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Listening to the Voice of the Mothers

ASIA SOUTH PACIFIC

REAL WORLD STRATEGIES (RWS) PROJECT

Mothers Education Campaign 2008

Final Report

Sri Lanka

1

Synopsis

“Listening to the Voice of the Mothers”

National Convention on Mothers Education in Sri Lanka 2008

A crowd of mothers, educational officials, and representatives of the non government

organizations filled to capacity at the Janakala Kendraya at Pelawatte, Battaramulla on the

13th of December 2008 attending the Mothers Education National Convention organized by the

Coalition for Educational Development (CED)

The intention of the CED in organizing the Convention was to bring representative mothers from

disadvantaged communities scattered throughout the country, with lower literacy, to one

platform along with Policy makers, in order to make a voice for Mothers Education to be

included in the National Adult Education Policy and advocate the policy makers to give

Mothers Education its due prominence.

Approximately 480 mothers with lower literacy representing all communities, ethnic groups

coming from eighteen districts except Killinochchi, Vavuniya, Jaffna in the Northern Province

and few other districts of South attended the convention - may be the first of its kind in Sri

Lanka. The total number of participants reached approximately 600.

The total number of mothers the entire campaign reached is much higher than this as there

were provincial level programs prior to the national event in all these participating provinces

and districts.

The Minister of Education Honorable Susil Premajayantha was due to participate at the National

event but unfortunately he cancelled it at the last minute. Cancellation was done even after

having sent his personal and official security teams to the convention premises. Due to the large

number attending the convention from almost all the provinces we were told that his security

team has instructed him against attending, due to the prevailing security concerns in the

country. Therefore the participants and organizers both missed the opportunity of the much

anticipated participation of the minister himself. Three other ministers namely Minister of Social

Services, Human Rights and Women and Child affairs also invited but apologized for not being

able to participate mostly due to the timing (being the year end) and the security concerns.

Nonetheless the following policy makers were present among the guests at the convention and

address the gathering: Mrs. G Y Wijesuriya, Deputy Director, Department of Non formal

Education, Ministry of Education (National); Mr. K Kekulandara, Secretary to the Ministry of

Education, Central Province, (Provincial); Dr. Godwin Kodituwakku, Director, National Institute of

Education; Mr. Kamal Herath, Advisor-Education, Plan Sri Lanka

In addition to that mothers representing different disadvantaged community groups and ethnic

groups of the country themselves spoke at the convention regarding the hardships they

encounter due to lack of education and literary capabilities and the need to educate them.

2

Many a heartfelt stories and experiences were shared by these mothers with those who were

present at that day.

The policies addressed and advocated by the campaign were the Adult Education Policy and

Non-Formal Education Policy.

The event was given the full media coverage by electronic media. Many leading electronic

media organizations were present at the convention and the event was highlighted in the days

News of the state media ‘Esanin Puwath’.

Last but not least the CED strengthened its capacity to identify vulnerable groups in relation to

the subject and to create awareness, educate and mobilize them aiming policy changes at

national level. As a result of which there are numerous requests to carry out educational

programs to these mothers with lower literacy levels.

In overall it was one big event that was organized within a very short period of time with minimal

resources and the lessons learnt by the CED are numerous, this report attempts to describe the

CED’s experience in carrying out this Mothers Education Campaign as part of the Asia South

Pacific Real World Strategies (RWS) funded by Asia South Pacific Bureau of Adult Education

(ASPBAE).

The report has also focused on the process of planning and organizing the event in order to

elaborate the CED’s unique capacity on carrying out such advocacy programs through its

network of partner organizations and hopefully will serve as a document that spread its strength

as an organization that carry out advocacy to improve the education in Sri Lanka.

Readers are kindly requested to inform the CED Secretariat any mistakes and/or any

improvements that could have been made particularly to this campaign and report, so that

such comments could be used in a constructive manner in future work of the CED.

Report Compiled By

Dr. Ruchira Kitsiri Programme Coordinator

Coalition for Educational Development

3

Contents

Page

1 Background and Introduction to the Project 10

A Project was born - The initial project planning phase 10 Rationale and Justification of the Project 11

Soft Launch 11

Banner Display 12

2 Planning 13

Further Planning 13

Educating and Briefing the Local Partner Organizations 13

Ongoing Regular Planning 18

3 Provincial Activities 19

Feedback from local partners and provincial and local level activities 19

Feedbacks 22

North Western Province 22

Feedback from ‘Wayamba Govi Kantha Sansadaya’ 22

Feedback from Mihikatha Environmental Organization 22

Feedback from ‘Sarvodaya Shramdana Sangamaya’ 23

Feedback from Central Province 23

Feedback from Centre for Plantation Rural Community Development (CPRCD) 23

Feedback from ‘Hearts’ (Social Welfare Development Source) 24

Feedback from Navayugam Social development Centre (NSDF) 24

Feedback from Uva Province 24

Feedback from Be-Friend Organization – Buttala 24

Feedback from Western Province 25

Feedback from Rural Women’s Foundation (RWF) – Gampaha 25

Feedback from Southern Province 25

Matara District 25

Feedback from Visura Development Foundation – Matara 26

Feedback from Tissajaya Children’s Welfare Foundation – Matara 26

4

Page

4 National Convention 28

Mothers Education – The National Convention

13th Saturday, December 2008 28

Selecting a Place for the Convention 28

Final Stages of Preparation 29

The Program for the National Convention 29

Invitees and Invitations 30

Accommodation and Meals 30

Media 30

Banners, Name Tags, Food Coupons and Hand outs 31

First Aid 31

Organizing Committee 31

The Convention Day 31

The Stage Back drop 32

Arrival of Mothers at the Convention 33

Guests: Disappointments and Achievements 35

Lighting the traditional oil lamp 35

Welcome 36

The Pledge 37

The Speeches 38

The Purpose of Mothers Education National Convention 38

Guest Speech: Importance of Mothers Education 38

Voice of the Mothers at the Convention 39

The Closing 42

The Policy Makers’ Speeches 42

Award of Gifts 43

The vote of thanks 43

The Participants 44

5 A Summary of the Outcomes and Achievements of

the Mothers Education Campaign 48

Media and Publicity 49

The Policy Advocacy 50

Annexes 51

5

List of Annexes

Page

Annex 01 52

Mothers Education 2008 - Project Proposal

Annex 2 58

The Presentation made at the Mothers Education Project Awareness and Planning Meeting for

CED Partner Organizations held at CHPB, Pelawatta, Battaramulla on 2nd October 2008 (English)

Annex 3 62

The Presentation made at the Mothers Education Project Awareness and Planning Meeting for

CED Partner Organizations held at CHPB, Pelawatta, Battaramulla on 2nd October 2008

(Sinahala)

Annex 4 66

Attendance of the October 2nd, 2008 Planning Meeting for CED Local Partner Organizations

Annex 5 68

The Navayugam Social Welfare Development Forum (NSDF)’s report of local level

Mothers Education Project activity in the Nuwara Eliya district of Central Province.

Annex 6 70

Invitation and the Programme of the National Convention

Annex 7 71

Name Tags and Food Coupons of the Mothers Education National Convention

Annex 8: Hand Out – English 72

Annex 9: Hand Out – Sinhala 74

Annex 10: The Pledge 76

Annex 11: Attendance of the Mothers Education National Convention 77

6

List of Tables

Page

Table 1: Organizations that participated for the planning meeting

representing districts and provinces 17

Table 2: Provincial/local level awareness activities by partner organizations

including mother groups and numbers reached/planning to mobilize

for the convention 20

Table 3: Community groups from the Western Province, urban poor that

the Rural Women’s Foundation carried out their program for 25

Table 4: Reach of the program carried out by Visura Development Foundation

in Matara District 26

Table 5: Total population of the two Divisional Secretariats selected and

No. of GNDs 27

Table 6: The GN Divisions selected by the Tissajaya Foundation for their

local program and their respective populations 27

Table 7: Summary of the no. of adults identified by Tissajaya Foundation

whose literacy levels were low 27

Table 8: Organizing Committee for the Convention 32

Table 9: Number of Participants by District 45

Table 10: Total Number of Participants by Organization 45

Table 11: Provincial Participation 46

Table 12: Organizational Participation 47

List of Diagrams

Diagram 1: Route Map to the Convention Centre;

‘Folk Art Theatre’ in Battaramulla 29

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List of Photographs

Photo No:

Description Page

Photos 1 & 2 CED partner organizations celebrating International Literacy

Day which was used for the soft launch of the Mothers

Education Project in early September 2008 with pending

approval of the project proposal from ASPBA

12

Photo 3 Mr. Charles Elamaldeniya, Chairman CED addressing the

gathering, translated by Mr. Lourdusamy

14

Photo 4 Dr. Ruchira Kitsiri – Programme Coordinator, CED explaining the

project background and activities to the audience

14

Photo 5 A section of the audience at CHPB

14

Photo 6 Mr. Chandana Bandara, Director Adult and Inclusive Education

listening to the project activities attentively

14

Photo 7 Mr. Ranjith Wickramasinghe, Secretary CED Further explaining

the project at group activities and facilitating the group work

with a colleague of his.

