Colombo International School Violates Fundamental Rights Of A Pupil
Colombo International School and its principal have come under fire for mistreating a child
A pupil at Colombo International School, founded by veteran educator Elizabeth Moir, and one of Sri Lanka’s leading international schools, is currently undergoing the most problematic violation of their fundamental rights.
The pupil [in line with our journalistic ethics, The Colombo Telegraph refrains from mentioning the name of the underage child, also in an effort to respect the privacy of the child and their family] had expressed an interest in using a rainbow flag as part of their outfit for a fashion show. The principal, Sarah Philipps, a British woman, had then told the pupil that this was not allowed. The child had then complied by wearing the rainbow flag as a simple tie and dye cape. She had then come to school covering her bag in a rainbow flag.
The letter written by the principal, Sarah Philipps, to the child’s parents [which we produce in full here with the child’s name redacted], is a letter of the utmost shame. The principal, in 2018, and in a school in the South Asian region where the regional superpower’s top-most Court repealed anti-LGBT+ legislation imposed by the British during the Victorian era, continues to impose Victorian British values on a brown-skinned Sri Lankan child.
The behaviour of Philipps is highly unethical, and involves a violation of the fundamental rights of the child.
“In which century does the CIS Principal live?” Asked Uvindu Kurukulasuriya, the Editor-in-Chief of the Colombo Telegraph. “This is highly unethical and patronising. The rainbow flag is a flag that the world has recognised as one that symbolises fundamental rights and equality. Sri Lanka is not a British colony anymore. It totally baffles me to see that a British woman still assumes that she can live and work in Sri Lanka and violate the fundamental rights of a Sri Lankan LGBT+ child. It is all the more surprising because LGBT+ child-friendly policies are followed in many schools across the UK today. The child had every right to have the rainbow flag included in whatever way they wished in their fashion show outfit, or in covering their schoolbag. The Colombo Telegraph is happy to provide our fullest support to the child and their family in their efforts to ensure that justice prevails in the child’s favour,” Kurukulasuriya further added.
Many Sri Lankan nationals, especially human rights advocates, expressed great dismay at the way the child had been treated at one of Colombo’s leading international schools.
Thiagaraja Warathas, a lecturer in International Politics at the University of Colombo, the co-founder of Chathra, a leading LGBT+ rights advocacy group in Colombo, a co-founder of the Community Welfare Development Fund, noted:
“The actions taken by the school principal is highly homophobic. Altogether, costume of a fashion design contest is at the discretion of the contestant or the designer which cannot be censored by the principal. On the other hand Cooperatives too use rainbow flag. So do we expect principal to ban everything related to rainbows?
The most derogatory and inhuman actions taken by the principal is deducting marks and excluding student from all the activities which for me is violation of fundamental rights of the student.”
