Let’s start 2013 with Principals for National Schools – the Students suffer

There currently are over 100 National Schools without Principals. They are some of the best Government Schools, managed directly by the Department of Education, centrally as opposed to the majority of schools that are run by the Provincial Councils.

It is a disgrace to have schools without a CEO, and temporary appointments will NOT do. The Principal is the one who effectively runs the school and ensures all the standards that the school aspires are to, are met. Therefore it is unfair on the Students of some of these very large schools to run themselves and be directionless.

It is incumbent upon the Public Service Commission to interview suitable candidates for these positions and then once decided, send these appointments to the Department of Education for ratification, a sometimes cumbersome and bureaucratic task. Nevertheless this MUST be done before the new school year in Sri Lanka begins in January 2013. Mind you most Government Schools will close for the December vacation in a day or two only to open in 2013 with a new school year with all the students going to new classes and levels, with a new intake into Grade 1, and the exit of the Grade 13 students who sat their A levels in July.

Suffice to mention at this point that the Govt. has allocated and purchased/printed text books to the tune of Rs2.4Billion rupees to give to all students in schools, that is 37 million copies of 437 text books, printed in English, Sinhala and Tamil to 4.1 millions school students in Govt. schools. This does not amount to new text books for each of the students, but the used text books are sorted into reusable and not, and only acceptable quality used books along with a mixture of new books are given to the students. The Teachers determine how the books are divided amongst the pupils, hopefully in an equitable manner. There are rules in schools as to how to preserve and cover the books as they are the property of the schools, and the students are required to maintain them and put color coordinated covers. When a new syllabus is issued, then all the books for that subject are new.

It is time the Ministry of Education took urgent steps to rectify this anomaly of lack of Principals and appoint the suitably qualified ones without delay. The bureaucratic Education Department MUST share the blame, and pull their socks up from slumber for the sake of the students of Sri Lanka.

Capital Transfers from Worker Remittances – Internationally US$700B annually – To Sri Lanka it is US$9B and India US$66B in 2012

Imagine this colossal sum is sent in bits each and every second 24/7 to all the poor countries from workers in more wealthy ones. I do not include a Brit who works in the US and remits money to his family in the UK and vice versa.

This allows the net recipient country to do many things they could not dream of doing otherwise. While it is apparent that much is remitted from the Oil Producing Countries where many work, which then allows the recipient countries purchase their oil, so it benefits the Middles East countries too as they are then able to sell their oil! You could argue then the worker goes for an oil for work bartering system! In fact that whilst our worker remittances, amount to about US$9B both through the banking system and outside, US$6B goes to pay for the oil. Arguably ALL the remittances from the Middle East goes to pay just for the oil we import from there!

In either case the past 30 years have seen a huge increase in this funds flow, that has enabled countries to develop, balance their current account, when the trade balance is in deficit, and avoid economic chaos. Just think for a moment if the 2M people with Sri Lankan passports returned to Sri Lanka today, could we cope with NO remittances, and having to support them? FAT CHANCE!

We will most likely be starving with no traffic on the road, not being able to import ANY fuel, and wondering what life is all about. We have taken this for granted, and most of the people do not realize how dependent this country has got from this. Worse still the benefit of the economic growth that comes from this appears foolishly to fall into the Government’s lap when one can argue that our growth would be more healthy if policies were different.

After all with this dependence on remittances, we have allowed our export sector to be decimated, by bad economic policy. If the govt. policies were different and export oriented we will be able to survive future balance of payments issues. The import substitution goals, whilst admirable, will come to grief when we produce items at home for 10times the cost if we were able to buy from abroad, and also if we used half that energy to produce an exportable unit to make that import purchase!

India’s and most other less well off countries have prospered and husbanded this windfall and put it to maximum use. Let us also not waste it and utilize it instead.

The Economics of Public Policy – How can we reduce waste?

I don’t know what it is, it may be the culture of Sri Lanka, but when something is not ours and we have not paid for it, we often waste much of it. I wish here not to discuss about the low productivity of Public Expenditure, or about bribery, corruption and mismanagement by hugely over pricing contracts, but an allied but an as important area, namely ‘waste’ of Public Expenditure.

When you think about it, if one adds all of the above, one would not get into the business of doing anything through Government, but just call for open tenders for every project, contract or area of expenditure. In fact many developed countries upon realizing the extent of waste, have privatized many public services to make it more efficient. That last word means, reduce waste and corruption, be more productive, and be accountable, as there is a profit motive attached to a private business. Minimum standards are then assured by both quality control, and ensuring a cast iron contract that ties the contractor to enforceable levels of performance and delivery.

