HILL COUNTRY 

WRITER IN THAMIL

K S SIVAKUMARAN

I wish to write about a versatile writer in Thamil who is no more with us. His name was K Govindraj. I have read some of his writing and enjoyed a teleplay by him but I had together more information about him particularly from Teliwatte Joseph, an important writer from the hillcountry.
Govindaraj was born in Angumpura estate in Matlaae. As a humanist he found the people in the estates were poor and had to struggle for their livelihood in unhealthy surroundings.
He depicted their life styles in writing stories about them since 1968. He wrote to Dinaptahi, Thinakaran, Virakesari, Chinthamani, Sudar, Kathambam and Congress the print media that was available to him then.
His short stories won prizes in completions thrice. He joiner the Virakesari in 1970 as a journalist and worked till 1981. He worked for the Yaalpaanam branch of the Virakesari he had contacts with a hilcountry academic M.Nithyananthan. The latter brought out three works based on hillcountry Thamil literature. They were Naam Irukkum Naadae (The Country we live in), Oru Koodaik Kolunthu (A basket of Tea buds) and Veedattavan (Homeless). Govindarasj contributed in the effort to bring out these books.
He wrote a column for Sirithiran under his pseudonym Kangulan depicting what was happening in the hill country. He wrote a column for the Thinakaran using his pen name Kangulan. In Kathambam he wrote a column called Malaiklin Pinnal (Behind the Hills).
His collection of short stories Pasiavaram (Vow for no hunger), and a pen sketch titled Thoattathuk Katha Nayakarkal (Heroes of the estate) were published in 1966 and 1968 respectively.
He was also a performing artiste using the radio, TV and the stage. He wrote a fine serial of 13 episodes for the Rupavaahini. Malai Oaram Veesum Kaattu ((The wind blowing over the foots of the hill) was its title. Produced by S K Wigneswaran this production included on the spot locales in narrating the story with dramatic effect. He continued wit other presentations like Arumbu (Bud), Maapillai Vanthaar (The Bridegroom arrived), Puthuk Kudumbam (New Family), Thiruppam (Turning Point), Manithrkal Nallavarkal (People are good).He wrote 16 single episode plays for Shakthi TV and were telecast.
He died prematurely and the local Thamil literary scene lost a talented writer.

ks.sivakumaran@yahoo.com

MORTALITY PROBLEM

In a opening a session of the legislative council, governor longden said that of 65 witness

who had appeared before the committee,30 thoughts that the ordinance had operated more or

less satisfactorily, while 35 felt that it was unsatisfactory. the medical witnesses had

wanted the government to undertake the entire responsibility for the health of the workers.

the committee had recommended a voluntary scheme which would however have safeguards to ensure

the proper care of the workers. longden said the fullest scope would be provided for voluntary

action but means would be provided to supplement such voluntary services where necessary.

in moving the repeal of the ordinance on 26 November 1879 in the legislative council, the colonial secretary stated that the whole scheme had not worked very well. estates had been divided on a geographical basic and if a river ran through an estate, access from one to another was difficult despite their contiguity. The scheme had been handicapped by a shortage of funds. the committees had tried to build hospitals and bear monthly expenses out of incomes which left no balance for some items of annual expenditure. there were difficulties in the collection of assessments and the planters did not take much interest in a scheme that was not their own. the government had therefore decided to the voluntary principle and the committees would be allowed to take the initiative of summoning meetings whenever necessary. generally the committee would function on their own and the government which would undertake the collection of the assessment, would other wise step in only when necessary.

the planters who were opposed to any from of "interference" by the government opposed the legislation even though it was a significant concession to them.

R.B.Downall, the representative of the planters in the council moved that the bill be read nine months hence-a parliamentary tactic of

expressing opposition. he said that although the government had spend large sums of money it had very little to show. he said that if

Ramaswamy was asked for his view he would say that it had been for the benefit of the doctors.he said that one doctor had been on leave 10 months in the last 18 months.

Downhall also alleged that native owners had evaded coming under the scheme by dividing their estates into blocks of less than 10 acres each,

and giving each block a different name,as estates under 10 acres were exempted from these schems. he said that as a result out of a total estate population of

about 360,000 estate workers only between 110,000 to 120,000 came under the scheme and he urged that provision should also be made for the others.

although a favourite joke among planters was how they had treated their workers with sauce, Downhall claimed that a government official had done precisely this.

he said that when workers in agovernment labour gang suffered from dysentery the officer in charge treated them with chlorodyne. when he asked for a fresh stocks. He therefore treated his sick workers with worcester sauce with very good results.amid laughter downhall said that if a planter had done such a thing it would have been reported to the government and there would have been a great deal said about it.

Ponnambalam (later sir) Ramanathan who had just succeeded sir Muttu coomara swamy as the Tamil member in the council, presented a very different picture of the situation in his speech. Ramanathan said there were 39 coffee districts with a total of 1,357 estates on which 275,000 to 300,000 workers were employed. There were 21 medical district with an average of 65 estates, and 15,000 workers. No doctor could look after 15,000 workers and as a result the doctors confined themselves to the superintendent and his family . the “coollies” were left to die at the rate of 60 per 1,000 which was three times as much as normal mortality.

l government public works department was also 60 per 1,000. Downhall was successful in his opposition to the bill in that the governor said that if he withdrew his motion about the bill being considered in nine months time ,the government would postponed consideration of it to another session. At the closing of the session the next day the governor paid a tribute to the planters saying “ on many estates I have seen with great satisfaction the care that is taken of the coolies”.