15

Photo 8 Group activity in progress

15

Photos 9, 10 & 11 Provincial level activities and the participation to National

Convention was discussed in separate groups for each

province at the meeting

16

Photos 12, 13 & 14 Participants presenting their tentative provincial plans to the

audience at the end of group discussions

16

Photos 15 & 16 Eastern Province presenting their plans and the audience

acknowledging them with applause

16

Photos 17, 18 & 19 Programme carried out in the plantation sector mothers from

the Pattiyagama, Heithwatta, Little Valley and Great Valley

estates by Centre for Plantation Rural Community

Development

23, 24

Photo 20 Local planning conducted by Tissajaya Children’s Welfare

Foundation in Matara on 30th October, 2008

26

Photo 21 The Convention Centre Gramodaya Janakala Centre (Folk Art

Theatre), Pelawatta, Battaramulla

28

Photo 22 The stage back drop ‘the Mothers Education National

Convention’

32

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Photos 23 & 24 Participants from all over the island arriving at the Convention

Centre in Pelawatta, Battaramulla carrying banners on the 13th

December 2008, morning

33

Photos 25 & 26 More of the participants arriving at the Convention Centre

33

Photo 27 Registration in Progress

33

Photo 28 Entering the Convention Centre

34

Photo 29 Security personnel at the convention checking the mothers

entering the convention hall

34

Photos 30 & 31 Participants taking seats inside the hall

34

Photo 32 Mr. Charles Elamaldeniya, Chairman CED, Mr. K. Kekulandara,

Secretary of Education, Central Province and Mr. Kamal Herath

from Plan Sri Lanka lighting the traditional oil lamp.

35

Photo 33 Mr. Charles Elamaldeniya inviting other guests and provincial

representatives to light the oil lamp. Mr, Ranjith

Wickramasinghe, Secretary CED looks on

35

Photo 34 representatives from each province and representatives from

various ‘mother- Communities’ that were present, lighting the

oil lamp

35

Photo 35 Mothers observing religion prior to the proceedings of the day

36

Photo 36 CED Chairman, Mr. Charles Elamaldeniya welcomes the

gathering

36

Photo 37 Section of mothers in the audience

37

Photo 38 Distinguished Guests and CED officials in the audience

37

Photo 39 Mothers taking the pledge to work towards Adult and Mothers

Education in the country along with CED Sri Lanka

37

Photos 40, 41 & 42 Mothers and the participants taking the pledge at Mothers

Education National Convention

37

Photo 43 Mr. Chandana Bandara, Director, Adult and Inclusive

Education, CED, explaining the purpose of the Mothers

Education Project and National Convention to the gathering

38

Photo 44 One of the distinguished guests, Mr. Senaratne De Silva,

National Coordinator – Desha Hithayshee Association,

addressing the audience

38

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Photo 45 A mother representing the Eastern Province Muslim Community

addressing the audience

39

Photo 46 Mrs. Nilanthi Shiromi Seneviratne from North Central Province

addressed the convention on behalf of mothers of children

with special needs

39

Photo 47 Mrs. R Kamachi representing the plantation community coming

from Lower Lawrence, Plantation Norwood singing a song and

speaking to the crowd.

40

Photo 48 Mrs. Uru Warige Anulawathie representing the

Indigenous ‘Veddah’ Community

41

Photo 49 Three mothers representing fisher folk community of the North

Western Province performing a dance to a folk song by them

41

Photos 50 & 51 Songs by child singers presented at the convention for the

pleasure of the audience

42

Photo 52 One of the Chief Guests, Mr. K. Kekurandara, Secretary to the

Ministry of Education, Central Province addressing the

gathering

42

Photo 53 The Chief Guest, Mrs. G Y Wijesuriya, Deputy Director,

Department of Non Formal Education, Ministry of Education

addressing the gathering in the absence of Minister of

Education on behalf of the national policy makers on

education

42

Photos 54, 55 & 56 Dr. Godwin Gunawardena, Director National Institute of

Education (NIE), Mrs. G. Y. Wijesuriya, Deputy Director,

Department of Non Formal Education, Ministry of Education

and Mr. K Kekulandara, Secretary to the Ministry of Education,

Central Province awarding gifts to the mothers

43

Photo 57 Delivering of vote of thanks by CED’s Mr. Nishantha Kasthuri,

Chief Organizer of the Mothers Education 2008

43

Photos 58 & 59 The media eagerly capturing the event on their cameras

44

Photo 60 The compeers for the event

44

Photo 61 CED making its presence felt as an organization dedicated to

uplift the educational needs of the country

49

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1 Background and Introduction to the Project

A Project was born - The initial project planning phase

The main idea for the Mothers Education Project and its Provincial and National Level activities

that were held, was first born at a discussion held at ‘Sithuwama’ organization in Matale, Central

Province, which is one of the partner organizations of the CED. This took place with the

participation of the majority of the members of the Executive Committee of the Coalition for

Educational Development (CED) in the third quarter of year 2008 with a view of rewriting the

Mothers Education Proposal which was initially unsuccessful.

The discussion was participated by Mr. Charles Elamaldeniya, Chairman, Mrs. Daya Ariyawathie,

Secretary, Mr. Douglus Kumaratunga, the Treasurer, Directors Mr. Micheal Joachim, Mr.

Chandana Bandara, Mr. Nishantha Kasthuri, Mr. Rupatissa, Dr. Ruchira Kitsiri, then Project

Manager, Budget Tracking and Analysis and Mr. Roshan Gunawardena, then Coordinating

Assistant of the CED.

Mr. Chandana Bandara, Director-Adult and Inclusive Education explained and elaborated his

experience in attempting to find out regarding the adult education in the country from the

relevant ministries and offices and therefore the lack of a proper policy to implement and

enforce such educational activities in order to achieve the Education for All (EFA) goals set forth

by the United Nations Environmental, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in support of

achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of the United Nations.

Mr. Nishantha Kasthuri, Director-Local Networking of CED came up with the idea of holding a

National Convention by mobilizing the mothers to make a voice for Mothers Education in the

Adult Education Policy in the Country and also to strengthen the CEDs position and capabilities

as an organization that carry advocacy activities in the Education Sector among policy makers.

This was agreed and further developed by the rest of the participants at the discussion and was

later documented and developed into a successful project proposal within a very short period

of time, which the Asian South Pacific Bureau for Adult Education (ASPBAE) agreed to fund, with

some improvements, as it fulfilled and the activities were aligned with the main objective of the

organization which is advocacy for policy changes in the education sector.

In this way the Mothers Education Project was born which centered round the main activity of a

National Convention which was scheduled to be held in the Western Province with the

participation of the media and the relevant policy makers.

What follows is the Final Report of this project which was carried out under the Asia South Pacific

Real World Strategies (RWS) Project for the year 2008 in Sri Lanka from September to December.

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Rationale and Justification of the Project

Given here below is a brief excerpt from the project proposal which is annexed, explaining the

rationale and the justification of the project. (For the full text please refer to the annex 01 –

Mothers Education Project Proposal)

“When it comes to literacy rate, though Sri Lanka is considered to have a very high overall

literacy rate of 91.5%, whether this is true in a practical sense is doubtful due to many reasons.