I recall a case when I lived in California, and we experienced a devastating earthquake that destroyed Motorway bridges. Contractors were incentivized by a bonus for each day they managed to finish before the due date, but without compromising on quality. In this instance the contractor shared this bonus with the workforce who all benefited from working harder, longer hours into the night to finish the project a few weeks before the promised date. This, in addition to the overtime in accordance with their initial labor contracts.

Since my first memory I have noticed waste. One that frequently comes to mind are the mounds of rock for resurfacing or repairing roads that are dumped at roadsides, when the repairs take place months later. Much of the sand and gravel is pilfered or washed away as well as the ‘mattel’ or graded small rock before being used eventually. I also remember CTB buses that were sent for repair corroding in open spaces, due to the lack of spare parts, and the easier course of action been followed, replete with commissions on the import of new buses, all at a huge cost to the public purse.

Why does this occur to a greater extent in Sri Lanka? It is due to few people being exposed to running their own business where everything that is wasted is a direct cost to the owner, and therefore every attempt is made to protect all items, from the weather, theft, corrosion, and ensure good maintenance to prolong useful life. That situation is OK if they “Kalpanakaranna” instead.

National Youth Policy – Sri Lanka 2013 – Part 1

I was giving some thought to what should be included in a youth policy, one which no doubt will be thrust upon us in March 2013. I believe it is being done with great haste, as the suggestions will not match aspirations, which I believe should be from a critical mass of about 25,000 youth themselves between ages 15-29 from all parts of the Country, and comprising as many female as male.

In this way one will get a feeling for what it is they expects from one. I know one who said that due to the state of Education, young people without critical skills of analysis will not be able to come out with a logical wish list of what is practical for a Govt. to provide, rather will just provide a Santa Claus list of what they want the Govt. to provide or must provide as a minimum.

It is the fault of successive governments, capped by this one which appears to promise even more than any before it, to fulfill the needs of youth. For example just think of education today with NO private sector colleges, just the public sector. Where would the majority of the kids go to get training in an employable skill?

The marketplace has taken over. All a Govt. does is to provide guidelines and improvements in teaching quality, so that output improves. Will this type of request come from youth, who do not know they are receiving rotten teaching? They don’t know what good teaching is to compare! Am I asking the wrong audience for input in developing a Youth Policy for Sri Lanka?

This is a teaser blog entry, and I will no doubt explore this topic further in the weeks and months to come so that we can critically think what it is that the State can practically do for youth so that their aspirations can be met, while at the same time these aspirations are congruent with the overall policy of the state as far as their development and quality of life goals are met.

For ease of clarity, we may have to breakdown the 15-29 age into a number of subsets and come out with specific policy guidelines that cater to those who wish to leave the formal education sector at various critical ages, due to different reasons. We can only generalize. There are always exceptions to the rule. The opportunities available to urban and rural youth are different. Due to the proximity of small cities to all rural areas, the urban rural divide in Sri Lanka is probably confined only to the migration to Colombo for employment as opposed to other cities in Sri Lanka where opportunities are clearly less.

Buddhist Monks – a question of Diet!

Recent instructions from the Health Ministry about the poor nutrition of Monks, due to the food they are given as Dana, is a wake-up call to all of us to be more concerned about what we eat, taking into account our lifestyle and determine how we should plan our eating habits.

This news has aroused interest in the western world and has just resulted in two articles both in the BBC and in Time magazine.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20512718

http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/11/30/overburdened-with-offerings-sri-lankas-buddhist-monks-are-grappling-with-weight-issues/#wrapper

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/sri-lanka-worries-about-overweight-monks/story-fnd134gw-1226525333229

I am surprised that it took so long for the Health Department to come to this conclusion, especially due to the proclivity of the devotees to ply their monks with goodies, which they believe will bring them merit in the next life.

Now we must train the devotees, that what they are doing hastens illness and even death as most monks do not indulge in exercise due to the strictures of their behavioral characteristics, of not having solid food from noon till around 4 the following morning. So a window of 8 hours is all they have to consume solids and therefore they either consume too much in that short space of time or do not consume the right mix.

A more important point is that drinking sweet tea is tantamount to giving energy or a sports drink, as sugar is converted into energy. If the energy is more than the body requires, sugar related illnesses such as diabetes could result. Tea can be consumed throughout the day though strict adherents refrain from this too, and all forms of liquid intake except water.

