Sri Lanka owes it to Lalith Athulathmudali for its emergence as a nation of enlightenment. The farsighted policies initiated by him as the Education Minister in the 90s, and the Mahapola Trust Fund set up by him in 1981 for providing financial assistance to students for higher education, turned out to be game-changers in the country’s high literacy rate, says Kumar Chellappan
A silent but spectacular revolution has taken place in India’s neighbourhood, which went unnoticed by our agile and alert media, specialists in ‘breaking news’ every other minute. This is a revolution which has large-scale implications for India in the immediate future itself. Sri Lanka — which witnessed a more than three-decades-long ethnic war that culminated in 2009 with the obliteration of the LTTE terrorists fighting for a separate Tamil country by vivisecting the island nation — overtook India and emerged as South Asia’s most literate country.
The United Nations rated Sri Lanka as a country with 94 per cent literacy rate, while big brother India is far behind with a mere 74 per cent literacy. “Yes, Sri Lanka has become the country of enlightenment in Asia,” says Prof BM Hegde, leading educationist and former Vice-Chancellor of Manipal University.
It is no mean achievement. A country, which has an area of 65,610 sq km to India’s 3.287 million sq km and which has been devastated by an ethnic war between Sinhalese and Tamils, rose like the proverbial phoenix from its own ashes to emerge as a global leader in education and counter-terrorism operations.
The striking feature about the island nation is the uniqueness of the politics practised by its leaders. They had to face a lot of problems, internal as well as external. The average Sri Lankan citizen is still in the dark when asked about the terrorism unleashed in the country by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The LTTE wanted to create a separate nation inside Sri Lanka by integrating the northern and eastern provinces, which would have made the country shrink by 18,880 sq km. Though there is no justification or rationality in the demand by the Tamils for a separate country, it got support from many parts of the globe, thanks to the media blitzkrieg let loose by the Tamil diaspora.
The Tamil expatriates from Sri Lanka spread the news all over the world that they were being discriminated against by the majority Sinhala population and the Government. That was absolutely false. The effort by the Government at Colombo to make Sinhala the national language was resisted by the Tamils. The fact is that 75 per cent of Sri Lanka’s population of 2.16 crore speak Sinhala, while Tamil is spoken by just 15 per cent of the population. It is natural for any sovereign country to have a national language.
The scenario is similar to what we experience in India where the Dravidian political parties are out and out against Hindi as the national language. Hindi is not taught in Government schools in Tamil Nadu and it is the only State in India which does not allow Navodaya Vidyalayas, launched by late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, to make public school education available to the poorest of the poor, especially the rural poor. The Dravidian politicians, who have not given up their demand for a separate Dravida Nadu, are afraid of the fact that if the students are taught Hindi — the language spoken by majority of the population — it may make the youngsters from Tamil Nadu join the national mainstream.
The ethnic riots, which began in the 1970s with the indirect help offered by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, pulled Sri Lanka backwards by many decades. Tamil Nadu played host to armed training camps for the LTTE guerrillas and they used the State as a base camp to organise suicide attacks in the island nation.
Anton Balasingham, the LTTE ideologue, in his autobiography has described how Tamil Nadu politicians, especially late Chief Minister MG Ramachandran, had hosted him and Velupillai Prabhakaran and provided them with crores of rupees to mobilise arms for fighting the Sri Lankan Army. Not only that, MGR deputed his police chief to ensure that the duo reached Talaimannar in Sri Lanka without any problems. The Sri Lankan Army of the 1970s and 1980s vintage were mainly for ceremonial parades as the then leaders, mainly peace loving Buddhists, did not foresee the possibility of an armed uprising against the Government.
