A program of providing buses to schools in various parts of the island is being implemented under the “Sakwala” program which is being implemented based on the concept of the opposition leader Sajith Premadasa. Buses have been provided to 51 schools under this program.
When doing any good work in our country, it is inevitable to be criticized. Those could be meaningful criticisms, pointless criticisms, things that come out of your mouth as well as deliberate political attacks, or even insults and slanders.
These days, Sajith Premadasa is constantly being attacked by political opponents for providing buses to these schools. They have even given him the name called “Busman”.
What these people often tell people is, “Why does schools need buses?” or “Is it necessary to provide buses to schools at this time?”
As a very simple answer to this question, the transportation costs between two schools in two distant areas in 2022 are posted below. These expenses are for various educational activities involving students and teachers. These are paid for by students’ parents, teachers and school funds.
Out of which, the transport cost of Tambuttegama Madhya Maha Vidyalaya, Anuradhapura in the year 2022 is 32 lakh rupees. The transport cost of Mahawa Vijayaba Middle School in the year 2022 is close to 27 lakh rupees. The value of a bus given to a school through Sakwala program is 50 lakh rupees. If the school had a bus like that, how much would the parents of these school students have reduced for the work of these school children? How much relief will it be for those parents? If that happened, the teachers could have used the school’s funds for another educational purpose.
It is easy to pretend to be education experts and berate opponents. But it is a difficult task to go around the country to find out about the practical problems in the country’s education sector and find solutions to them in the best possible way even if there is no government power. The opposition leader is currently doing that difficult task.
On the other hand, if someone does something good, no matter what the politics is, one should be able to appreciate that good thing as a human being. A politics without that “humanity” will not be good for anyone.
*Adapted from original article “පාසල්වලට බස් රථ ඕනෑ ඇයි ?” published on 28.12.2022