In the dying years of the coffee industry, as in those of its birth and growth, coffee workers continued to be “found dead” not only in the coffee districts and along the routes taken by them but also, in the last stages, even in the western province, and colombo. The overwhelming majority were workers who had been turned out of the estates when they were too sick to work.

ராகவன்: இரண்டு கவிதைகள்...

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The ‘Whys’ and the ‘Wherefores’ of Sri Lanka -One ‘Son of the Soil’s’ reading of the past and the present
Posted on May 26th, 2012

By J.B. Müller

The Sri Lankan Diaspora overseas (mainly in Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the USA) eagerly and indiscriminately absorbs everything appearing about their Motherland in the international print and electronic media.  All what is done is done in the naïve belief that there isn’t a spin on the news and that it is completely unbiased and objective.  Nothing could be further from the truth!  Of course, expatriates would like to believe that the BBC, VOA, Deutsche Welle, CNN, Al Jazeera and others are feeding their hungry and even curious minds with the unadulterated truth.
 It might be useful for those in the Diaspora to know, understand and acknowledge that Sri Lankans are no longer Eurocentric Anglophiles having at long last seen through the various Anglo-Saxon-Celtic ploys to continue their domination and exploitation by other, indirect means.  No longer are Sri Lankans willing to regard their erstwhile masters as ‘superior’ beings with a ‘higher’ civilization to which they should slavishly defer.  Those ‘good old days’ are gone and good riddance!
Sri Lanka is a very old country with a long history of civilization and a matured polity unlike some ‘Johnny-come-lately’ countries with hardly 500 years of history.  The latter period of its history was marred by 443 years of European exploitation, each European power building on its predecessors to refine its instruments of exploitation.  The British were the worst and the bloodiest when it came to merciless brutality as is evidenced by the manner in which it quelled the uprising of the Kandyans between 1818 and 1822.  It committed genocide before that word was coined by slaughtering every man, woman, and child (including babes suckling at the breast!) in the Uva Province.  That province comprised of the present Badulla and Moneragala Districts is yet to recover and is just now being developed by government.  The Colonial Office 54 series of documents available at the Public Records Office in London holds all the General Orders issued by Lt. Gen. Sir Robert Brownrigg, governor and c-in-c, to Maj. General Hay McDowall and the correspondence with the Colonial Secretary, the Earl of Bathurst. (The Great Rebellion of 1818 by Prof. Tennekoon Vimalananda, Five Volumes, Gunasena Historical Series, Colombo, 1970)
In 1823 the British began selling Crown Land at two shillings an acre to British entrepreneurs—first, to cultivate cinchona [from which quinine is obtained], then coffee, then tea and rubber—from which they made huge profits for 149 years—and Mincing Lane and the members of the London Stock Exchange prospered beyond the dreams of avarice. (Land Reform Commission Report by Colvin R. de Silva, tabled in Parliament)
They created a huge ethnic and social problem by transporting indentured labour from the Ramnad district of Madras Presidency (present day Tamil Nadu).  These helpless people were auctioned off at Matale like the African slaves at Charleston, SC, and families were cruelly torn apart.  They reached Matale walking over 100 miles from Talaimannar along a route that came to be known as the ‘Skeleton Road’ because of the numbers that had perished by the wayside from hunger, thirst, snakebite, attack by wild beasts, cholera, dysentery, and what-have-you.  Their tragedy has been carefully documented by Donovan Moldrich in his‘Bitter Berry Bondage’—the story of the 19^th century coffee workers in Sri Lanka.  Another Burgher author, Lorna Ruth Wright, OAM, wrote “Just another shade of Brown” which graphically details the sexual exploitation of the women plantation workers and the creation of the Eurasian Community (disowned by their very prim and proper British fathers!)   Many authors domestic and foreign have written about what colonialism did to Sri Lanka (Ceylon up to 1972) and it is a wonder that the people of this country tolerated what was done to them for so long, so patiently. (‘Bitter Berry Bondage’ by Donovan R. Moldrich and ‘Just another shade of brown’ by Lorna R. Wright)
Father Paul Caspersz, SJ, head of Satyodaya, Kandy, has been labouring amongst the Tamil plantation workers of Indian origin for decades and has written extensively about how these human beings have been mercilessly exploited.  They have lived in sub-human conditions for over one hundred years and their emancipation has been a long and hard struggle to restore to them their intric dignity as human beings. (Satyodaya Centre, Kandy, sri Lanka)
When I was working at the then Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation as a Relief Announcer on the Commercial Service I distinctly remember reading a sign affixed to the gate of a British Club facing the Dutch Burgher Union headquarters which said: “Natives and dogs NOT allowed.”  This was in 1969!  I phoned friends working on the ‘Ceylon Daily News’ and they sent a photographer round to snap a picture.  It was published and shortly thereafter the Government ordered the Club to take down the offending notice.  Do any self-respecting people endowed with inherent dignity have to tolerate such barefaced arrogance?
Britain was one of the most ‘successful’ imperial powers on earth and they created a worldwide empire (on which the sun never set because it was everywhere on the globe) and bled its colonies.  London is such a magnificent city despite its foul weather because it has risen, literally, on the blood, sweat and tears of countless millions in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Australia.  In their imperial schema of things Australia produced the wool, New Zealand the milk, Malaya the rubber, Ceylon the tea, Rhodesia the tobacco, South Africa the diamonds and gold, Mauritius the sugar, West Africa the cocoa and so on—to the great delight of those who sat in London and counted their pounds, shillings and pence.  They didn’t mind exploiting their own in the textile mills of Lancashire and the coal mines of Scotland. [Charles Dickens]. The exported their poor Scots, Irish, and Welsh to all these colonies to supervise the black, brown and yellow natives [and the ‘half-caste’ Eurasian offspring known as Burghers, Anglos and even bastards].  The slightest rumble from their workers and the Redcoats (now Khakied) were there to shoot their b***s off!