In spite of the ethnic crisis and terrorist attacks, which claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians including some of the best statesmen and scholars, there were some silver linings in the country’s dark horizon. There were many Sinhala leaders who worked for the uplift of the poor and the downtrodden, irrespective of ethnicity, language, and religion. The shining star of Sri Lanka was Lalith William Samarasekera Athulathmudali, Lalith to his friends and well-wishers. He rose like a meteor in Sri Lankan politics, did a lot for the people in a short span of time before the bullets fired by the LTTE assassins felled him at a comparatively young age of 56 in April 1993.
Born in a family of lawyers on November 26, 1936, Lalith was a bright student who was internationally recognised for his academic brilliance. Sri Lanka owes it to him for its emergence as a nation of enlightenment. It were the farsighted policies initiated by Lalith as the Education Minister of the country from 1990 to 1991 that turned out to be the game-changers in its high literacy rate. Lalith was educated at Oxford, from where he graduated with distinction. “He was doing his post-graduation at Oxford in 1959 when his father passed away. Lalith had to return as he faced financial strains. But the then Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, SWRD Bandaranaike, wanted him to continue his education and offered him the national scholarship with which he completed his post-graduation as well as law,” reminiscences SVD Kesaralal Gunasekera, his long-time associate and friend.
The national scholarship offered to him by the Government was the turning point in Lalith’s life. Having completed his education with flying colours from Oxford and Harvard, he returned to Sri Lanka and launched a career which saw him working as a lecturer in some of the best universities in the world. In 1973, he joined the United National Party and contested the 1977 General Elections. President Junius Richard Jayewardene appointed Lalith as the minister for trade. His raise in the Government hierarchy was spectacular, as he was entrusted with the responsibilities of many sensitive ministries, including national security. That was the time when the LTTE was very aggressive, causing murder and mayhem all over the island nation demanding a separate country within Sri Lanka. It was Lalith who initiated steps to modernise the Sri Lankan military, which hitherto was a ceremonial force, and he succeeded in controlling the terrorist activities to a certain extent.
Even before becoming a minister, Lalith had set up the Mahapola Trust Fund in 1981 for offering financial assistance to students opting for higher education. He was the chairman of the Trust Fund and the Government allowed him to retain the chairmanship even when he was a Union Minister handling various portfolios. The Mahapola Trust Fund has been renamed since as the Mahapola Higher Education Scholarship Trust Fund.
What makes this Fund unique is its inclusivity. Students from any ethnic community or religion or caste can get this scholarship provided they meet the mandatory norms. Even while the Tamils in the island nation were campaigning against the Sinhala politicians accusing them of discrimination, Tamil students were offered the Mahapola Scholarship for higher education. Lalith’s dream was to make higher education accessible to all, irrespective of their ethnicity or language.
“I was the son of a retired police sergeant when I was at the University of Peradeniya 22 years ago. It was not easy for our family-of-six to afford my higher education with all other commitments of the family. Thanks to Lalith, I also received the Mahapola Scholarship, which helped me manage my expenses on studies. I still remember that there were students sending money from their Mahapola to their families for a living. I believe what I am today wouldn’t have been a reality if Mahapola Scholarship did not exist. Dreams of many university students, who are lucky enough to enter a State university in Sri Lanka but are not financially blessed, would be the same,” said GD Kapila Kumara, a senior lecturer at the faculty of agricultural sciences, Sabaragamuwa University in Sri Lanka.
Kapila Kumara says millions of university students are benefited in the country because of this scholarship. Mahapola has contributed to preserve education “as a right to all” and to alleviate poverty through education, says Kumara, who also disclosed that he says a prayer for Lalith every night before he goes to bed. “As a tribute to him, a gold medal named ‘Lalith Athulathmudali Memorial Gold Medal for the Best Academic Performance’ is awarded annually at the general convocation of Sabaragamuwa University,” said Kumara.
The Trust Fund was established by the Act of Parliament in 1981. The management and control of the Fund is with the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka; Minister of Trade, Secretary; Ministry of Higher Education, Secretary; Ministry of Education; and Secretary, Ministry of Trade. There are also two nominated members, whilst the other five are all ex-officials.
