{"id":99689,"date":"2020-03-06T16:25:31","date_gmt":"2020-03-06T23:25:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=99689"},"modified":"2020-03-06T16:25:31","modified_gmt":"2020-03-06T23:25:31","slug":"controversy-about-hathe-ape-potha-a-supplementary-reader-in-sinhala-for-sexuality-and-reproductive-health-education-for-grade-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/03\/06\/controversy-about-hathe-ape-potha-a-supplementary-reader-in-sinhala-for-sexuality-and-reproductive-health-education-for-grade-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Controversy about \u2018Hathe Ape Potha\u2019, a supplementary reader in Sinhala for Sexuality and Reproductive Health Education for Grade 7"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Rohana R. Wasala<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Recently, there was a heated discussion about a supplementary\nreader in Sinhala titled \u2018HATHE APE POTHA\u2019 for Grade 7 students in government\nschools in Sri Lanka for \u2018sexuality and reproductive health education\u2019, which\nis a novel subject to the country\u2019s school education system. The writer\nbelieves that this controversy surrounding an insignificant relic of the\ndisastrous Yahapalanaya is likely to prove an eye-opener for the new\nadministration to be formed under President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa after the\nforthcoming general election in April. In fact, the issue of sexuality\neducation for early adolescents was raised for the first time by the National\nChild Protection Authority in 2012 when the current prime minister was\npresident.  The chairperson of the NCPA even recognized the need to train\nteachers for the purpose, but apparently the whole matter got shelved for some\nreason. The new president has a clear vision for the future of the country and\na well thought out action plan for realizing that vision. Patriotic, value\noriented intellectuals and committed professionals are required for driving\nthis single minded national endeavour launched by the president who is himself\na true intellectual and a proven professional. The debate over the sexuality\neducation supplementary reader has revealed the sort of poor intellectual and\nprofessional specimens that should not be employed in the future; precious\ndevelopment funds should not be wasted on such fakes. The writer draws this\nconclusion without prejudice to the genuine intellectuals and professionals\n(the majority) who sat through the discussion sessions mentioned below in\nobvious discomfort and embarrassment at the poor show that the few Yahapalana\nconformists among them put up defending the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The booklet at the centre of the mostly frivolous argumentation\nwas in the process of being introduced to schools after nearly four years of\npreparation (2016-19) during the past Yahapalana regime when it provoked a\nsudden storm of protest from some concerned Buddhist monks and lay persons. At\na media briefing held about two months ago, Ven. Professor Medagoda Abhayatissa\nThera of the University of Jayawardanepura, while agreeing with the past\nregime\u2019s ministerial decision to introduce such instruction for school\nchildren, severely criticised the reader for the inappropriateness of the\nlanguage used, the mismatch between the age range of the students (12-13 year\nolds) and the level of complexity at which the subject matter is approached in\nthe text, and most importantly, for the strong suspicion that the book aroused\nparticularly among nationalists  that there could be a subversive agenda\nbehind the mode of delivery of the subject matter in that slim volume that is\ncontrary to its purported educational purpose, something probably hidden even\nfrom the experts who produced the book and argued in its defence, as Ven.\nAbhayatissa conceded). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He and another scholar monk, namely, Ven. Professor Induruwe\nDhammaratana Thera of the University of Kelaniya, participated (presumably,\nas  invitees) in a workshop\/seminar conducted on a later occasion with\nrepresentative officials from the ministries of women\u2019s affairs, health, and\neducation, politicians (MPs), and experts including professors from the\nUniversity of Kelaniya and the National Child Protection Authority; some\ninterested civil activists who had probably been invited as well were present.\n(The writer has no knowledge of where these events – that is, Ven.\nAbhayatissa\u2019s news conference, and the above mentioned discussion – took place,\nand hence is unable to specify the venues. He sincerely regrets this. His\nsource of information about the latter colloquium, and about another similar\nmeeting that followed it, apparently to dismiss those monks\u2019 criticisms as\nirrelevant, is a pair of Sath TV videos edited and uploaded to the You Tube on\nJanuary 23 and 25, 2020 respectively.)    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the first discussion mentioned above (not the news briefing),\nVen. Abhayatissa explained that he heard about the book from the grandmother of\na girl of Grade 7 who attends the Dhamma school conducted at his monastery\npremises for school children. This child is a student of Mahanama Vidyalaya\nand, according to the monk, her grandmother is a highly educated woman, who is\nnow a retiree from government service. She told him that she felt that the book\nin question is too coarse even for her as a senior adult, let alone children of\nher granddaughter\u2019s age. So the monk got down a copy of HATHE APE POTHA \nand read it through, and made the observations that he made. Ven. Abhayatissa\nsaid that by the time of this discussion the education ministry had already temporarily\nwithdrawn the reader from circulation, probably, in response to his\nintervention as he believed. His argument was that the book seems to be\ndesigned to sexually titillate children at