In The Country Of The Entitled: Education Vs. Jogging Paths
By Lakmali Hemachandra -January 12, 2014
Lakmali Hemachandra
Free education was introduced to the country in 1947, after the second world war ended, when European and American bourgeoisie were recovering from political and economic chaos, that included war, fascism, many attempted proletarian revolutions that failed and one that succeeded. It was not without a struggle that the Free Education Act was passed into law, even if it was the most favourable time for the welfare state, with Keynesian economic reforms revitalizing the British and American economies with the New Deal and the Soviet Russia threatening the liberty of capitalism. Education was a privilege of the few before free education; it was the privilege of the rich and the privilege of men. What free education did for the country sets Sri Lanka apart from India in the social progress it reached post-independence. In Indi a the literacy rates never reached more than a mere 50%, education was not made accessible for discriminated sections of the society such as women and low castes and therefore education as a social mobilizing force and a force of modernization was never actualized in India. Contrarily, Sri Lanka has a very high rate of literacy and whatever the discriminations women might suffer in this country, education opportunities has never been one of them since the introduction of the Free Education Act in 1947.
Unfortunately, some, especially the sons and daughters of those who rose to such heights with the help of free education now call it a part of the mentality of entitlement that the people of this country suffer from, and claim that it will only be cured when they are made to pay for their education. Minister S.B.Dissanayake might be the loudest among them but in a country where privilege wins over the rights of the people, he is certainly not alone.