One reason being the definition of literacy itself, if considered as the ability to write their own

name, though the percentage of people who could successfully do it may be high, it may not

reflect their true writing and reading skills which could be considered as “functional literacy”.

There is no doubt that the functional literacy rate is well below the recorded rates. In addition to

this, disparities exist in different geographical locations which have varying levels of

development, as well as different communities, which is especially true for some selected

disadvantaged communities. These communities include the plantation sector, the fisheries

community, minority communities like the indigenous people and the gypsy community, people

living in urban slums, street children, children whose parents/mothers have migrated for

employment, and those who have internally displaced due to the ethnic conflict, natural and

other manmade disasters. Though many measures have been taken to improve the quality of

life and the standard of living of most of these disadvantaged groups, specific measures to

include them in education is not effective enough which contributes to the delays in achieving

the target of ensuring “Education for All”.

“The concept and the actual activity of ‘Mothers Education’ therefore play an important role in

overcoming the identified obstacles in the field of education in the country, as mothers are

considered as persons who could play a major role in influencing the family and its children’s

education. Thus improving the quality and level of “Mother’s Education” will directly and

indirectly facilitate the process of achieving quality education for all”

With this background in mind the Mothers Education Project was designed and carried out as

detailed below in this report.

Soft Launch

In launching the Mothers Education Project, the first communications with the local partner

organizations were carried out in parallel to the International Literacy Day on September 8th,

2008, the theme of which was ‘Literacy is the key to health and wellbeing’. Banners were

printed highlighting the day and its theme and was sent to sixty local partner organization of the

CED scattered around the country.

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Banner Display

Below are some of CED partner organizations’ banners that were displayed during the

International Literacy Day week educating the public regarding the International Literacy Day

and its theme and the importance of literacy.

Photos 1 & 2: CED partner organizations celebrating International Literacy Day which was used

for the soft launch of the Mothers Education Project in early September 2008 with pending

approval of the project proposal from ASPBAE.

Similar banners were displayed by 60 partner organizations of the Coalition for Educational

Development (CED) around the country at 60 different geographical locations including at the

CED Secretariat premises located in Etul Kotte.

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2 Planning

Further Planning

CED Executive Committee met on 12th September 2008 evening again to further plan the

Mothers Education project activities. Mr. Nishantha Kasthuri, Director (Local Networking) was

handed over the responsibility of carrying out the activities and coordinating the activities with

the local partners with the assistance of other members of the Executive Committee and the

Secretariat staff of the CED.

It was decided to invite all the 60 partner organizations of the CED to a meeting, in order to brief

them on Mothers Education, objective(s) of the project, provincial level activities to be carried

out and regarding the National Convention to be held.

To this extent an invitation letter was sent to the partner organizations on 23rd of September 2008,

announcing the approval of the project and briefing to be held on the 2nd of October 2008,

soon after the celebrations of the International Children’s Day on the 1st of October which CED

celebrated with its partner organization by launching a Music CD with songs sung by well known

artists an child singers depicting the importance of education and the consequences of not

receiving any, and also the role of parents and mothers in educating their children. This Music

CD which comprises songs both in Sinhalese and Tamil languages could now be purchased from

the CED Secretariat.

Educating and Briefing the Local Partner Organizations

CED partner organizations gathered to Centre for Housing, Planning and Building (CHPB),

Pelawatta, Battaramulla on the 2nd October 2008 to discuss the Mothers Education project and

to further plan the provincial level activities and how mothers could be identified, educated and

mobilized to the capital city for the National Convention on Mothers Education.

English and Sinhala versions of the presentation made at this planning meeting is annexed to the

report (Annex 2 and 3 respectively)

At this planning meeting the CED local/provincial partner organizations were introduced to the

concept of Mothers Education and briefed about the background and the basis of the Mothers

Education, the Sri Lankan scenario with regards to Adult Education, the need for policy

formations targeting adult thus mothers education and how this short term Real World Strategies

(RWS) funded by Asia South Pacific Bureau of Adult Education (ASPBAE) project aims to lay a

foundation in attempting to do this.

Mr. Elamaldeniya, the Chairman of the Coalition for Educational Development welcomed the

partner organization representatives to the gathering and briefly explained about the project

and the objectives of the planning meeting following which Dr. Ruchira Kitsiri, the Program

Coordinator of CED made a presentation on the Mothers Education Project, its main activities

and the shared role of the CED secretariat and its partner organizations in carrying out these

planned activities.

14

Photo 3: Mr. Charles Elamaldeniya, Chairman CED Photo 4: Dr. Ruchira Kitsiri – Program

addressing the gathering, translated Coordinator, CED explaining the project

by Mr. Lourdusamy background and activities to the audience

The contribution made by Mr. Lourdusamy of the Navayugam Social Development Centre in

Norwood, Central Province by translating the speeches and presentation to Tamil for the benefit

of the Tamil participants is noteworthy in mentioning here as CED has a very high membership in

the Easter Province of the country.

Photo 5: A section of the audience at CHPB Photo 6: Mr. Chandana Bandara, Director

Adult and Inclusive Education listening to

the project activities attentively

Mr. I.M. Chandana Bandara, Director (Adult and Inclusive Education) explained his experience

in trying to find out about the Sri Lankan policy relevant to adult education from the relevant

authorities and the response he received thus the current highly inadequate state of affairs in

relation to adult education in the country. He also highlighted the absence of structured plans

and activities directed at adult education in the country let along mothers’ education and the

highly felt need to make the policy makers aware of such programs.

Addressing the gathering he further explained that though there seem to be some recognition

by the government officials regarding the adult education, it is seemingly in line with the non-

formal educational programs and activities but not as a separate entity as adult education.

Furthermore he stressed that it was unclear as to whether responsibility rests with either the

Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Social Welfare when it comes to adult education in the

country.

Mr. Nishantha Kasthuri, Director (Local Networking), originator of the idea of National

Convention on Mothers Education and the chief organizer of the project played a major role in

15

educating and informing the partner organizations regarding the project activities and what

needs to be done by the partner organizations provincially in order to make the main event of

National convention a success.

It was highlighted the rationale behind organizing a National Convention in the Western

Province closer to the capital city, in order for the Coalition for Educational Development to

position themselves as an organization that carry out advocacy programs aimed at policy

changes and the need to engage the policy makers and the media in the process.

He stressed on the process of selecting mothers, mother groups and communities in the

respective local areas of each partner organization of the CED and the importance of creating

awareness, empowering and mobilizing the most disadvantaged communities, mother groups

and mothers with the least literary capabilities in order to make the project work and activities

more meaningful.

Mrs. Amara Peeris a well wisher and a prominent highly active member of the advisory board of

the coalition brought to the notice of the gathering the existence of standard recognized tools

to measure the literacy capabilities of adults and the possibility of using such tools in screening

mothers provincially for the project. Her views were readily agreed upon by the audience the

possibility of using such a tool was also discussed.

Limitations of the availability of budgetary allocations when compared to the activities planned

and therefore the need for being cost effective in terms of planning activities was among other

things that were discussed by Mr. Nishantha Kasthuri with the CED partners.

Having extensively briefed by the CED panel on the above topics the representatives from

partner organizations grouped themselves based on their representing provinces to discuss the

initial provincial activities that has to be carried out and planning and budgeting those activities

provincially and locally by their respective organizations. These groups were further facilitated by

members of the CED panel.

Photo 7: Mr. Ranjith Wickramasinghe, Secretary CED Photo 8: Group activity in progress

Further explaining the project at group activities and

facilitating the group work with a colleague of his.

16

Photos 9,10 & 11: Provincial level activities and the participation to National Convention was

discussed in separate groups for each province at the meeting

Following group work each province presented to the audience in summary, their activity plans

and budgets to which, a consensus was tentatively obtained from the audience with a view to

revise them later in the light of the available funds and resources.