Look at the Burghers.  The British looked down on them with great disdain classifying them as ‘half-castes’ and included them amongst the indigenous population.  In 1796 they issued the Burghers an ultimatum—learn English or leave.  Many who had the means went to Batavia (modern Jakarta).  The others stayed and learned the new tongue.  Very soon, these Burghers knew better English than the British themselves and were therefore enlisted in that great corps of clerks that they employed.  These Burghers also learned how to play cricket and challenged the British to a one-day on Galle Face Green.  They were superciliously asked what the name of their ‘club’ was to which a Burgher sharply retorted:  “Nondescripts Cricket Club, Sir!”  The name stuck.  The club still exists (from 1889).  So do the ‘nondescript’ Burghers. The entire British establishment including the ‘shoppies’ turned out one fine Sunday morning to watch these half-caste upstarts being licked.  The imperial governor himself came and occupied the clubhouse that now stands before the Taj Samudra Hotel.  Well, to cut a long story short, the Burgher ‘nondescripts’ beat the British who were ‘hoist with their own petard!’  They were learning, ever so painfully, that other people were not only their equals but could also better them in many spheres and they learned this lesson on this Island.(People Inbetween by Michael Roberts, Ismeth Raheem, Percy Colin-Thômé, Sarvodaya, Ratmalana, 1989).
There is no land on the globe that the British touched that has not been left with a wholly untenable legacy of problems:  India with Pakistan have Kashmir; the Holy land has Jewish Israel contending with Arab Palestine; the Cypriots are divided between the Greeks and the Turks; Africa is an indescribable mess.  Glaring problems were created on the North American continent with the marginalization of the native Amerindian and Inuit peoples not to mention the stand-off between Blacks and Whites.  In Australia the original inhabitants, the aborigines were decimated and then marginalized whilst their land was robbed from them by white colonists.  It is a despicable record of man’s inhumanity to man carried forward on the specious premise that ‘White is Right’ and because they had a head-start in the practice of barbarism!  What is even more despicable is that their so-called ‘Christianity’ condoned their barefaced discrimination and unfettered brutality.
Today, these Anglo-Saxon-Celts pontificate o the whole world about human rights—yes, fundamental human rights which they denied millions from the 16^th to the 20^th centuries of the Common Era.  They sanctimoniously presume to interfere in the internal affairs of countries that attempt to stand-up to their bullying (amply exposed by Wiki-Leaks).  The ongoing bloodletting in Afghanistan and Iraq demonstrate their manifest hypocrisy.
They left behind what were basically alien concepts, structures, systems, and constitutions that have confused and confuted the peoples they formerly ruled.  They uprooted and deliberately destroyed indigenous systems that had endured for millennia and which the indigenous people were comfortable with.  Today, the peoples of these lands are divided into innumerable factions and cliques contending bloodily for command and control in the name of the ‘democracy’ they left behind.  They are happy with what they see because it is a continuation of their ‘divide et imperia’ or ‘divide and rule’ policy.  It is easy to manipulate and exploit those who are divided!
Sri Lanka’s problems which some expatriates gleefully point out (as a justification for their living overseas) is a damaging inheritance bequeathed by the departing British to a class of indigenous people brainwashed and nurtured by them in their own image:  the English-speaking Middle Classes represented by several leading families of Low-country upstarts and Up-country traitors.  These families have lick-spittle hangers-on who have attained some upward social mobility and the privileges that go with that mobility and occupy the second and third tiers of governance.  Whether they inhabit the governing party or the Opposition or their sundry and various coalition cohorts they have become the ‘corrupt of the earth.’
The decent and law-abiding majority are a patient, tolerant and hospitable people (sometimes referred to as the ‘broad masses’) who have taken much abuse. If you believe the many travellers who passed through, they are a giving and forgiving people.  If we are to trust the historical record, these gentle, hard-working people have been driven to and fro by the Pandyans, Cholas, Cheras, Pallavas and Javakas; then, by the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British—each, in turn, more subtly brutal than the previous.  Ever since 1186, when the indigenous polity began disintegrating with the breakdown of central authority [and fissiparous tendencies manifested themselves], there has been a traumatic crisis that is yet to come to a conclusion.  We know that history works in cycles and that that conclusion will come, perhaps unobtrusively or dramatically to sweep away the detritus of several centuries.
True civilization does not consist of the worship of science & technology or the tinsel and glitter of modernity or of roads, railways, harbours, airports, and the frenzied rush one might be bemused by.  It consists of the maturity and wisdom gained through the practice of virtue, the development of good moral character, to decent family life and values, the unswerving commitment to social justice and equity.  This also means and implies the practice and active pursuit of harmlessness and a belief in the sacredness of all life—all mankind is of one blood.  The serene tranquility of spirit thus attained is a universal norm that needs no sectarian labels.  This is the civilization that grew and was nurtured on this Island for centuries until rudely and repeatedly disturbed.  It is yet the goal of those who appreciate the intrinsic beauty of Nature rather than that of soulless concrete, glass and steel.
Let’s discuss this further if you are minded to,
jb.muller@gmail.com

2

the royal botanical gardens of peradeniya? kalutara? slave island?