this tender age, rather than educate\nthem through proper instructional materials and methods to restrain themselves\nfrom indulging in premature sexual activity. Restraint acquired through correct\nawareness is what is meant by the traditional Buddhist ethical principles of\n\u2018kumari bambasara and kumara bambasara\u2019, that is, chastity for young females\nand young males respectively. The meaning of bambasara (brahmacarya) in\nBuddhism is important in this context: it denotes sexual continence or\nabstinence. (The writer would like to add here that this is entirely compatible\nwith what is recommended by the fully updated International Technical Guidance\non Sexuality Education for quality Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE)\ndocument published by the UNESCO in February 2018. It says: \u2018Programmes\nthat combine a focus on delaying sexual activity with other content are\neffective\u2019 (in delivering CSE to juveniles). Sexuality education is essential for promoting\nhealth and well-being, respect for human rights and gender equality among\nchildren and young people, and to empower them \u2018to lead healthy, safe and\nproductive lives\u2019.)  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ven. Abhayatissa hinted that, like a number of other policies and\nprograms of the previous government, sexuality and reproductive health\neducation was being made a pretext for undermining the entrenched Buddhist\ncultural foundation of the country. This culturally subversive scheme received\nthe highest government patronage under Yahapalanaya. An LGBT ( lesbian,\ngay, bisexual, and transgender) office with the slogan \u2018Think Equal\u2019 operated\nfrom the then PM\u2019s office. It was His Eminence the Cardinal, the monk claimed,\nwho provided him information about this, and requested him to make the society\naware of the fact in the interest of the safety and honour of children and\nwomen. Ven. Abhayatissa also made incidental reference, disapprovingly, to the\nnew trend of healthy people kissing HIV+ patients in public to show that such\nbody contact does not spread the disease. (In any case, isn\u2019t kissing in public\nstill taboo in Sri Lanka?) His contention was that though it is true that AIDS\ndoes not transmit through body contact, there is no need to treat someone who\ndeserves others\u2019 compassion and assistance to lead a normal life as a celebrity\nby giving them undue attention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ven. Professor Dhammaratana, who\nspoke before Ven, Abhayatissa did, made a strong case for rejecting the\nsupplementary reader and the erroneous approach to the subject which it is\nbased on. His idea was that completely unnecessary sections on nocturnal\nemission and masturbation meant for children at the target age would encourage\npremature sexual  gratification rather than impart proper sexuality\neducation. He suggested that something other than strict sexuality and\nreproductive health education of the young was behind the whole project: it was\nyet another attempt by anti-national forces to sabotage the traditional\nBuddhist ethical cultural foundation that supports the Sri Lankan state. It was\nnot surprising that, being the professor of Sanskrit in his university, he\nfound it easy to illustrate his point that there are proper culturally\ncompatible decent ways of introducing sexuality and reproductive health\ninstruction, by referring to the ancient Hindu classic Kamasutra (of\nVatsyayana), which, he said, is without a single word that arouses \u2018raga\u2019 or\nlust, and that it is not pornography at all. The two monks never objected to or\nquestioned, but fully recognized, the need for sexuality and reproductive\nhealth education for school children. Their only demand was for the subject to\nbe delivered in a culturally acceptable manner after consultation with all stakeholders\nincluding parents, teachers, educational experts and child psychologists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this, the Yahapalana\nappointed promoters of HATHE APE POTHA, it seemed, were determined to show the\nmonks in a bad light as ignorant, irrational, change resisting, politically\nmotivated reactionary chauvinists. The monk\u2019s candid criticisms of the manner\nof presentation and of the lack of proper adaptation of the content to suit the\nimpressionable young minds seemed to fall on deaf ears. This is something one\ncould observe in both the videos mentioned above. It supports the two monks\u2019\ncommon charge that the HATHE APE POTHA project is a subversive attempt, one of\nmany in fact (like the \u2018Think Equal\u2019 office that shared the former PM\u2019s office\nspace) directed against the long entrenched Sinhalese Buddhist cultural\nfoundation that sustains the unitary Sri Lankan nation state. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second video mentioned above is\nof a meeting of mostly the same persons except for Ven. Abhayatissa and Ven.\nDhammaratana, who were replaced by two other monks (whose names and\ndesignations are not known to this writer).  It was clear that the two new\nmonks had been contracted to pooh-pooh the criticisms of the other two who had\ntaken part in the first session. Only one of them – the senior looking one –\nspoke, but he only made some stale comments and the other one smiled and nodded\nhis head in agreement. The speaker monk\u2019s idea was that there was nothing wrong\nwith the book and that it was OK for use with the children of Grade 7. He threw\nin a few  words in English, too. He said that when he contacted one of the\ndissenting monks on the phone and expressed his views, he had been asked to go\nand have his head checked by a psychiatrist, and that he returned the\ncompliment in the same words. The writer\u2019s opinion is that these two monks\ncontributed little to the discussion beyond trying to rubbish the completely\nvalid constructive criticisms that the two well informed scholarly monks had\noffered at the previous workshop. The senior of the monk duo who participated\nin the second meeting repeated what any person connected with education would\nsay in such a context: that education means intellectual, physical, aesthetic,\nsocial, emotional, and moral development of the child, and that proper\nsexuality and reproductive health education was indispensable for adolescents.