Photos 12, 13 & 14: Participants presenting their tentative provincial plans to the audience at the

end of group discussions

Photos 15 & 16: Eastern Province presenting their plans and the audience acknowledging them

with applause

17

Table 1: Organizations that participated for the planning meeting representing districts and

provinces

Province District Organization

Kind Heart (x2) Batticaloa (2)

Women Development Forum (WDF) Eastern (3)

Trincomalee

(1)

KERD Foundation

Samasevaya

Sahana Association for the Disabled

Sri Lanka Rural Development Foundation

Arunodaya Maha Sangamaya

Anuradhapura

(5)

Gemisarana Maha Sangamaya

Human Rights Community Education Centre (HRCED)

Sri Lanka Human Development foundation (SLHDF)

Drug Prevention & Environment Preservation Organization

(DPEPO)

North Central

(9)

Polonnaruwa

(4)

Ape Shankthi Kantha Sangamaya

Putlam (1) Vinivida Organisation

Wayamba Govi Kantha Sansadaya

Prathibha Children’s Development Foundation

Child and Women Development Centre

North Western

(5) Kurunegala (4)

Child and Youth Development Centre

Sithuwama Training Education & Development Organization Matale (2)

Janasarana Educational Development Services

Information Literacy Improvement Centre (ILIC)

Sri Prabodha Training Institute Kandy (1)

Centre for Plantation Rural Community Development

(CPRCD)

‘Hearts’ Social Development

Social Welfare Development Forum (SWDF)

Central (6)

Nuwara Eliya

(3) Nawayugam Social development Centre (NSDF)

Environment & Community Development Information Centre

(ECDIC)

Community Development Foundation (CDF) Ratnapura (3)

Organization of Environment & Child Rights Preservation

(OECRP)

Sabaragamuwa

(4)

Kegalle (1) Dehiowita People Development Foundation (DPDF)

Uva (1) Moneragala

(1)

Be Friend

CEASL

Colombo (1) Coalition for Educational Development (CED)- Secretariat

(x3)

Kalutara (1) Diriya Kantha Foundation

Western (3)

Gampaha (1) Rural Women’s Foundation (RWF)

Community Development Circle (CDC)

Visura Foundation (x2) Southern (3) Matara (3)

Tissajaya Children’s Welfare Foundation

18

Many organizations showed a keen interest and enthusiasm in getting involved in the project

and talked about the relevant communities, mother groups and mothers in their respective

localities such as indigenous mother groups, fisher folks and the plantation community where

the literacy capabilities of adults and particularly mothers were notable low.

A total of 41 participants from 34 local partner organization of the CED took part in this planning

meeting along with the members of the CED Executive Committee and the Secretariat staff and

advisors, from eight provinces and sixteen districts of the country (see table 1). In addition there

were other organizations that expressed willingness to take part in the activities though they

could not attend the planning meeting. Attendance sheet of the meeting is annexed – Annex 4

Though they were informed and educated on the subject, Northern Province member

organizations of the coalition however could not take part in the project due to ongoing terrorist

activities in certain parts of the Northern Province in the country preventing free road access

between the northern peninsula and the south.

Ongoing Regular Planning

Matters that were discussed at the meeting on the 2nd October 2008 were further discussed and

agreed by the Chairman, the chief organizer, the members of the Executive Committee with

regular discussions held at the CED Secretariat in Etul Kotte.

This was done so that the project activities could be carried out within the available resources

and the time frame with the maximum participation from the provincial partner organizations.

This was coordinated via Email and telephone/fax with the participating partner organizations to

build a consensus regarding the budgetary allocations and activity plans, which was a

challenging task for both the chief organizer as well as the CED secretariat staff.

19

3 Provincial Activities

Feedback from local partners and provincial and local level activities

There was a very enthusiastic response from the local partners in organizing and coordinating

local level activities in their respective provinces. Some of the organizations that were unable to

take part in the planning meeting too expressed their willingness to take part in the project.

The response and the enthusiasm were so immense the number of participants had to be

limited from certain provinces as there were limited resources in terms of finances to provide for

their transportation, accommodation and meals.

The following (see Table 2) is a brief summary of the partner organizations that reported back to

CED Secretariat regarding their local activities and programs and mother groups and number of

mothers they reached and/or were planning to mobilize for the National Convention, along with the some of the issues and needs identified. (Please note that this summary only includes the

details of those organizations reported back to CED Secretariat in written format after the

planning meeting, prior to the national convention)

In total 33 partner organizations reported back to us in writing about their local activities and

numbers of mothers they have targeted in them and/or planning to mobilize for the event in

Colombo. These reported local activities had been carried out in eight provinces of the country

with the exception of the Northern Province in 17 districts reaching 806 mothers from various

community groups as detailed in the table 2 below.

These programs had reached the following community groups which includes all three main

ethnic groups in the country as well as other disadvantaged communities whose literacy levels

are particularly low;

- Sinhalese, Muslim and Tamil Mothers

- Rural mothers with Low literacy

- Rural poor

- Urban mother groups with low socio-economic status

- Mothers of children in children’s homes

- Mothers of drug addicts

- Mothers of children with special needs

- Plantation sector

- Fisher folks

- Minority fisher folks

- Farmer communities

- Indigenous People

- Women in prison

- Women occupied with illicit arrack selling

- Women in Illegal shelters around railway lines (especially in Ragama and Dematagoda)

20

Table 2: Provincial/local level awareness activities by partner organizations including mother groups and numbers reached/planning to mobilize for the convention (Please note that this

summary only includes the details of those organizations reported back to CED Secretariat in

written format after the planning meeting, prior to the national convention)

Local level activities by partners Province

(Number)

District

(Number)

Organization

Date No. Target Group

Kind Heart 18 Batticaloa

(36) Women Development Forum 18

Muslim Mothers

Eastern (51)

Trincomalee

(15)

KERD Foundation 15 Rural Sinhalese

Mothers - East

Samasevaya 32 Rural Sinhalese

– A’pura Anuradhapur

a (46) Sahana Association for the

Disabled

14 Mothers of

disabled

children

Drug Prevention &

Environment Preservation Organization

30 Indigenous Community

Ape Shankthi Kantha

Sangamaya

14

Gamisarana Maha

Sangamaya

14

North Central

(120)

Polonnaruwa

(74)

Sri Lanka Rural Development

Foundation

16

Rural Sinhalese

Mothers –

Polonnaruwa

District

Vinivida Organisation 14 Rural Sinhalese

Mihikatha Environmental

Organisation

31.10.’08 24 Rural Mothers

(Fisher folks) Putlam (56)

Sarvodaya Shramdana

Sangamaya

11.11.’08 18 Minority Fisher

Community

Wayamba Govi Kantha

Sansadaya

10.11.’08 22 Rural Mothers

(Farming

Community)

Prathibha Children’s

Development Foundation

24,25 Oct

and 4,6

Nov 2008

13

Child and Women

Development Centre

15

North Western

(123) Kurunegala

(67)

Child and Youth

Development Centre

17

Rural Mothers

Sithuwama Training

Education & Development

Organization (STEDO)

14 Central (163)

Matale (26)

Janasarana Educational

Development Services

12

Rural Sinhalese

21

Kandy (30)

Centre for Plantation Rural

Community Development

(CPRCD)

23.10.’08 30 Plantation

Community

‘Hearts’ (Social Welfare

Development Source)

01.11.’08 27 Grass Root

Level

Plantation

Sector Mothers

Plantation Rural Economic

Development Organization

(PREDO)

15 Plantation

Community

Social Welfare Development

Forum (SWDF)

14 Plantation/

Tamil

Community

Nuwara Eliya

(107)

Nawayugam Social

Development Centre (NSDF)

02.11.’08 51 Tamil

Community

Ratnapura

(13)

Ekabadda Praja Sanwardana

Kantha Maha Sangamaya

13

Sabaragamu

wa (28) Kegalle (15)

Dehiowita People

Development Foundation

(DPDF)

15 Rural Mothers

Be Friend 35

Uva (40) Moneragala

(40) Uva Wellassa Farmer

Women’s Organization

05 Rural Mothers

Colombo

(10)

‘Sanhinda’ Children’s Home 10 Mothers of

Street Children

(Urban Poor)

Gampaha

and

Colombo

(140)

Rural Women’s Foundation

(RWF) 140

Urban Poor

(including fish

sellers, those

who are

involved in illicit

arrack selling,

women in

prison, Mothers

of drug

addicts, low

income groups

in illegal

shelters around

railway lines)

Western (177)

Kalutara (27) Diriya Kantha Foundation

27 Urban and

Rural Poor

Galle (15) DEHERM Organization 15

Tissajaya Children’s Welfare

Foundation

12.11.’08 72

Southern (104) Matara (89)

Visura Development

Foundation

17

Southern

Region Rural

Mothers

22

Feedbacks

North Western Province

Feedback from ‘Wayamba Govi Kantha Sansadaya’

Mr H.M.G Bandara the project coordinator of ‘Wayamba Govi Kantha Sansadaya’ from North

Western Province, Kurunegala District reporting to the CED said that their organization had

carried out a local awareness programme for 22 parents coming from rural farmer communities

with the participation of the prominent personalities in the locality including Principals and

representatives from School Development Societies along with the members of the organization.