“The vision is to create an educated society with the aim of alleviating poverty. The mission is to provide scholarships for the underprivileged youth to complete their higher education and creation of equal opportunities through the development of facilities for higher education,” said Siri Fernando, a Trustee, friend and close confidante of Lalith.
Though he had presided over most of the ministries in Sri Lanka, Lalith had a passion for the department of education. He was enchanted by the Chinese proverb which stated that: “Give a fish and be fed for only a day. Teach how to fish and be free from hunger forever.” He had visualised a Sri Lanka where there won’t be any illiterate people and the youth would have some professional skills or other, which would ensure an assured livelihood.
It was in 1990 that Lalith was designated as the Minister of Education. By that time, he was an internationally acclaimed statesman having led various ministries of the Government. “But he met the press only after 10 days because he was adamant that he should familiarise himself with the nuances of education before making a policy statement. For a person like Lalith, it was not a tough job, but he knew that he was in charge of the most sensitive ministry,” recalled Gunasekera.
Gunasekera, who was present during the press meet, reminiscences: “One of the reporters asked Lalith what would be his top priority as the Minister of Education. Lalith replied instantly that students would be his top priority. The journalist asked him what would be the second and third priorities. ‘Students and students,’ replied Lalith, without batting an eyelid.”
“Any changes made in the field of education would bear fruit only after 10 years. That is, to know the impact of the changes, we have to wait for 10 years. Then only we will know whether the change made was for the best or for the worst. If we rectify the mistake, it will take another 10 years to know the results. That’s why education and the changes in education policy are important for us,” is what Lalith told journalists in the press meet.
Lalith insisted that no student in Sri Lanka should be denied the right to higher education due to lack of funds. He got a law enacted to ensure that all students, irrespective of their ethnicity or the language they speak, got scholarships for higher education. “It is another thing that the Tamil students who benefited from the Mahapola Foundation Scholarship go abroad and complain that they were being discriminated against in Sri Lanka,” said an educationist, who did not want to be named. The funds for running the LTTE Government in exile, operating from Europe and Canada, are mobilised by these same expatriate Tamil youth, who completed their higher education with the scholarship.
The Mahapola Trust, which began in 1981 by awarding 422 scholarships, has benefited more than 3,50,000 students by 2017. “At any time of the year, 60,000 students are beneficiaries of this scholarship,” said Gunasekera, who has set apart five to six hours of his daily life to ensure the smooth functioning of the scholarship scheme. According to Gunasekera, 65 per cent of students enrolled for higher education in Sri Lanka are getting the Mahapola Scholarship.
The scholarship is in the Rs 5,500 to Rs 7,500 range per month, depending on the course of study. The beneficiaries are selected depending on the financial status of the parents. “If the income of the parents is within the stipulated amount, the students are offered the scholarship for the entire duration of the course, with a limit of four years,” said Gunasekera.
Siri Fernando said most of the students manage to supplement the income of their parents by sending home a part of the scholarship amount. “It is as good as a source of income, even as they study in professional colleges,” said Fernando, former chief of a British company in Colombo, who shadowed Lalith throughout his life as a friend and follower.
The scholarship programme, which began with the funds donated by Lalith in 1981, has emerged as the biggest education programme in the country. It is sustained by Mahapola Lottery organised by the Development Lotteries Board of the Government.
“The students who complete their education using this scholarship are in no way obliged to us. Lalith was not for it because he wanted no commitment from the beneficiaries other than completing the education successfully. Till date, we have not asked for any favours from the students who benefited from this unique scheme,” said Gunasekera.
It was the Mahapola Foundation that set up the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology. So, don’t be under the impression that the Foundation only disburses scholarships and sits back for the rest of the time. Not a single student has committed suicide in Sri Lanka for want of funds or denial of opportunities for higher education. This is the biggest achievement of the Mahapola Scholarship. Pola in Sinhala language means festival and the scholarship has helped the beneficiaries make their life a great festival, pointed out Siri Fernando.