        

    Rubber trees at the entrance of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Peradeniya.

I was reading through Bitter Berry Bondage - an account of the lives of 19th century coffee workers in Ceylon by Donovan Moldrich the Coordinating Secretary for Plantation Areas in 1989, and learnt that the Royal Botanical Gardens was originally situated in Slave Island, Colombo and not Peradeniya, Kandy! 

It seems that Edward Barnes (read Barnes Place) Governor of Ceylon 1824 - 1831, was together with the Bird (Byrde) brothers a pioneer of plantation coffee cultivation in Ceylon, and according to Moldrich:

” Barnes had a coffee plantation at Gangoruwa which later became part of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya near Kandy. In order to get the best possible scientific advice, Barnes transferred the Botanical Gardens from Slave Island in Colombo to Peradeniya…”.

But the website to the Peradeniya Royal Botanical Gardens - that makes no mention of Barnes’ hand in the move - says the Gardens moved to Kalutara before moving to Peradeniya. 

” In 1810 under the advice of Sir Joseph Banks a garden named Kew was opened in Slave Island and Mr. William Kerr was appointed its Superintendent. In 1813 the garden was moved to Kalutara for the reception of economic plants which could be cultivated there on a larger scale than was possible at Slave Island. Kerr died in 1814 and under the rule of his successor Mr. Alexander Moon this Garden was finally moved to Peradeniya in 1821. 

I can’t really find any online references to the Botanical Garden in Kalutara, or its journey from Slave Island to Peradeniya. Help anyone? 

#SRILANKA  #PERADENIYABOTANICALGARDENS  #SLAVEISLANDBOTANICALGARDENS  #KALUTARABOTANICALGARDENS   
8 MONTHS AGO ON AUGUST 24, 2011 AT 06:11PM 
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  Jack Point

  I have heard that it was in Slave Island too. Apparently the road named "Kew Rd" was so named because it was clsoe to the Gardens (which were inspired by Kew Gardens in London).

  There is a referenec here:

  http://colombofort.com/colombo...