Out of these, 15 mothers with particularly low literacy levels had been chosen to participate the

National program.

Once the purpose and the objectives had been briefed to the audience by the organizations

coordinating officer for the education programme, the Principal of Leekolawewa Vidyalaya

addressing the gathering had appreciated the work done by the CED and its partners in relation

to Mothers Education and it was also brought to the notice that in his school’s catchment area

there are at least about 20 families including young adults of both gender who cannot read or

write.

It was also said that the low educational level of the parents particularly of mothers as a factor

for children dropping out early from schools, especially in the rural Sri Lankan villages such as

theirs, thus affecting the overall literacy and education of the future generations too. He also

highlighted that educating mothers would be a key activity in order to increase the parents of

communities like theirs to pay more attention to their children’s education which at the moment

is of very poor in nature and quality giving and extra burden to the teachers of their schools.

He also requested the organization to carry out programs and activities to increase the adult

literacy in their region.

Feedback from Mihikatha Environmental Organization

Mihikatha Environmental Organisation too had reported about their provincial programme

which had been held on the 31 of October 2008 with eh participation of 24 rural mothers from

the locality, out of which 15 were selected to participate the National Convention. They had

also decided to make presentation either in the form of a song or a folksong at the National

Convention. Two mothers, Shriyani Diyapalagoda and T. Mary Nishanthi had volunteered for this

purpose.

Mrs. J Gallage coordinating officer of the organization had explained to the gathered mothers

the importance of educating mothers and the direct relationship between mothers’ education

and education of their respective children. She had also stressed the fact that that most abused

children are also from families where mothers educational level is particularly low.

23

Feedback from ‘Sarvodaya Shramdana Sangamaya’

Ms. W. A. Aruna Shanthi reported about the local programme their organization carried out for

18 participants from the minority fisher community in the district of Putlam on 11.11.2008. This had

included both mother and fathers as well.

They had taken measures to create a wide awareness and raise the importance of adult and

mothers education among the participants by explaining the objectives of the project and the

definition of literacy and the advantages and disadvantages of being literate and illiterate

respectively.

The importance of literacy in taking leadership, socialization activities, educating the children,

carrying out daily activities, household management, achieving savings and future goals,

developing personality and for the progression of education, spirituality, culture, civilization and

politics had been highlighted at this programme.

Writing further about their experience they had stated though they experienced that mothers

were somewhat reluctant to identify themselves as illiterate and therefore to participate in this

awareness creation programme at the beginning at the end of the programme everybody

acknowledged the importance of it and even mentioned that there are a large numbers of

such illiterate mothers in their areas to whom too this programme should be extended in the

future, but the participation for programs like these though is important most of them can not

compromise time for them as they are working and this would cause them a days’ pay which is

a substantial economic burden for them. Therefore had asked the organizers to consider that

aspect in organizing future events.

A 13 year old girl who had lost both of her parents and had been in a probationary centre too

had participated in this program and she had shown a keen interest in taking part in the

national event too.

Feedback from Central Province

Feedback from Centre for Plantation Rural Community Development (CPRCD)

CPRCD had carried out an awareness

creating programme for the mothers of

the plantation sector representing the

Pattiyagama estate, Heith estate,

Great Valley and Little Valley estates on

23rd October 2008 with the participation

of the ‘Grama Seva Niladhari’ and the

‘Samurdhi NIladhari’ ( two village social

services officials) and other participants

from the organization. The prevailing

low literacy among the mothers and

adult of the estate sector and its

influence on low education of the

children of the estate sector was the

main topic of discussion at this meeting.

24

Mothers with particularly low literacy who are below the age 50 years were selected to take part

in the national event at this meeting.

Photos 17, 18 & 19: Programme carried out in the plantation sector mothers from the

Pattiyagama, Heithwatta, Little Valley and Great Valley estates by Centre for Plantation Rural

Community Development

Feedback from ‘Hearts’ (Social Welfare Development Source)

Hearts – Social Welfare Development Source writing to us informed that they had carried out a

programme targeting grass root level plantation sector mothers on the 1st of November 2008 in

preparation for the National Convention of the Mothers Education project. A total of 27

participated for this discussion out of which 23 were mothers and the other 4 were fathers.

Where 12 mothers with were selected to be mobilized to come to Colombo for the main event.

The topics discussed at the local level included Adult Literacy, Mothers Education with Special

reference to the Plantation Sector.

Feedback from Navayugam Social development Centre (NSDF)

Mr. Lourdusamy had informed that NSDF on the 2nd November 2008 carried out a local level

Mothers Education programme for the mothers from their respective community to which a total

of 51 including 46 mothers participated. Mr. Lourdusamy’s full report is annexed – Annex 5

Feedback from Uva Province

Feedback from Be-Friend Organization – Buttala

The Chairman of Be-Friend organization Mr. Priyanka Ratnayake writing to us informed that they

had carried out two programs for a total of 35 rural mothers between the age of 18 and 50

years, in Buttala Divisional Secretariat in Moneragala District out of which 15 would be selected

to take part in the national event.

The relevance of mothers’ education in family well being and education of children had been

highlighted and the right of adults to have an education with a view of empowering and

mobilizing mothers to make a voice for policy changes in the adult education field.

25

Feedback from Western Province

Feedback from Rural Women’s Foundation (RWF) – Gampaha

RWF had carried out their activities for a total of 140 females mostly from the district of

Gampaha with few from Colombo District as well. Composition of this group is given in the

below table 3.

Table 3: Community groups from the Western Province that the Rural Women’s Foundation

carried out their program for

The Urban Community Groups No. of

Mothers

1 Those who are in fish and illicit arrack selling 30

2 Mothers of drug addicts 15

3 Women in prison 75

4 Low income Females of illegal shelters (especially around railway

lines)

20

Total 140

The program had included the following activities and goals;

- Classification of the community groups (see Table 3)

- Provision of knowledge these mothers need to increase their livelihoods depending their

vocational and relevant backgrounds

- Give them a formal form of literacy training

- Alternative vocations for those who are involved in illegal activities

- Assisting mothers of drug addicts to direct their addicted children for rehabilitation

instead of sending them to prisons.

- Counseling and literacy classes for the female prisoners in the Welikada prison.

- A monthly awareness program for those who are illegal occupying shelters around

railway lines especially in Ragama and Dematagoda areas.

- Giving basic literacy training for those who currently cannot sign their name or write.

- Giving them training in reading so they could at least read a news paper

- Social integration of low literacy groups

Feedback from Southern Province

Matara District - Matara District is one of the three districts in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka,

which is situated between the districts of Galle and Hambantota, with a geographical area of

1282.5 square kilo meters spanning from the sea level up to 3800 feet above sea level.

The district has a total of 16 divisional secretariats and 650 GN Divisions with a total population of

812,808 (out of which male population is 412,887 and female population is 399,921) and 365

schools.

26

Feedback from Visura Development Foundation – Matara

Visura Development Foundation had selected six Grama Niladhari (GN) Divisions from Matara

District to carry out their program activities while selecting 17 mothers with low literacy levels out

of a total population of 50 of both males and females that have not gone to school in these six

GN Divisions in Matara District (See table 4).

Table 4: Reach of the program carried out by Visura Development Foundation in Matara District

GN Division Total

Population Female Male

Total No.

