{"id":96954,"date":"2019-12-27T07:16:13","date_gmt":"2019-12-27T14:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=96954"},"modified":"2019-12-27T07:16:13","modified_gmt":"2019-12-27T14:16:13","slug":"ideas-being-introduced-into-the-minds-of-children-to-be-scrutinised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/12\/27\/ideas-being-introduced-into-the-minds-of-children-to-be-scrutinised\/","title":{"rendered":"Ideas being introduced into the minds of children to be scrutinised"},"content":{"rendered":"

MEDIA RELEASE Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapksa\u00a0<\/em><\/span>
<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n

(Translation of the speech made by\nPrime Minister Mahinda Rajapksa at the National Dhamma School Convention and\nAwards Ceremony held at Irattaperiyakulam in Vavuniya on 27 December 2019.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most Venerable Mahanayaka Theras,\nAnunayaka Theras and members of the Maha Sangha, Hon. Ministers,\nParliamentarians, Secretary to the Ministry of Buddha Sasana, Cultural and\nReligious Affairs, Dhamma School Teachers, and students of Dhamma Schools,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students enrolled in the Dhamma Schools\ntoday will be the generation that carries forward the Sinhala Buddhist national\nidentity. Over the past several years, we saw the destruction brought upon in\nthis country as a result of a significant section of the Buddhist population\nbeing alienated from the Temple, from the Dhamma and the Maha Sangha. It became\nfashionable for Buddhists to denigrate Buddhism and the Sinhalese. Even\npoliticians who were elected to power by Sinhala voters, openly insulted the\nMaha Sangha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People belonging to other religions and\nethnic groups in this country will never insult their own religion or ethnic\ngroup in that manner. Even though a significant proportion of students from\nSinhala Buddhist families are enrolled in Dhamma Schools, the number actually\nattending, is far fewer than the number registered. The present Sunday\nDhamma Schools system commenced in 1895. Even before these Sunday Dhamma\nschools were instituted, the Temple imparted education to the laity. In\npre-colonial times, the Temple was the main centre of education.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A secular schools system came into\nexistence during the Dutch and British colonial eras. The world also became a\nmore complex place and an ever expanding formal education system came into\nbeing. Today, the secular education system and the Dhamma Schools exist side by\nside. Even though Buddhism is taught as a subject in the secular schools\nsystem, it is through the Dhamma Schools that the younger generation is brought\nclose to the Buddhist philosophy, the Buddhist way of life, the Buddhist\ntraditions and the Temple. It is through the Dhamma schools that Buddhist\nfamilies are brought closer to the Temple. Sinhala Buddhist culture, and our national\ntraditions are based on the relationship between the lay community and the\nTemple. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Most Venerable Madihe Pannasiha\nMahanayake Thera once said that the purpose of the Dhamma Schools was not to\nimpart textual knowledge but to mould the character and way of thinking of the\nstudents. The purpose of Dhamma Schools is not to prepare students\nfor examinations. Its purpose if to create an individual imbued with a Buddhist\nway of thinking. Madihe Pannasiha Mahanayake Thera identified five modes of conduct expected of a dhamma school student as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, adhering\nto the Five Precepts and observing the Eight Precepts on Poya Days. Secondly,\nrespecting the Maha Sangha, parents, teachers and elders. Thirdly, leading a\nsimple life and maintaining a good relationship with one\u2019s neighbours. Fourthly,\ndeveloping restraint, good behaviour, and a sound knowledge of the Dhamma.\nFifthly, devotion to the Buddha-Dhamma, and being motivated by national pride\nand indigenous traditions. These words are valid even\ntoday. We expect to improve the Dhamma Schools system and the programmes\noffered in them in order to enable those institutions to produce the Buddhist\nyouth that the Ven Pannasiha refered to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a time when we have to be very\nvigilant with regard to what is being put into the minds of school children.\nForeign funded NGOs have influenced our education system in subtle ways. I\nheard some leading academic bhikkus explaining how school textbooks now have\ncontent that will have the effect of corrupting young minds. A lay organisation\nexplained how some school text books have depicted the Northern and Eastern\nprovinces of Sri Lanka as one province. It was also said that the Sinhala New\nYear has been dropped from some school textbooks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should realise that there is a\nconcerted and\nongoing attempt to divide the country, to\ndestroy the Sinhala Buddhists, to disrupt the family as an institution among\nthe Sinhala, Tamil, Chritian and Hindu sections of the population and to create\ndivisions between children and their parents, between students and their\nteachers, between children and religions. Programmes aimed at achiving these\nobjectives begin at the level of primary schools. After a few years, the way of\nthinking of the Sinhala population would have changed without anyone even\nrealising it. An expeditious investigation will be carried out into the ideas\nbeing put into the minds of school children through school text books. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We will put in place a programme to\nattract more children and youth to Dhamma Schools under the guidance of the\nMaha Sangha. What should happen is that children and youth should be motivated\nto go in search of the temple and our national heritage. I believe that in\norder to achieve that objective, our approach also has to change with the\ntimes. A programme should be put in place to show appreciation for the\nvoluntary work done by Dhamma school teachers. The Dhamma schools depend on\ntheir dedication. A special programme will have to be put in place to maintain\nthe Dhamma Schools located in remote areas. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are gathered here today, for the\nawards ceremony of an all island competion among Dhamma School students. I wish\nto convey my best wishes to all Dhamma School students in the country, regardless of whether they participated in this competition\nor not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May the blessings of the Triple Gem be\nupon you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MEDIA RELEASE Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapksa\u00a0 (Translation of the speech made by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapksa at the National Dhamma School Convention and Awards Ceremony held at Irattaperiyakulam in Vavuniya on 27 December 2019.) Most Venerable Mahanayaka Theras, Anunayaka Theras and members of the Maha Sangha, Hon. Ministers, Parliamentarians, Secretary to the Ministry of Buddha […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[125,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mahinda-rajapaksa","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96954\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}