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CEYLON - HISTORY OF COFFE In a work published- some years ago on the products of this most beautiful tropical island, it is said that when in 1836 the duty on coffee in England was reduced to sixpence per pound, a great impulse was given to coffee planting. If such was the case, and it certainly was, then how great ought the production be to-day when the duty is only three halfpence. Yet though only a quarter of a century ago coffee was the principal product of the colony, and the value of the annual crop exported exceeded 3,000,000, now it is only about £25,000, whilst tea occupies the premier position. From very early times it is recorded that coffee grew wild in many parts of the island, but during the decade commencing with 1836 there was what can be only described as a rush for lands said to be only paralleled by the movement towards the gold mines in California and Australia. The mania so acted upon all classes that we are told even the governor, council, military, judges, civil servants, and clergy all swarmed to the hills to purchase the Crown lands which the authorities were only too ready to sell and did so to the extent of about 40,000 acres per annum. Officers of the East India Company sent their savings to invest in what was to be an El Dorado, then the crash came, hastened by two causes ; first, the financial panic through which England passed in 1845, and, secondly, the withdrawal of the protective duty—for this happened in the days of protection to which we are asked once more to return —a duty being charged on the product of Java, Brazil, and other coffee-growing countries in excess of that levied upon the British-grown product. Still the crisis had some compensations, for it led to a healthier condition of planting, economics were introduced into the management of the estates, and scientific principles were established instead of the many different schemes which individual planters without any real knowledge endeavoured to carry out. While there are still a few left in the trade who can remember when " Plantation " and " Native " Ceylon were the two principal kinds used by the grocers throughout the kingdom ; today Ceylon coffee is. hardly known as an article of commerce and certainly the greater number of grocers have never sold a pound of this once favourite description. The term native has always been, as applied to Ceylon, somewhat of a misnomer, for though coffee is reported to have grown wild there, it is more than likely that it had been brought by Arabian traders. In later years, the term was applied to that grown on more hardy trees, which were planted around a garden or plantation, and did not receive the same care and attention as the product of these plantations did, while the crops grown on them were looked upon and treated as part of the wages of the natives, or coolies, who were employed on the estate. The final blow to coffee culture in Ceylon came with the development of the leaf disease, which is here described, and though for a time Liberian coffee was introduced which it was hoped would resist the ravages of this pest, even that has had to give way to the more profitable tea and rubber, for both of which the island has become noted. Whether the' high prices obtained, for the small quantity grown, will induce further cultivation is open to question, for though the' quality of the product stands quite alone, and will always ensure a ready sale, yet with an increased production there would naturally be a corresponding reduction in price. Coffee Leaf Disease. The Ceylon coffee industry was ruined owing to the attacks of a minute fungus, known as Hemileia vastatrix, very similar to the rust of wheat. The disease was first noticed in 1869, when it was already fairly well distributed throughout the island and had probably been in existence for some time. The characteristic outward sign of the disease is the formation of a number of yellow spots on the surface of the leaves. Owing to the fungus using up the plant's food, the coffee plant is weakened, its leaves fall long before they would if not attacked, only a small proportion of the. flowers develop sound fruits, and accordingly a very poor crop is the result, whilst the whole plant is weakened and may finally be killed. The disease was very carefully investigated by the late Professor H. Marshall Ward in 1880-81, but no curative measures could be discovered. The greatest assistance was rendered by the Botanic Garden, and the Ceylon planters displayed wonderful energy in meeting the disaster. Within a year or so after the disease was noticed in Ceylon it appeared in Southern India, and rapidly spread to other countries also, the spores probably having been introduced in various ways; practically all the coffee-growing regions of the Old World were affected. The disease is so dreaded that other countries took, and still take, every possible precaution to guard against its introduction. JAMAICA The " Blue Mountain " coffee of Jamaica is famous and commands higher prices than any other kind of coffee. It is grown at elevations between 3,000 and 4,500 feet on estates situated in the beautiful mountain range whence it derives its name—in a region where the climate is cool, and rain, alternating with bright sun-shine, is obtainable all the year round. The output of the better grades is limited to rather less than 8,000 cwt. per annum. The total export of coffee varies, however, between 50,000 cwt. and 100,000 cwt., and it usually stands about third or fourth in order of value amongst the products of the colony. Taken as a whole, coffee culture in the island has degenerated very seriously. Since the commercial depression which fell upon it, according to many, with the abolition of slavery, there has not been the care and attention given to its production that was given formerly. The result is seen in depreciation of quality, and with a corresponding lowering of prices it is quite conceivable that it is no longer the paying article which it was in early days. A large proportion of the total production of the island is grown by the natives in small patches, and they have neither the materials nor the inclination to improve the quality, leaving the trees to become worn-out and unproductive. There is, however, now some indication of a more systematic cultivation, and rather large quantities are being exported, much of it being shipped here in the parchment, with the result that more care is devoted to the cleaning, and better results are obtained. BRITISH EAST AND CENTRAL AFRICA Coffee was the principal export of British Central Africa, and the Protectorate stood alone in the British Empire in this respect. The introduction of coffee into the country is quite a recent event, comparatively speaking, having taken place in 1878. By 1896 coffee was by far the most important item in the list of exports. The area under coffee reached its maximum in 1900, when it was 16,917 acres in Nyasaland alone ; it decreased more or less steadily, until in 1907 it was 6,134 acres. The diminution in coffee cultivation has been due to the general depression in the coffee market and locally to droughts to a considerable extent. The great fall since 1904 appears to be due to the increased attention given to cotton. The coffee estates are chiefly situated in the healthy Shiré Highlands, and Arabian coffee is almost entirely grown. The figures of the weight and value of the exports indicate a decided falling off during the last ten years. In 1898 the weight exported was 7,688 cwt. valued at L22,412, while in 1908 it had fallen to 7,120 cwt. and £16,374 value. The total value of all exports in 1898 was only £26,146—almost all coffee—but in 1908 it was £214,631, showing how cotton cultivation has largely been introduced rather than fresh plantations of coffee. Part of the reduced export is, however, due to the fact that as the interior of Africa has been opened up by a largely increasing white population, so the demand from the country itself has increased, and in addition to the amount exported must be added the amount retained for consumption there, but these figures are not obtainable. The acreage under cultivation, however, as shown above, has greatly decreased, but it is probable that as other parts of Africa are opened up and European capital is attracted there—for instance in the outlying parts of the Uganda protectorate and in some parts of the Congo Free State as well as possibly in Northern Rhodesia—coffee will be introduced and British grown coffee may become a considerable item in our food supplies. QUEENSLAND There is a part of Queensland which being situated within the tropics is capable of the cultivation of coffee and other tropical productions. Up to the present time the amount grown is hardly worth taking into consideration being only about 100,000 lbs. to 150,000 lbs. per annum, and this is practically all retained for home consumption. It is stated, however, that the venture has been a financial success and in time it is hoped will become an article for export as well as for the local home consumption.

EDUCATION OF INDIAN

EDUCATION OF INDIAN 

MINORITIES 

IN SRI LANKA

Professor     S.sandarasegaran

Dean,

faculty of education

university of colombo

sri lankan educational policy makers concentrated their attempts since 1940 to enhance the educational levels for the disadvantaged sections of sri lankan society. Their reforms mainly reached these sections and left out the Indian minorities who became stateless people as a result of the discriminatory citizenship law of 1948.since 1977 things began to change after gradual integration of the plantation sector schools predominantly Indian with the national mainstream improvement were spectacular in respect of primary education literacy rates,female participation and drop –out rates .this progress was not matched by similar improvement at the secondary level and in higher education. There is a definite need to formulate new policies to accommodate Indian minorities in the field of higher education where the admission policy is very prohibitive.

The Indian Tamil community in Sri Lanka constitutes about 6 per cent of the total population which is equal to about one million. They are identified as up country Tamils, Tamils of Recent or Indian Origin and or plantation Tamils. Out of an estimated number of 1.3 million Indian Origin Tamils IOT at least 85 per cent of them still live and work in the tea plantation districts of Nuwara Eliya, Badulla, Kandy, Ratnapura, Matale,Kegalle, Kalutara and Monaragala some 100,000 people are settled down in the war-torn northern and eastern districts there is also a small concentration of IOT in the Colombo district comprising about 2.0 per cent of the population.

The Indian migrants were confined to the plantation which constituted a world cut off from the Sinhalese majority heartland. They preserved their distinct religious and linguistic culture. Plantation hierarchy,with its authoritarian structure,discouraged any assimilative process that would bring the Indian labour into any interaction which the Sinhalese majority. Except for a small proportion of 15 per cent involved in some commercial activities and occupations such as clerk, salesman and teacher, the remaining 85 per cent of the IOT are mostly plantation workers, living in non-urban areas of the country.