There is one factor on which the entire political spectrum of Sri Lanka is unanimous. They are all of the view that Lalith was the best President or head of the state Sri Lanka did not have. But politics is a strange and treacherous path where there are terrorists and landmines of different forms waiting to take lives out of unsuspecting victims.
The objectives and missions of the Mahapola Foundation, drafted and written by Lalith, speak volumes about his vision:
- To provide higher education facilities to the youth.
- To provide assistance to deserving youth, enabling them to complete their academic, industrial, or technical education in a higher education institution in consequence of the successful completion of their secondary education.
- To set up and assist in the management of vocational training institute with the view to improve skills of the youth.
- To set up and assist schools and other institutions in the furtherance of education.
- To provide assistance for the improvement and development of skills of persons who are engaged in the furtherance of education.
The question which comes to mind is whether we have a scheme like this in India or in any other neighbouring countries? Mahapola Foundation is the one and only inclusive scheme which has made a big impact in the lives of the poor in the island nation. There are ministers, bureaucrats, educationists, military officers, lawyers, vice-chancellors, medical doctors, and other professionals who came up in life only because of this scheme.
A vice-chancellor, who hails from the northern province, recounted his gratitude to the Mahapola Foundation for the scholarship. “The first thing I did with the scholarship amount was to buy a time piece which helped me get up early in the morning. This was useful because I could complete my homework and also supplement my mother’s income by working as a helping hand in the nearby store for a few hours daily,” he said.
Lalith gave his countrymen a rose garden itself while they were looking for a simple rose. This inclusive scheme itself would qualify him for the Nobel Prize for Peace as he had implemented this scheme in a war-torn country. Lalith was a proponent of human rights as well as democratic rights. The steps he initiated to resolve the ethnic crisis in the island nation during his tenure as Minister for National Security could be told only through a comprehensive book.
But the truth is that Lalith died an unsung hero of Sri Lanka; a person who was felled by the bullets fired by a vile assassin. Lalith would definitely have taken Sri Lanka to newer heights had he been alive. Strange are the ways of this world. If there is one person who qualifies for the Nobel Prize from this part of the world, it is Lalith Athulathmudali.
What struck the mind after hearing Lalith’s story was the scenario in Tamil Nadu, a State in India where the Dravidian politicians bay for Sinhala blood for alleged discrimination against Tamils. We come across reports routinely in Tamil Nadu about youngsters committing suicide because of failure to get admission in medical colleges. Do we have a scheme like Mahapola Foundation in any of the Indian States?
“All we have to do is divert 10 per cent of the funds allocated for corporate social responsibility to a corpus account and all States in India too could boast a Trust like Mahapola. It should be based purely on merit,” said Jayaprakash Valliathan, a veteran marine engineer, who has opened a school for the poor in his village after retiring from service. He adds that the political leadership of the country should have the will power to implement such innovations.
Tamil Nadu, hardly 30 nautical miles off the Sri Lankan shore, saw many students committing suicide following failure to crack the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), the gateway to medical colleges. This is unheard of in Sri Lanka where all beneficiaries of the Mahapola Scholarship laugh all the way to the banks. Had he been alive, Lalith would have turned 82 this November 26. As usual, his friends and associates from all over the world would assemble under the auspices of the Lalith Athulathmudali Foundation to take stock of last year’s performance and to discuss future plans.
Sri Lanka is less than half the size of Tamil Nadu and does not have monikers like the Oxford or Cambridge of the South. Sri Lanka has neither this many engineering colleges or medical colleges which you see in Tamil Nadu. Still, the students (both Sinhala and Tamil) are happy and confident of their bright future. Lalith Athulathmudali revolutionised education into a mission, while in our own Tamil Nadu, it is a multi-billion dollar business along with TASMAC (Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation), the State monopoly on liquor trade.