\nHe held that HATHE APE POTHA is totally acceptable as it is. But it is\ndifficult to agree with him on this, given the well-grounded arguments advanced\nby the more authoritative monks heard previously. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the course of advocating the\nimmediate introduction of sexuality education for children he referred to the\nscandalous case of a thirty-five year old father seducing his fourteen year old\ndaughter (her mother being away employed abroad) because she desired him to, as\nshe revealed to the doctor she had been referred to by the police for\nexamination. Here the monk was only repeating the dominant argument heard in\nboth sessions in support of urging the immediate commencement of sexuality and reproductive\nhealth education in schools: Very young children (particularly girls, and\ncertainly boys too) are easily vulnerable to sexual abuse, mostly at the hands\nof adults who are often close relatives or family friends. All speakers who\nfound nothing wrong with the book under discussion dwelt on this theme  in\norder to urge its acceptance.They failed to acknowledge the obvious fact that\nthe objections raised by the Vens. Abhayatissa and Dhammaratana were not based\non a denial of this social reality, but on the non-ethical and deliberately\nsubversive delivery strategies adopted in the book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The writer feels that this article\nhas already become longer than he wants it to be. So he would like to skip over\nthe patently inept contributions that certain other \u2018resource persons\u2019 (one of\nthem a very very important serving government functionary with a future before\nhim in his career) made, more to give the brush-off to the rational protests of\nthe last mentioned two monks than to facilitate a possible answer to their\nlegitimate concerns. One wonders whether the experts employed had sufficiently\ndifferentiated between sexuality and sex in their own minds. However, the\n(former\/still sitting?) health ministry spokeswoman talked some sense,\nexplaining the brief that was set to be addressed by the experts. Actual\nobjections to the very idea of sexuality instruction for school children are\nlikely to come from other quarters than Buddhist monks who, of course, have no\nissue with that, and are in fact playing a supportive role. Persons who could\nbe expected to express discordant or modified views are not heard in the videos\nthe writer watched. Their ideas should be considered as well, and accommodated\nif possible, in any government school teaching program.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The writer\u2019s own opinion is\nthat young Sri Lankans today, especially, post-millennials, that is, young\npeople from 8 to 23 years of age by now (2020), are less inhibited and more\nopen in social interactions with their peers of the opposite gender than their\nparents and their older siblings were. They can be relied on to be naturally\nand healthily receptive to sexuality and reproductive health education. Of\ncourse, there is no guarantee that all newfangled modes of behaviour that are\nembraced by them sit comfortably with the rest of the (adult) population. Local\nreligious cultural sensitivities need to be respected (which is the point of\nthe monks\u2019 intervention in the issue). Fortunately, the Buddhist and Hindu\nreligious values shared by the majority of the people tend to allow gradual\nintegration of usefully harmless but alien behavioural trends into the local\ncultural setup provided they do not clash with the humanist ideals that are\ntraditionally upheld in the Lankan society. For example, a couple of years ago,\nthere was an outcry raised by some cultural crusaders against marking of the\nFebruary 14th Valentine\u2019s Day by a few, mostly city dwelling, local young men\nand women. But today the Valentine Day events seem to be taken for granted or\npass unnoticed. Similarly, though legal granting of marital rights to gay\ncouples is immediately inconceivable, the majority Buddhist population\u2019s\nattitude to homosexuality (but not pedarasty or other forms of sexual crime or\nmisdemeanour involving homosexuality), is amused connivance, as it has\ntraditionally been the case. However, in a global context where responses to\nhomosexuality vary from legal recognition of same-sex marriage to death penalty\n(only 28 out of the 193 countries represented in the UNO allow gay marriages\nwhile 6 countries execute persons for their homosexuality), gay rights issues\nneed not be made a weapon in the hands of anti-national forces determined to\ndestroy the Sri Lankan state, until they are resolved lawfully through\ndemocratic humanitarian consensus. The same warning is applicable to sexuality\nand reproductive health education for pubescent children.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rohana R. Wasala Recently, there was a heated discussion about a supplementary reader in Sinhala titled \u2018HATHE APE POTHA\u2019 for Grade 7 students in government schools in Sri Lanka for \u2018sexuality and reproductive health education\u2019, which is a novel subject to the country\u2019s school education system. The writer believes that this controversy surrounding an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rohana-r-wasala"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99689","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=99689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99689\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}