The Whited Thomian Sepulchres & The Pharisees Who Cheat
Panini Edirisinhe
Here you will find what I said four weeks ago.
I write this because private mission schools have contributed immensely to whatever educational heritage we have in this country. The teachers of this country have borne an immense load in preparing our young to face lives on salaries that are quite inadequate. Partly for this reason there has been an institutional decline in the teaching profession, in the schools as well as in the universities. Similar problems have confronted especially the churches, which once had persons of high intellectual calibre in the priesthood as well as in the schools. I think that their fight to maintain high standards would ultimately benefit the country as a whole. Despite these pressures S. Thomas’ had held its place among the handful of leading schools in this country. This it owes largely to the fight put up by the Board of Governors of the S. Thomas’ group to maintain standards. Trinity College faces severe problems today because, having by far been the leading school in the hill country, the Board has been greatly devalued and its powers had been usurped by the officialdom of a bishop who has been censured. This is why I consider it important to fight for the integrity of appointments to the S. Thomas’ Board.
On the 15th of March 2016 at 2.00 p.m., there were elections to the Board of Governors of S. Thomas’ Colleges. The Romans called this day “the Ides of March”, and Julius Caesar was murdered on that day. Let us refer to them as “The Ides of March Elections.” The elections, chaired by Mr Rajan Asirwatham, Secretary, Board of Governors, were held at S. Thomas’ Preparatory School, Kollupitiya. At 3.00 p.m., two members were declared elected. They were Mr Prabhath Jayasundera as the OBA Representative, and Mr Mithra Edirisinhe as the Staff Representative. The elections were conducted according to these regulations, which you can find on the Internet, here.
Some legal issues have been raised with regard to the election of Mr Prabhath Jayasundera; let lawyers argue those. Shortcomings have been caused by the carelessness of the different OBAs, but everybody is agreed that Mr Jayasundera is going to be the Member who is finally elected. There was no other candidate.