It is important that monks know how to choose what is healthy from the food offered to them, as they are generally prevented from asking for anything special in the food they receive. It is further important that the adherents are mindful of this problem and give them food that is healthy, and perhaps cooked or prepared in a tasty way so they do not feel they are being deprived!

The next step of the Health Department is to ensure citizens are aware of diet and of what is healthy and unhealthy, so that they will be more careful about their consumption habits. It is time we all learnt about everything we consume.

Towards a new National Policy for Youth – They don’t even know where to start

The Minister of Youth Affairs has just announced the development of a National Youth Policy and disclosed that the Govt will publish one by March of 2013. There was a full page ad asking for people to provide information at various centers around the country, but with scant details of those places. They only gave till the end of November, less than a week to respond. This is totally inadequate.

It is important that ideas from young people are put forward. For that an email address, and phone numbers of locations MUST be given. Youth do not loiter around to provide information to the Govt. or for anyone else, for that matter, so youth friendly locations must be sought to get as representative a sample of opinions.

The Govt. defines youth in Sri Lanka as between 15-29. They maintain that group amounts to 26% of the population or 5.3M people. Into this category fall those who are about to leave school just after sitting for their O levels and some in fact leave during their O level year without sitting the exams as they are frightened they will fail and therefore do not even wish to try. They go up to others who have completed post graduate degrees or other diplomas.

There are over 350 Youth Organizations in Sri Lanka. It is time they compile a data base, and inform them of it, call them into seminars to discuss matters to be included in a youth policy. No matter who is in power, there will be guidelines created following this Policy, which will be long term and decisions have to be taken to provide for the future aspirations of youth and many decisions have a 5 to 10 year gestation period before it comes into effect, if it requires resources to be built for infrastructure and programs that address the needs of young people.

Per the Daily Mirror article of Nov 29^th 2012 I quote

The ‘Youth Policy of Sri Lanka’(YPSL) will be completed by March 2013 for Parliamentary approval heralding a new era for Sri Lankan youth, Youth Affairs and Skills Development Minister Dulles Alahapperuma said.

At a news briefing on Tuesday Minister Alahapperuma said, Sri Lanka was the only country in Asia without a youth policy.

“Sri Lanka was devastated by three youth uprisings in the north and south during the last four decades which stunted the national economy, damaged our social fabric, widened the gap between the three ethnic groups in Sri Lanka and delayed the youth welfare. The respective governments appointed committees to look into these youth unrests, but all of them failed to bring tangible solutions to youth problems,” Minister Alhapperuma said.

He said the only outcome of these committees was the inclusion of a new word, ‘Tharuna Asahanaya’ (youth intolerance) to the Sinhala vocabulary.

Different countries identify the age limit of youth differently and in Sri Lanka a youth is defined as within the age group of 15 to 29 years. Many Western countries classify youth to be between 13 – 20 years. The youth population in Sri Lanka is 26% and the most valuable asset of the nation. Therefore it is the duty of the government to ensure a bright and trouble free future to the youth of the country, he said. Minister Alahapperuma refused to accept that youth in Sri Lanka are a dissatisfied lot and said the Sri Lankan youth, with proper guidance, could be a role model to others. All governments since independence, educationalists and policy makers should accept responsibility for youth intolerance in Sri Lanka.

The discussions will be held till December with relevant bodies! And a policy will be announced in March of 2013.

More time is needed for discussion and debate, and lot more funds allocated to get the opinion of youth especially in rural areas, who face a classic dilemma of having to leave their place of upbringing for education and employment, perhaps permanently.

A Canadian, The Governor of the Central Bank of Canada has been appointed the Governor of the Bank of England.

Mark Carney, aged 47, the Governor of the Central Bank of Canada since 2008 has just been appointed the Governor of the Bank of England for a 5 year term. That is the first time in the history of the Bank of England that a foreigner has been so appointed, a sign of a globalised world, where the best person for the job is recruited from wherever it may be. After all I understand that he managed to keep Canada out of the global financial meltdown where NO Canadian Bank went under during the financial crisis beginning in 2008.

It is a pointer to countries like Sri Lanka that obtaining true professionals, as in not political may be the best course to adopt to ensure that policies and guidelines are adopted in the best interests of the Country. After all this position is the highest non elected position in the UK.

In today’s Sri Lanka how would it be if the Chief Justice was appointed from outside Sri Lanka? I am sure there is NO provision for a non Sri Lankan to hold that office.

This is meant to be a thought provoking blog, so I try to include matters that will draw a readers’ attention to unusual events that merit thinking outside the box.