The Indian labour of the plantation industry had benefited by labour legislation enacted by the colonial Government which provided a variety of welfare measures these measures were introduced because of a need to satisfy the Government of India which was expressing concern over the plight of her immigrant workers in Sri Lanka. It was also a prudent gesture which could ensure a regular and smooth supply of labour to the estates and accounted for the solicitude shown by the government towards Indian labour on the plantations. As a part of these welfare measures, the plantation management was required to establish schools for the benefit of the plantation children. Primary education was made compulsory for these children.

The welfare measures which included free education and medical facilities were rudimentary in nature. A minimum wage ordinance of 1927 was another noteworthy welfare measure. The welfare measures and benefits that the Indian labour received were, at the time which srilankan workers elsewhere were not, entitled to receive. The indigenous workers not catered for and the politicians of srilanka were critical of the privileged position accorded to the Indian labour and the elementary welfare measures introduced by the colonial government.

In 1948 independent srilanka framed its own laws in regard to citizenship and the franchise. Under the citizenship acts of 1948 and 1949 only 134,000 out of a total of 825,000 indians were admitted to citizenship, approximately 16.2 per cent of the total. Te rest were declared stateless without voting rights. The disenfranchisement of this community contributed greatly to a sense of isolation, inferiority and ambiguous identity. Citizenship in srilanka ensure is pre – requisite for free tertiary education, the contact of business and trade, for securing employment and travel documents and for many other activities. Lake of srilankan citizenship for a period of four decades since 1948 had a very adverse impact on the Indian tamil community which had to lag behind other communities in social, economics, political, cultural and educational development.

The problem of stateless IOT continued for a period of four decades until it was tackled why two agreements (1964 and 1974) between the government of India and srilanka and the citizenship act of 1988. India agreed to the repatriation of 600,000 persons and as a result of subsequent repatriation, Indian tamils’ share of srilanka’s total population dropped from 10 percent to 6 percent between 1971 – 1981. srilanka had agreed to absorb only 375,000. another citizenship at was passed in 1988 under which all stateless Indians could submit and affidavit to obtain srilankan citizenship. This act shorted out the problems of citizenship by accepting all the stateless percent who did not apply for Indian citizenship under the pervious India – lanka agreements of 1964 and 1974. these acts and policy changes in regard to statelessness and citizenship enable the Indian migrant community to become formidable force in the political arena of Sri Lanka, specially in the later part of the 1980’s and early 1990’s. the Indian tamils and there trade union and political organization (Ceylon workers congress) sided with the united national party (UNP). Massive constituency of the Indian tamil community effectively delivered the UNP to power as it could do subequently in the presidential election of 1988 and the parliamentary election 1989. in exchange for this support of the UNP, Thondaman, leader of the CWC, obtained a series of concessions on citizenship and on education. Between 1977 and 1994 thondaman negotiated with a number of ministers of education on matters educational pertaining to the Indian tamil community. These attempts led to the integration of the educational provision of the plantation community with that of the main stream. Against this background, it may be important to:

a. Narrate briefly the backwardness and disadvantageous position of the educational level of the Indian tamil community;

b. Identify the favorable and unfavorable conditions and factors which influenced the educational provision of the Indian tamil community and some of the recent trends in the education provision of this community; and

c. Identify major areas of short comings in respects of schools educational and higher education

Early backwardness and recent progress in Education 

Sri Lanka’s studies on disadvantaged groups very often cite the Indian plantation Tamils as an example of ethnic minority groups regarded as being disadvantaged in economic levels, educational achievement, housing and health facilities. Education, within the plantation sector. Remained out side the national system of education and was left largely in the hands of the plantation owners. According to them, the state school was no more than a child care centre when the adults are at work. The British companies that manage the plantation system did not encourage schooling, and the grates in those schools extended only up to primary level. Agitation in Britain and India for the provision of educational facilities for the plantation workers led to the enactment of ordinances of 1905,1920 and 1947. until gradual state take over of schools since 1977, the plantation sector schools for the responsibility of the plantation management. Most schools for single – teacher schools and the pupil – teacher ratio was often 1:100. most of the teachers were only secondary qualified but without any pedagogic training. Some of them worked as part time clerks in the estate office.

Instead of the primary level national curriculum, only the three “R” s were taught. The buildings were generally in a dilapidated condition without protection from unfavorable climatic conditions.

For further education, children had to travel to distant Tamil schools. The better schools, outside the estate sector, were inaccessible to these children due to distance and barriers of language. Most of the better schools in the plantation areas were sinhala schools where the language of the Indian Tamils was not the medium of instruction. According to one estimate, only 4% of the primary school lowers proceeded to the secondary level of education provided by the town schools in 1960.

In Sri Lanka, the political commitment to democratize education since 1945 was seen in the liberal financing allocation made for education as part of a welfare oriented measure that was expected to help the disadvantaged communities and reduce socio – economic inequalities. The share of education in the GNP increased to almost 5% in 1970 and educational expenditure as a proportion of the national budget fluctuated between 14%and 16% in the 1960’s. Free education, national languages as media of instruction, free issue of school text books and uniforms, scholarships for children from low income groups expansion of schools to rural areas where some of the measures introduced by Sri Lanka to promote the principal of quality of opportunities in education. These developments and measures did not reach the plantation community in view of the absences for a concerted policy to enhance its educational levels. As a results of these measures, Sri Lanka reach educational standards almost similar to that of any another country of the developed world.

