is Education the way out?
Unfair as it sounds, schools are separated into four different gradings in Sri Lanka. National schools have the best facilities, while difficult schools—meaning schools in inaccessible regions—struggle with problems like insufficient lighting, the lack of proper playground etc.
Our visit to a school in a difficult region, taking a van up the bumpy uneven muddy road was an experience, leaving most of us hanging onto the metal holdings for dear life. And each turn at the corner was a heart pumping turn. I could not imagine how the teachers manage to walk back every day from the main road bus station. The teacher we talked to travel back to school for more than 4 hours each day. Unsurprisingly, he answered without hesitation how he would like to change schools, just that no applications are on the list to substitute him.
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Our second visit is to the school located in Tea Research Institute, where we were warmly welcomed. The principal shared with passion his vision for better facilities for his school, so that his students could study harder, even though facilities in the school isn’t all that bad compared to the difficult school. In a speech, he emphasised the importance of learning English, as that would be a way out of the tea estates for his students through tertiary education. Yet, with our observation of the English lesson, they used Tamil to teach Grade 6 English, and the teacher himself has some small glitches in communicating with us in English.
The school has 900 students, but there are seldom separate rooms for different classes. There are six classes in one single storey within a building, plus poor lighting, it is not conducive for lessons, and the students could not concentrate on their learning because the noise from each class could be quite disruptive. There was even one class moving outdoor for lesson instead of staying indoors.
Despite under an education system that offers free education from primary till tertiary level, it is unlikely that these students would be able to enter university. The quality of the teachers determine the quality of education the students receive, yet it may not be up to standard. Also, given the students’ family background, they lack help in learning English and are not confident enough to converse in English. This creates a mindset and culture among students that English is difficult and they are shy away for the subject.
That is probably why the principal considers foreigners’ visit to the school is a rare form of foreign exposure for his students, when his students are unable to travel and see the world for themselves due to financial limit. To remind his students how important education is, as it would lead them to see the better, bigger world outside of the tea estate.
These visits to schools shed light on a bigger social problem on how to improve the overall education system. Education is always believed to be the way for underclass people to climb up the social ladder. However, students have difficulty in advancing to better schools in secondary level, not to mention to be able to afford going to university. Most probably, students in the more difficult region would need to enter the workforce right after they graduate to support their family, children in more difficult conditions may have dropped out of school and gone out of the radar even, as we have heard from stories through interviews how children need to drop out from school at the age of 16 or 17 to take care of their parents.
Teachers asked students of their ambition and dreams for their future, and there are students who wanted to be policeman, lawyers, doctors and engineers, just like any other kids in Hong Kong. But to them, the road to these careers are much bleaker than ours who study in Hong Kong. The education they receive in these schools are hopefully sufficient to send them off to a` good future. But none could tell.
To protect the workers, various tea certifications are created to guarantee a better quality of life for workers in the tea estates. Learn the promises behind the labels and logos on your tea, show your care to the ones who contributed to the fine tea. When you look at the pack of tea, it is never going to be the same again; it is more than a product, but the people who work hard to support their family and make you the finest beverage.
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