When we are happily ensconced in our own world, in our comfort zones, we do not like to tread outside it for fear of being made a fool of, or sounding silly. It is nevertheless both courageous and daring to do so, but at the same time gives a perspective that may give some food for thought.

In Sri Lanka thinking outside the box comprises of sending a satellite into orbit with a Sri Lankan flag and calling it a Sri Lankan Satellite going out on its maiden voyage on Tuesday November 27^th on a rocket from China. The Satellite was built in France, and sent to China to be sent on Orbit, but as the Company that commissioned the Satellite is Sri Lankan, a BOI company albeit possibly majority Chinese owned, as the ownership is still a mystery, it is called a Sri Lankan Satellite. That is the thinking outside the box that we indulge in. After all we do not even currently have a communications center to manage the Satellite, that too being done from China. If we check the web site of the China Great Wall Industry Corporation, www.cgwic.com it is obvious it undertakes to send satellites for anyone who wants it done. All I need is the financing or part of it, after all China will lend any amount to Sri Lanka to launch a satellite especially as it overflies the orbit of South Asia. They can then spy on India. I am sure India is pretty pissed off about it anyway!!

It does not take a rocket scientist, excuse the pun, to work out that there is something fishy in this scheme, if the Defense Ministry or the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority has not given their approval and the only approval necessary is from the President!

So it is good to think outside the box to solve our financial problems and find a way to reduce the debt to China and at least reduce the interest rates they have charged us to more modest and reasonable and not usurious ones. Please suggest a way out of our debt mess!!

A truly inspirational post from the POST

I read an article in today’s Washington Post, on line edition and feel it is worth sharing with my blog readers.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/tenants-of-building-help-concierge-raise-money-for-his-village/2012/11/26/fb61110e-37e0-11e2-b01f-5f55b193f58f_story.html

This about an immigrant from dirt poor Burkina Faso, in Africa, who now works in Washington DC as a concierge in a building,  who supports his extended family back home from his earnings. The tenants of the building once they got to know about what he does, chipped in to help him provide more for the village back home, including building a well etc. for a village does not even have electricity. It is worth a read.

When I lived in the USA, I frequently came in contact with the generosity, and caring of the average American to people in distress. In a time when the US is maligned by Sri Lanka, one must remind Sri Lankans of the good heart of the average American, whatever policy is adopted by the Government. The people are decent, humble and have a streak of empathy and sympathy for those who make an effort to help themselves.

In a period in Sri Lanka where people are trying to make a fast buck, by foul means, I am sad to see that hard work and genuine effort is not rewarded, and instead greed and avarice, and wishing to ape people who have obtained their riches by foul means is admired.

We MUST impress on people that some of the values we have are wrong. We must give credit to people who sincerely try to make a difference, and not do it just for show. Many charity fund raisers here are for duty and part of the Clubs people belong to such as, Lions, Rotary, Zonta and an endless list where the primary purpose is to network, give members a chance to fine tune their leadership and organizational skills, where raising funds for a project is secondary, as a means to lend some social responsibility value to it.

I am no doubt going to get some irate members of these organizations refuting my allegations and that is fine, it just makes the debate interesting, and thought provoking, the main aim of the blog. After all we must help those who help themselves before we help those who hold their hand out just because its free. The latter sadly are those who gain most from the Sri Lankan model of charity.

Talking about charity, it is very difficult to guarantee results, but if one directs it through someone trustworthy who is selfless in their work, there is a greater likelihood of both deserving people receiving assistance and gain the maximum productivity  out of the charity rupee.

Let us not kid ourselves. The Government of Sri Lanka is the largest distributor of charity to people, a huge proportion of which no one disputes is embezzled and wasted both by those in charge of distribution, and the undeserving recipients, who do not use what is given for the intended purpose. An important lesson in how we help, volunteer and donate.

Sri Lanka Transport Board – losses estimated at Rs6B for 2012 – So how about a plan?

What is a realistic plan? Shall we say to reduce the loss to Rs4B in 2013, and Rs2B in 2014 and a break even in 2015, whilst adding 1000 buses to the fleet in 2013, to take the total buses to 6,000. Remember that they employ a staggering 35,000 people who at an average wage of Rs30,000 a month including their EPF/ETF or pension benefits alone amounts to a staggering Rs12.6Billion!

The shortfall is provided by the Treasury just as the CEB and the SL Petroleum Corporation is also subsidized by them, to a much greater degree.