Not gone

to school

Selected

No. of

Mothers

1 Thotamuna 1964 1074 890 8 3

2 Polhena 2644 1394 1250 5 1

3 Nupewela 3417 1863 1554 11 3

4 Mathotagama 3057 1995 1062 4 1

5 Paramulla 2769 1502 1267 10 4

6 Ransandagoda 3696 2045 1651 12 5

Total 17547 9873 7674 50 17

According to the information provided by M. Sumanananda Thero, the Executive Director of

Visura Development Foundation, in the six GN Divisions selected there had been a 0.3% of total

population that had not received a school education, 34% of which were selected to take part

in the National Convention on Mothers Education.

Mr. Dayananda De Silva, a Retired Principal and Mr. Sunil Kodikara, a Mathematics Instructor

had been the resource persons for the program.

Feedback from Tissajaya Children’s Welfare Foundation – Matara

Tissajaya Children’s Welfare Foundation had carried out an awareness creation and preparation

meeting with Public Health Mid Wives (PHMW) and Public Health Inspectors (PHI) of two

Divisional Secretariats in the district of Matara on 30th October 2008.

Photo 20: Local planning conducted by Tissajaya

Children’s Welfare Foundation in Matara on 30th

October, 2008.

A total of 55 persons had participated from the

Weligama and Welipitiya divisional secretariats for this

meeting at which carrying out a survey to identify the

adults with lower literacy levels in the following selected

eight GN divisions from the above two divisional

secretariats’.

27

Table 5: Total population of the two Divisional Secretariats selected and No. of GNDs

Divisional

Secretariat

No. of

GN

Divisions

Total

Population

Female Male

Weligama 48 82,728 50,183 32,545

Welipitiya 36 49,318 27,330 21,988

Total 84 132,046 77,513 54,533

The survey was finally carried out in the following GN divisions detailed in Table 6.

Table 6: The GN Divisions selected by the Tissajaya Foundation for their local program and their

respective populations

GN Division No. Total

Population

Female Male

1 Aluthweediya 385 A 2,535 1,237 1,298

2 Hettiweediya 382 B 2,383 1,202 1,181

3 Palalla 377 A 2,145 1,147 998

4 Welipitiya 396 A 2,641 1,364 1,277

5 Denipitiya

East

391 2,268 1,219 1,049

Total 11,972 6,169 5,803

These GN Divisions were identified as the most remote and socio-economically low areas of the

region in which the survey should be carried out.

In accordance a survey had been carried out on the 12th of November, 2008 to map out the

relevant target group for the adult/mothers education program activities which was

coordinated by Ms. Surani Radhika.

Table 7: Summary of the no. of adults identified by Tissajaya Foundation whose literacy levels

were low

Reporting to us Ms. Surani Radhika

summarized the findings in the

above manner (see Table 7)

identifying a total of 72 adults in the

selected GN Divisions whose literacy

is particularly low.

Out of them 14 females whose age

was below 40 years of age had

been selected to carry out and

educational program to improve

their literacy levels.

Below 40 years

of age

GN Division Total No.

of Adults

whose

literacy is

low

Females

Above

the age

of 40

years Female Male

Aluthweediya 16 5 9 8

Hettiweediya 19 3 6 10

Palalla 15 6 2 7

Denipitiya

East

10 3 2 5

Welipitiya 12 2 1 9

Total 72 19 14 39

28

4 National Convention

Mothers Education – The National Convention

13th Saturday, December 2008

Selecting a Place for the Convention

Selecting a place for the National Convention was done by discussing among the Executive

Committee meeting members. Thought it was thought to have the convention in an open air

theatre at the beginning later on the idea was abandoned due security conditions that prevail

in Colombo and also to minimize any disturbances from any rain and other adverse weather

conditions that could occur on the day.

Photo 21: The Convention Centre

Gramodaya Janakala Centre (Folk Art Theatre), Pelawatta, Battaramulla.

After searching for available places Mr.

Ranjith Wickramasinghe, Secretary of CED

found what could be considered as an ideal

place to hold the National Convention in

close proximity to the Ministry of Education as

well as the CED secretariat in a quiet,

spacious and a peaceful location. It was the

auditorium of the newly build Folk Art Theatre

located in Pelawatta, Battaramulla. It

offered a hall large enough to hold the

convention in a well kept and maintained

environment, with the other required facilities

such as access to clean water, sanitary

facilities and good ventilation. In addition it

also catered to accessibility requirements of

the disabled in keeping line with the modern infra structural standards. It was easily reachable

from the participants coming from all parts of the island and also to the places where

accommodation was arranged for those who were staying in Colombo overnight. This seemed

like the ideal place that ensured the security of the invitees and as well as the participant

mothers with the advantage of being located within a large land that occupied the Janakala

Centre buildings thus not causing any disturbance to the traffic or the public in the process of

embarking and disembarking of the participants from their vehicles of transport at the

convention premises.

29

Diagram 1: Route Map to the Convention Centre; ‘Folk Art Theatre’ in Battaramulla

Final Stages of Preparation

Having the date and venue confirmed and as the days got closer to the National Convention

the Secretariat work and the organizing got even busier.

The Program for the National Convention

An activity schedule for the event was prepared in such a way that the activities highlight the

importance of Mothers Education and the need for policy changes in adult education to

include mothers education while giving the opportunity to all stake holders including mothers

themselves to express their views on education and literacy. To this extent organizations and

mothers were selected to represent a range of disadvantaged communities and all three main

ethnic groups of the country. Experts were invited as resource personnel for the event activity

planning and the provincial and national level policy makers and politicians were given a

chance to express their views as well.

In addition to add color to the event and as an activity for both entertainment and education

few songs were selected to be presented at the event. These songs were chosen from the Music

CD produced by the CED, in commemoration of the International Children’s Day on October 1st

and was to be sung by child singers. Some of the song composers for this CD who are mothers

themselves too were invited to take part in the event as guests.

30

Invitees and Invitations

The Executive Committee decided upon the invitees and the invitations were designed, printed

and sent to the invitees via email as well as post.

Among other distinguished guests it was decided to invite four ministers; namely Minister of

Education, Minister of Social Services, Minister of Human Rights and Disaster Management and

Minister of Women’s Affairs to represent the national level policy makers and to all the

Secretary’s of the Provincial Ministries of Education to represent the provincial level policy

makers and other local and international non-governmental organizations that work with CED.

Unfortunately due to the prevailing security situation in the country many ministers said that their

participation is doubtful except for the Minister of Education who was willing to take part due to

CED Director, Mr. I.M. Chandana Bandara’s personal involvement in inviting him.

Mr. Bandara also personally invited the key individuals of the major INGO’s operating in the

country in relation to Education to the national event. Again many were unavailable due to their

other year end commitments. Unicef, Save the Children in Sri Lanka (SCiSL), Foundation for

International Training (FIT), Forut, Right To Play and CED’s regional partner Asia South Pacific

Bureau of Adult Education (ASPBAE) are among the organizations who acknowledged the

invitation and sent their wishes and apologies for not being able to participate along with Mr. S.

Balakrishnan, a former member of the CED advisory board and Dr. Nisha Arunatilake, a

consultant of the CED, attached to the National Institute of the Policy Studies (NIPS).

Dr. Somaratne Eknayake, Retired Basic Education Advisor (UNESCO/UNHCR) who supported the

CED with his expert comments on Mothers Education at the planning stages too apologized for

not being able to take part due to a personal commitment.

Another much felt notable absentee for the event was Mrs. Amara Peeris due to her being out

of the country to seek surgical care for her husband. Her absence was much felt in the planning

process of the National Convention as well as in at the Convention itself.

A copy of the invitation including the program is annexed (Annex 6)

Accommodation and Meals

Places for accommodation for those who would be staying overnight and also the

arrangements for meals and refreshments for them, as well as on the convention day were

arranged by Mr. Nishantha Kasthuri, the chief organizer of the project and the event.

Accommodation was arranged at CED Training Centre in Thalahena, Malabe and at Centre for

Society and Religion, Colombo by the CED and two other partner organizations (Apeshakthi

Kantha Sangamaya and Sama Sevaya organization) found their own accommodation by

themselves.

Media

Media was informed and invited to the event. Both the electronic and print media were invited

and this was organized and coordinated by Mr. Ranjith Wickramasinghe of the CED.