Achievement in respect of school education in Sri Lanka could be summarized. In 1991, of 5.7 million children in the age group 5 -19 years, 4.2 million were in schools. Nearly 75 per cent of the total population below 19 is in school. School participation rates and literacy rates reach the upper eighties in 1995 (national education commission 1995).

- The number of Schools increase from 5487 in 1950 to 10,231 in 1988 and 10,120 in 1997.

- Literacy rates increased from 57.8 per cent in 1945 to 78.2 per cent in 1980 in the urban sector the rates reached 92.3 per cent in 1991.

- At the turn of the century, the national literacy rate for female was only 9 per cent. By 1991, it reached 83 per cent.

- One of the main achievements of the system is that there is no gender this discrimination in the school system at any level. A ratio of 50.25% males to 49.8% females has been maintained in the schools for nearly to decades, in some of the classes and could notice the predominance of girls. According to 1991 schools census, for every 100 males there were more girls in standerds 8,9,10,11, and 12

- The net enrolment of children of five years of age increased to 97.9 per cent in 1991. in 1981 the ratio was 89.7 % by 2000. virtually every child in this age group will be in school if the current plans in education for all are implemented. Regulations have already been framed under the education ordinance. No.31 of 1939 compelling parents to send their children to school.

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These achievements in respect of education development are noteworthy but this does not reveal the intra – national this disparities prevailing in the system. Educational provision and achievement of the Indian Tamil community have been some what at a lower level in view of the fact that the members of the community as a whole were plantation workers who could not enjoy benefits of the democratization process of education which began in late 1940’s educational indicators pertaining to this community reveal a different picture when compared with other section of the Sri Lanka society.

Literacy rates are significantly lower in the plantation sector (68.1%) in comparison to the urban (92.8%) and the rural (89.2%) sector (1987) improvement in female literacy rates at national level is impressive (55.6% in 1953 and 83.4% in 1990). But in the plantation sector 52% of the women are illiterate (1982) Recent data for the year 1996/97 reveal the continuity of this disparity between estate and other sectors.

Improvement in the educational provision during the period 1986 – 1996 contributed towards an increase of literacy Rates in the plantation sector. But still the disparity among different sectors continues.

Date pertaining to the percentages distribution of the Sri Lanka population by educational level and sectors indicate the relative backwardness of the sector in terms of educational level. Accordingly in 1953, 1963, 1973 and 1978 -79, more than 50 per cent of the plantation population was classified as with ‘No schooling’ where as the all – island percentages were for below that of the plantation sector

All – island figures indicate the relative backwardness of the plantation sector population which as a large segment of population (90% - 96%) which is either illiterate or primary educated. Not with standing this backwardness gradual improvement of the educational level of the community over period of three decades, is also indicated in the table nevertheless, education beyond primary level appears to have deteriorated further during the period 1950 – 1980. Educational attainment in the urban and rural sectors was relatively higher than that of the estate sector in respect of all the three levels of education attainment of Education by sectors 1996-97

The index of education attained by sectors given in the consumer finance survey of 1973 indicates that the estate sector. Which had the lowest level of education in 1963, had progressed only slightly, consequently increasing the backwardness of this sector in educational attainment relative to the rural sector. Recent data pertaining to educational attainment revealed a steady improvement in the educational attainment in all sectors including the plantations. This improvement ,again could be attributed to better infrastructural conditions for education in the plantation sector provided by the funds obtained from international assistance.

In addition the number of students or the rate of enrolment in formal education of the population aged 5 and above in 1996-97 showed only marginal differences among sectors, reflecting the recent development in the availability of educational opportunities. A definite improvement in enrolment in the plantation sector could be observed and this is a clear indication of the expansion of social infrastructure in recent years.

The plantation sector education level is very significant in view of the following:

- For the first time in the history of education of this community, its performance in respect of students in formal education has almost reached national average and that of other sectors in 1997 (National average 27.3% ; Estate sector 27.0%)

- Substantial progress could be observed during the period 1986-1996 in which enrolment rate of the plantation community increased from 22.8% to 27.0%).

- School avoidance is considered as a situation of non – schooling of children at school age including drop – outs from school. If the rate of school avoidance is very high, then the in-effective school can promote the rate of incidence of school avoidance. During early 1990’s, the drop out rates were relatively higher for plantation sector schools for each and every class (from std. 2 to std. 9). The rate was almost more than double when compared to schools in the urban and rural sectors. The following table for 1990 illustrates this problem very clearly. For stds. 5,6,8, and 9,the avoidance rates were very much higher – more than triple that of the other schools.

The above emphasizes the need to improve the transition rate from the primary cycle to secondary as it has been found in smaller schools with classes only up to year

One of the total number of 4,397 teacher in the plantation schools in the six districts 2,869 teacher (65.2%) were untrained by 1993 (P.P.Manikkam,1995).

The relative backwardness of the educational provision of the Indian plantation community was legacy from colonial times. During the British period the colonial policy was not in favour of educating the plantation workers community. The colonial Government was more concerned to provide an English education for a small number of males to serve the needs of the colonial administration. The colonial state’s policy of non-intervention in education of the masses was dominant in the nineteenth century. some of the colonial rulers felt that to promote colonial policies. In short, the political and social environment during the colonial period was not conducive for the development of education of the Indian plantation community.

