The children from all estates in the Nivithigala area of the Ratnapura district walk to school early in the morning, in groups. They reach school by climbing 112 steps from the main road, exhausted from the 8 KM walk most student faint on these steps and then get up and continue walking as if nothing had happened. Do these children actually value education so much or do they hold another chronicle behind this thorny start?
Mr. George Antony, the principal of the Dela Tamil Maha Vidyalaya in Ratnapura stated that, “a few decades back the education level of the children from the estate sector was very low, they considered schooling as a burden. Now they realize that this idea was wrong and they want to change. Even their parents want them to be educated and get to another profession and not fall back, being another plantation labour”
The children have indeed developed an inclination to studies they seem to have realized that education brings down the social stigma the plantation workers carry. “I want to study and have a good future. I want to go for a good job and earn lots of money. My ambition is to become a teacher. After I become a teacher I will not allow my father and my mother to go and work in the estates.” Says, R. Krishanthi (18) a student of advanced level, and resides at the Dela estate in Nivithigala.
M.Sathyaraj (13)
A year eight student of the R/Dela Maha Vidyalaya
Who is from the Doloswewa estae, and wants a better future to support his parents and live out of poverty.
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