31

Banners, Name Tags, Food Coupons and Hand outs

Other accessories such as banners, name tags, food coupons and hand outs to be given at the

convention was also designed, translated where applicable and printed by the secretariat staff

with the assistance of the content experts and the Executive Committee.

The work done by Mr. Sasanka Pushpakumara at the CED secretariat in designing and getting

printed all this material within a very short period of time was commendable, as was the

contribution made by Director CED, Mr. Micheal Joachim in translating the material to Tamil with

great attentiveness. Mr. Chandana Bandara assisted in preparing the documents in Sinhalese.

Please see Annex 7 for a sample of Name Tags, Food Coupons for the event and Annex 8 and 9

for the Hand Out prepared to be distributed among the guests, media and participants in

English and Sinhalese respectively.

First Aid

Our newest member of the CED Secretariat team Mr. Iresh Chaturanga while being extremely

busy with making the necessary financial resources available for the event and coordinating

those necessary activities and correspondence with the bank, our CED officials Mr.

Elamaldeniya and Mr. Douglus Kumaratunga and the participating organizations also made

arrangements for St. John’s Ambulance Service to be present at the convention premises on the

convention day in case of an emergency or should a need for first aid arises, exhibiting his true

commitment for Health Promotion, which is his previous work area before joining CED.

Organizing Committee

Most of the Organizing Committee and Executive Committee members along with the CED staff

work round the clock on the day prior to the convention making the final preparations for the

event and decorating and making arrangements at the convention premises. Sub-committees

were appointed including a supervising committee to look into registration and logistical issues

of participants from each province at the day of the convention and other logistical issues such

as provision of food, security and accommodation at the day of the convention (See Table 8).

The Convention Day

Participants flocked to the Folk Arts Theatre at Battaramulla on the 13th of December 2008

morning from eight provinces of the country perhaps for the first time in Sri Lanka to take part in

a National Convention on Mothers Education which was the main and most important activity of

the campaign.

The security was tight anticipating the arrival of Honorable Minister of Education, Mr. Susil

Premajayanta. His security teams roamed the convention premises and adjoining areas adding

an air of seriousness to the event while media personnel representing electronic media took their

positions to capture the event.

Following are some of the moments captured on still camera by our photographers highlighting

the National Convention and its main attractions.

32

Table 8: Organizing Committee for the Convention

Sub-Committee Members

Advisory Committee Mr. Charles Elamaldeniya, Mr. I.M. Chandana Bandara

Finances Mr. Charles Elamaldeniya, Mr. Douglus Kumaratunga, Mr. Iresh

Chturanga, Dr. Ruchira Kitsiri

Chief Organizer Mr. Nishantha Kasthuri

Invitations Mr. I.M. Chandana Bandara, Mr. Nishantha Kasthuri, Dr. Ruchira

Kitsiri

Content Development Mr. Charles Elamaldeniya, Mr. I.M. Chandana Bandara, Mr.

Micheal Joachim, Mr. Nishantha Kasthuri, Dr. Ruchira Kitsiri, Mr.

Sasanka Pushpakumara

Media Coordination

and Recording

Mr. Ranjith Wickramasinghe, Mr. Sasanka Pushpakumara

Guest Reception Mr. Charles Elamaldeniya, Mr. I.M. Chandana Bandara, Mrs. Daya

Ariyawathie, Mr. Nishantha Kasthuri, Dr. Ruchira Kitsiri, Mrs. J.

Gallage

Mrs. Deepa Hettiarachchi

Accommodation, Meals

and Refreshments

Mr. Nishantha Kasthuri , Mr. Alexender Perera, Mr. Chaminda

Piyasekera, Mr. G.W. Rupatissa, Mr. Sasanka Pushpakumara

Security Mr. Nishantha Kasthuri, Mr. G.W. Rupatissa, Mr. Douglus

Kumaratunga

Decorations and

Environment

Maintenance

Mr. Ranjith Wickramasinghe

First Aid Mr. Iresh Chaturanga

Western Mr. K.D. Peiris

Sabaragamuwa Ms. J. Gallage

Southern Mrs. Deepa Hettiarachchi

North Western Ms. Sheela Wickramaratne

Central Mr. M.S.M. Sadeek

Eastern Mr. Lourdusamy

North Central Mr. Chaminda Piryasekera

Supervisory Committee

for Registration and

other logistics

Uva Mr. Alexendar Perera

The Stage Back drop

Photo 22: The stage back drop ‘the Mothers

Education National Convention’

Stage back drop was decorated with banners

depicting the Mothers Education Campaign and

the sponsors of the campaign in both Sinhalese and

Tamil. Shown here is the Sinhalese banner that was

displayed at the stage

33

Arrival of Mothers at the Convention

Mothers arrived at the convention early morning led by our CED partner organization

coordinators from the respective organizations.

Photos 23 & 24: Participants from all over the island arriving at the Convention Centre in

Pelawatta, Battaramulla carrying banners on the 13th December 2008, morning.

Photos 25 & 26: More of the participants arriving at the Convention Centre

Some of them were seen carrying and displaying the banners highlighting the importance of

literacy which were used by their organizations to create public awareness in their localities

giving more color to the event.

Photo 27: Registration in Progress

Mothers queued at the registration desk according

where they were registered according to their

organization and provinces of representation by the

supervisory committee appointed. Basic instructions

on food and refreshments and identification material

were also given to them at this point before entering

the convention hall which was done after a security

check.

34

Photo 28: Entering the Convention Centre

Following registration at the registration desk mothers lined

up to enter the convention hall

Photo 29: Security personnel at the convention

checking the mothers entering the convention hall

The security was tight at the Convention Centre

anticipating the participation of Hon. Minister of

Education, Mr. Susil Premajayantha.

Official security was provided to the event by Sri

Lanka Police, Sri Lanka Army and Minister Susil

Premajayanta’s personal security teams.

Photos 30 & 31: Participants taking seats inside the hall

Participants took seats inside the convention hall after going through the initial registration

process and security checks.

35

Guests : Disappointments and Achievements

Participation of the Minister of Education was cancelled at the last moment due to security

reasons prevailing in the country to the much disappointment of the organizers, participant

mothers and the media personnel. CED was informed by the minister that he was unable to

participate following instructions given to him by his security personnel as there was a large

gathering and participants from all the provinces in the country at the event.

However, Deputy Director of Education, Department of Non -Formal Education, Mrs. G.Y.

Wijesuriya represented the Ministry of Education and its policy makers at the convention. Mr. K.

Kekulandara, Secretary of Education, Ministry of Education, Central Province; Dr. Godwin

Kodituwakku, Director, National Institute of Education (NIE) were among the other policy makers

that were present at the occasion.

Mr. Kamal Herath, Advisor – Education, Plan Sri Lanka and Mr. Senaratne De Silva, National

Coordinator for the Desha Hithaishee Movement were the other distinguished guests that were

present at the convention.

Lighting the traditional oil lamp

After mothers from all the provinces and guests arrived and took their respective seats the

proceedings of the convention were initiated by lighting the traditional oil lamp and religious

observations by the gathering.

Photo 32: Mr. Charles Elamaldeniya,

Chairman CED, Mr. K. Kekulandara,

Secretary of Education, Central Province

and Mr. Kamal Herath from Plan Sri Lanka

lighting the traditional oil lamp.

Photo 33: Mr. Charles Elamaldeniya inviting

other guests and provincial representatives

to light the oil lamp. Mr, Ranjith

Wickramasinghe, Secretary CED looks on.

Photo 34: representatives from each province and

representatives from various mother communities

that were present, lighting the oil lamp

Ten mothers representing the eight provinces and

other participating communities joined the

distinguished guests in lighting the oil lamp.

36

Mrs. A.A. Swaheera from Eastern Province, Mrs. Chandra

Wickramarachchi from Western Province, Trileeshiya

Obeysekera from fisher folk community of North Western

Province, Mrs. D.M. Ratnawalee from North Central

Province, Ms. Raja Lakshmie from Central Province, Mrs.

Soma Ratnayake from Uva Province, Ms. Renuka

Chandrakanthie from Sabaragamuwa Province, Mrs. K.P.