Soon after Independence, The Indian Tamils in Sri Lanka were made stateless by the acts of parliament pertaining to citizenship and the governments of the day were more concerned about education of their masters who were the Sri Lanka public Hitherto ignored by the British rulers and missionaries in respect of secondary and higher education. The successive governments were concerned with expending education opportunities to rural areas and formulating educational policies to get rid of the colonial principles and practices from the system of education. In all these attempts, the educational needs of the Indian plantation community was largely neglected and their schools reminded segregated from the educational mainstream .

How and ineffective school management system and poor supervisory support system could lead to the emergency of and ineffective education in the plantation. Sector is shown diagrammatically along with effects of such a system.

Participation in secondary and university education

Basic data on plantation school in 1984 indicate a substantial increase in the student enrolment with reached 199,374 in 1994. there had been similar increase in the number of teachers from 1148 in 1984 to 4843 in 1994. the overall pupil-teacher ratio was 55.1 in 1984 and 44.1 in 1994. In terms of the number of students and teachers in these schools within the ten year period, there had been a significant improvement.

This enrolment of 199,000 students could be analyzed further. A close at the data reveals that this increase mainly reflects a substantial improvement in the primary level and a relative backwardness of secondary level (years 6-13). Years 12-13 (G.C.E A/L) are very crucial for university admission. But enrolment at that level in the plantation schools is very negligible and this is the main reason for non-participation of the plantation Tamils in University education.

Low enrolment at these levels is an indication of seriousness of the problem of early drop-outs and inadequate support given by parents to pursue higher studies. It is also an indication of less number of students qualifying to reach university entrance classes. The majority of the Tamil schools in the plantation districts still remains, as primary schools amount to 80% while Sinhala primary schools from only 35% of the total number of Sinhala schools. Hence, it is very clear that the junior secondary and senior secondary level opportunities are very limited to plantation Tamil students in the districts where they live in substantial numbers.

At secondary level examination (Year 11 or G.C.E O/L) , plantation children perform very poorly in the main subjects such as Mathematics, Science, English and social studies.

As of this high rate of failure, very less percentage of children obtain qualifications to be admitted to the next level (G.C.E. A/L). According to available data, a maximum of only 17% of students who sit for the G.C.E O/L examination obtain qualifications to pursue higher studies.

Inefficiency of the G.C.E O/L stream in the plantation schools coupled with a low enrolment is responsible for:

- very low level enrolment at G.C.E. A/L; and

- very low participation at university level education

Out of a total number of 160 thousand candidates who sit, for the university entrance examination (year 13 – G.C.E. A/L), less than one thousand five hundred are from the plantation Tamil schools. In item of population basis or ethnic proportion (six per cent of Indian Tamils in the total population), their number should be around nine thousand. As a direct result of this low participation of Indian plantation workers’ children at senior secondary level (year 12 and 13), their participation in university education has become very nominal and negligible. Out of total number 35,000 under – graduate population enrolled in the whole university system, only and estimated number of 200 are Tamils of Indian origin. And this number is being distributed among 12 universities and various facilities of science, social sciences, medicine, Engineering and law. This poor participation could be noted since the establishment of a full – fledged university of Sri Lanka in 1942. as a result a very negligible number of high positions in the decision making bodies, in high echelons of the government service and the university academic community, are being occupied by Indian Origin Tamils. The number of positions held in this sector by the plantation Tamils is between Five to Ten on the whole. In short, while the Sri Lanka formal system of education has given ample opportunities for other sections of the society for upward social mobility, the plantation community continues to remain as a working class community. It should be noted that the Central School opened in the 1940’s functioned as effective agent of upward mobility, drawing able children from rural primary school through scholarship and facilitating their access to university and subsequently to the highest positions in the professions and the administration. This opportunity was not enjoyed by the members of the Indian plantation community.

Conclusion

Developments since 1997, in respect of policies regarding plantation education, helped to integrate the plantation schools with that of the main stream and there had been a remarkable progress in respect of primary education. the primary cycle has been taken care of by the foreign funded projects to improve educational provision of the Indian Tamil Community in terms of quality and quantity. Even at primary level, problems such as shortage of teacher and teaching materials, absence of proper orientation of teacher in relation to the implementation of new reforms at primary level could be noticed.

The secondary level of education is experiencing the problems of low enrolment of students, low achievements level in public examinations, shortage of qualified teacher and dearth of internal and external supervision.

As for university education ,the plantation Tamil community appeared to deserve implementation of a new policy of positive discrimination without which admission to the University system would be jeopardised in the long run. University admission is very competitive in Sri Lanka and there is also a definite need to strengthen the GCE A/L Science and mathematics streams in the plantation schools. The phenomenon of greater participation in the main streams in the politics in recent times, which has been witnessed during the 1990;s should get extended to the school system as well. There is also a definite need to enhance the awareness and aspirations of the community towards school education and higher education. Educational leadership among the members of the plantation Tamil community has emerged gradually at the school, district and national levels. This leadership has a tremendous task in taking the Indian Tamil community into the knowledge-bases 21 st century of the next Millennium.

References

Central Bank of Sri Lanka :Reports on the Consumer Finance and Socio Economic Survey of Sri Lank,1953,1963,1973,1986/87 &1996/97.

Chandra Bose ,A.S.(1995):Present Status of Tamil schools in the plantation, Colombo ).

Dore, R.(1975):Diploma Dissertation: Education, Qualification and Developments, University of California press, Berkley.