faced with.
The education sector is in a deep crisis from Grade One school admissions to university graduation, as we often point out in these columns. But, the Education Minister and the Higher Education Minister do not give a damn about the mess. It looks as if the government thought the country could be turned into Asia`s Knowledge Hub without schools and universities functioning properly.
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AnuD
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Joined: May 2005
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 9 Jun 2012 17:20:13 GMT Report for Abuse
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In Sri Lanka, even HOme Science students have become Medical doctors because she was a minister's daughter.
I know one SLFP' Ministers son in 1980s who is a parking Attendant in the UK. IF he was in Sri Lanka he would definitely be a minister. |
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