I would recommend the following goals.

1                      Whilst bringing down 1000 new buses, in 2013 the intention is to have 5,000 working buses in good operating condition daily, to a good standard running at any one time.

2                      In order to be more practical the cadre MUST be reduced to 30,000 by the end of 2013 by natural retirements and non extension of service and to 25,000 by the end of 2014 and possibly to 20,000 by 2015. This is the only way to improve productivity, whilst compensating workers well for overtime and other extra duties that add to productivity improvements.

3                      It is not for the SLTB to make profits, if it primarily serves areas that private buses do not ply on, due them being unprofitable. It is a sad reality all over the world that to serve the far flung communities it is essential to operate some services at a loss.

4                      It is better to hive off the loss making routes to a different company and manage them under different guidelines, whilst those buses that will now run on a combined timetable with the private buses, as announced today, be held to a different standard of profitability.

5                      The question of using SLTB buses for political purposes MUST be charged to any political party on a time and distance basis, with funds collected in advance and in ensuring existing services are not affected due to this requirement. The charges should also ensure that NO loss is incurred by the SLTB in their use. It is easier said than done, but proper records should be kept of such one off transactions so that better management of this requirement is ensured in future.

6                      The structure of the SLTB depots requires urgent change with performance measures to ensure more accountability and improved productivity. The signing off of work sheets must be stopped, by using the now very cheap fingerprinting system for clocking and out to ensure no wages are paid to the thousands staying at home, as at present due to the poor attendance systems in place.

7                      All depots should be cleared of all old and unusable buses, by sending them to a central scrapper’s yard so that proper salvage value is obtained, instead of the system at present to sell locally to cronies for low prices.

8                      The abuse of use and misuse of diesel, the huge waste in spare parts, especially the fraud taking place on the use of tires and the sale thereof of used tires before their full life is used up and the high cost of retreading that can be halved if the contract is given on an annual basis for a stipulated minimum to a larger re-treader.

The level of self worth – try not to overestimate your importance

People for want of criteria of measurement, estimate their abilities and their success in comparison to their peers, and those around them. When it comes to an independent jury not of your peers, making this assessment, a completely different outcome could result, denting one’s pride. It is how one reacts to this that is important, as well as a mark of one’s character.

We always find ourselves in the company of our peers and are used to people being judgmental based on the same expected criteria and we are then comfortable or not about our abilities, success and position within this peer group. It is not often that we tread outside of this comfort zone. When we do, and sometimes we are judged very differently, we may even get the shock of our lives about ourselves; this, especially when it happens rarely or for the first time.

I was fortunate in being thrust into different environments early in life, first to go to school in Australia, having to turn overnight from being in a Sinhala stream into an English stream. That was quite a shock, but it allowed for a better assessment of self within a new environment. Whilst I was in the top of the class in Sri Lanka I was never anywhere near the top in my classes both when I was in Australia, and then in England. Granted the school I went to in England is now one of the top 5 secondary schools in the Country, and the standards were very high. In the year I left school, out of the whole A level class that went to Universities around England, 32 boys out of 64 got into Oxford or Cambridge Universities. Not me I might add.

I knew what good grades were, when my English teacher who had taught in the school for over 40 years had only ever given A grades less than 4 times. So his idea of good must have been very different from another’s

I write this because we in Sri Lanka at all levels of society appear, (I would greatly appreciate a comment to the contrary) to believe we are more capable than we really are. I get numerous jobs applications and send people on interviews. Clearly they do not get the job, because he or she is not the right fit for the job. However I am asked why, as they expect some kind of favoritism, when they are clearly not suitable for the task to which they apply. It has therefore become very important to deflate some of these people prior to their interviews to have realistic expectations.

This unrealistic level of expectation from people who are not capable or self confident is the dilemma of our society. They sometimes give an air of self confidence to others hiding a woeful sense of insecurity, and it is the latter that comes out in an interview, which I presume a seasoned interviewer can elicit and may even unfairly work against him or her.

There is much that can be written about this subject, but I want the reader to ponder, as it is a huge societal problem in Sri Lanka affecting people in all walks of life. I was pressed into writing this when today, one young man, called asking me why he was not included in some committee, as he felt he was immensely qualified and talented. I could not get it into me to tell him straight, that his claim was rejected outright due to his particular incompetence and lack of a clear vision, except for wanting to be recognized for seniority, something we do not have the luxury of rewarding for the particular task at hand. These are daily examples of making choices in the interests of ensuring the organizational goals succeed over personal desires and prejudices.