Travels on Reconciliation work 120

I quote here from the letters I wrote during this period, which underline continuing problems. But there was hardly any response from government, for no one seemed to care, except occasionally officials in the Ministry of Health – which was why I had a predilection for Maithripala Sirisena though he proved a broken read.

Problems with regard to Vocational Training, which should have been pushed after the war victory, are also raised here. Politicians in Colombo were simply not interested, though General Chandrasiri did his best.

Divisive settlements in the North

In March, after a night at Aluwihare when I showed off to Ena my pictures of Ethiopia and the Sudan, I went to Vavuniya on the 13^th for the town Divisional meeting, and then had an afternoon meeting at Karachi in Kilinochchi. That evening we inaugurated the Vocational Training Centre I had set up at Dharmapuram in the Kandaveli Division, the poorer area to the north of Kilinochchi town on the way to Elephant Pass. The next day we had meetings at Vavuniya South in the morning, and at Madhu in Mannar District in the afternoon, before I returned to Colombo.

The range of problems brought to my notice, which I tried to address, can be seen from the letters I wrote after the journey. A couple of letters are cited in full here, with references to topics raised with other Ministers. The first reference in the letter to the President is to the bringing in of settlers from Hambantota to the North, about which the Sinhalese villagers of Vavuniya South were furious.

Your Excellency

At the recent Reconciliation meeting at the Vavuniya South Divisional Secretariat, the question was once again raised about the poor standard of education. It was noted that many of those who had been resettled had their children in school elsewhere, which made it unlikely that they would make the area their home. The villagers, who are predominantly Sinhalese, noted that this phenomenon was even more true with regard to those settled in the Bogaswewa area, which presumably defeats the purpose entirely.

The villagers pointed out the need for good teachers but also that it was desirable that these come from the area, since otherwise they would seek transfers. I have long suggested that teacher training be taken up by the provinces, but unfortunately the Ministry of Education continues to prevent this, while failing miserably to provide enough teachers in Science and Maths and English for rural areas.

The Governor of the North had tried to solve the problem, and permitted recruitment of teachers on personal recommendations but, while the idea of special recruitment is a good one, the process was not systematic and has led to complaints and also a lack of confidence in the teaching ability of those recruited.

I am deeply sorry that the reforms in education, and in human resources development, that you had touched on in your election manifestos have not been taken forward, given the failure to think outside the box of those in charge. But it is even now not too late to decentralize educational training and management, which would be in accordance with the vision you had enunciated, whilst not presenting any security threat.

The triumphs of the last few years, in getting rid of terrorism and developing infrastructure, will be squandered if we do not pay enough attention also to Human Resources Development. The failure to develop Vocational Training in the North, as evidenced by the statistics given by the Vocational Training Authority at the last examination by the Committee on Public Enterprises, is another aspect of the failure to build on the achievements of 2009. Again, it is not too late to correct that error, though it soon will be, and the youngsters of the area will suffer as happens to so many in rural areas in the south too.

The authorities who have been before COPE have promised to have a workshop on this subject, but I would urge that you ensure this happens soon, with adequate provision for follow up, involving action too by the Provinces to fill the gaps.