I. Piyadasa from Southern Province, Mrs. Godage Jayalath

Shriyanie representing mothers of street children and Ms.

Uruwarige Vimalawathie representing the indigenous

people’s community lighted the traditional oil lamp on

behalf of their respective communities.

Photo 35: Mothers observing religion prior to the proceedings of the day

Following the lighting of the oil lamp everyone in the audience engaged in observing religion

prior to the commencement of the days’ program.

Welcome

Photo 36: CED Chairman, Mr. Charles Elamaldeniya

welcomes the gathering.

CED Director, Child Rights and Participation, Mr.

Micheal Joachim translated the speech to Tamil

language.

CED Chairman, Mr. Charles Elamaldeniya welcomed

the invitees and the mothers on behalf of Coalition

for Educational Development. He introduced the

CED and progression of its activities to the audience

especially with regards to advocacy activities in

relation to Educational Development in Sri Lanka.

Here speaking of the past activities of the Coalition he highlighted one of the first activities that

was undertook by the CED that is the revision of the Education Act in Sri Lanka and success of

the activity which ended up in appointing a committee by the government to revise the

education act which was highly outdated. The government not only appointed a committee on

this but also appointed then National Coordinator of the CED Dr. G. B. Gunawardena as the

Chairman of this newly appointed committee.

Mr. Elamaldeniya took the opportunity to thank the Minister of Education and the President of Sri

Lanka Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse on behalf of all at CED, for the prompt action taken in this regard

as well as Dr. G. B. Gunawardena for his efforts in preparing the National Framework 2007 – 2008

of CED.

He also spoke of the high achievement of Sri Lanka in terms of literacy rate and education in the

region in comparison to other countries but the fact that still we have not achieved 100% school

enrolment in the country and relevance of adult and especially mothers’ education in

achieving this goal in time to come and the need for policy formulations in this regard.

37

Photo 37: Section of mothers in the audience Photo 38: Distinguished Guests and CED

officials in the audience

The Pledge

Photo 39: Mothers taking the pledge to work towards Adult and

Mothers Education in the country along with CED Sri Lanka

Following the welcome the participating mothers and the audience

took a pledge to join hands with the Coalition for Educational

Development to ensure the Right for Education for All without any

discrimination, to achieve 100% quality compulsory free education up

to the age of 16 and to work especially towards adult and mothers

education in the country. A Sinhala copy of the pledge is annexed

(Annex 10).

Photos 40, 41 & 42: Mothers and the participants taking the pledge

at Mothers Education National Convention

38

The Speeches

There were several speeches by the CED officials, guests and the policy makers which were

delivered at the convention. The speeches were translated for the Tamil audience by Mr.

Micheal Joachim of CED

The Purpose of Mothers Education National Convention

Photo 43: Mr. Chandana Bandara, Director, Adult

and Inclusive Education, CED, explaining the

purpose of the Mothers Education Project and

National Convention to the gathering.

Mr. Micheal Joachim interpreted the speech for

the Tamil audience.

Addressing the audience Mr. I.M. Chandana

Bandara explained the purpose of the National

Convention and stressed the importance of now

neglected adult education with special emphasis

to mothers’ education as there are approximately

about 2,000,000 adults whose literacy levels are below the standards. The fact that most of them

are females and mothers too was highlighted.

Thus the need for policy formulation directed these adults and mothers were pointed out to

national and provincial educational officials that were present. He also mentioned the CED and

its partners’ commitment to make a voice in this regard and the great enthusiasm shown by the

partners of the CED in participating for the National Convention.

Therefore he formally requested the education policy makers of the country to focus their

attention to the issue of Mothers education at all levels ranging from village level to national

level.

Guest Speech: Importance of Mothers Education

Photo 44: One of the distinguished guests, Mr.

Senaratne De Silva, National Coordinator – Desha

Hithayshee Association, addressing the audience

Addressing the gathering one of the event’s

distinguished guests Mr. Senaratne De Silva,

National Coordinator of Desha Hithayshee

Association spoke on mothers and their role in

building nations and development process and

thus the importance of mothers’ education.

He also raised the question if the crises that the

country and the world are facing today, a result of

ignoring this aspect of giving their due role and rights for the mothers of younger generations.

39

Voice of the Mothers at the Convention

However these speeches of learned people which are frequently heard on stages and other

places were submerged by the voices of the mothers who got the opportunity of coming to the

stage for the first time in their lives, and presenting their views in their own day to day talking

style.

This was one very special feature of this event, in that it attempted to focus the educationalists

and policy makers attention on the theme of adult and mothers education not by presenting

mere concepts, but by bringing them to a common platform shared by mothers representing

most remotely located, disadvantaged communities across the country, which seem to have

escaped the interest and attention of most high ranking officials over the years.

CED Sri Lanka not only brought this multiple stakeholders to a single platform on a single day it

created a space, so that the mothers themselves could directly address the policy makers and

officials present on the occasion.

These mothers may have been illiterate but they showed to the audience present that they are

not without courage and qualities of leadership to address a large gathering and present their

ideas in public in front country’s leading media organizations.

Photo 45: A mother representing the Eastern

Province Muslim Community addressing the

audience.

Photo 46: Mrs. Nilanthi Shiromi Seneviratne

from North Central Province addressed the

convention on behalf of mothers of children

with special needs

There were mothers speaking on behalf of each major ethnic community in the country. Thus

there were a mother representing the Muslim Community from the Eastern Province, then

Sinhalese community and the Tamil community and mothers representing special groups of

communities.

Mrs. I. Saheera spoke on behalf of the mothers of the Muslim Community of the Eastern Province.

The mothers, educational officials, representatives of the non government organizations filled

to capacity at the Janakala Kendraya at Pelawatte listened attentively while their hearts crying

out silently and showing solidarity with Mrs. Nilanthi Shiromi Seneviratne of North Central Province

40

when she spoke her heart out and sharing her story attending the Mothers Education

Convention.

She represented a very special group of mothers who have children with special needs and

brought to the attention of the gathered how important it is to educate the mothers of children

with special needs on how to educate their children as it requires special skills and knowledge

which sometimes could only be easily accessible only in the urban areas of the country.

Likewise there were many a heartfelt stories that came out at the convention stage, which was

shared by the rest of the mothers and officials alike.

Photo 47: Mrs. R Kamachi representing the

plantation community coming from Lower

Lawrence , Plantation Norwood singing a song and

speaking to the crowd.

For example Mrs. R Kamachi representing the

plantation community coming from Lower

Lawrence , Plantation Norwood, started singing a

song highlighting the importance of education

and how you need to “worship the God of

wisdom” every day - may be that she did not know

the meaning of all the words she sang . She too

had a touching story to share with the rest of the gathering.

She said “I do not know how to write or read but I remember these songs because my mother

taught them. I know many of these songs. Unfortunately my parents did not send me to school

because they were poor and were not educated. But I know that I have lost so much by not

having the opportunity of going to school. We are exploited at all levels. In addition to this our

blood is sucked by the leaches every day in our working field , the income we get is so

merger it is a hand to mouth struggle for life every day.”

“But we are determined to educate our children because that is the only salvation for them.

We do not want our children to suffer like us. You all are telling us to learn, All this time I did not

think it is important, what education at this stage? But all the mothers here are saying that

they want to learn. Now I too think it is important”

The voice of Mrs. Uru Warige Anulawathie representing the Indigenous ‘Veddah’ Community

drew the attention of the crowd and the media alike.

“ I understand the disadvantage a mother being not literate, when our children come from

school and ask us questions about their school work we are unable to help them ,you feel

helpless and sad that you are unable to help them. Leave a side helping the child, we cannot

even a read a bus board, and have to seek the assistance of others. Our children attend

schools with many difficulties, our heart cries when we see the distance the children had to walk

and the dangers they face on the way.

41

Photo 48: Mrs. Uru Warige Anulawathie

representing the Indigenous ‘Veddah’ Community.

We only know the anguish of mother when we

have to wait impatiently every day till they come

home safe. Think how sad we feel when the child

has no safety or peace of mind even at home to

study. We have to make sure that we will be able

wake up safe in the morning escaping the attacks

of the wild elephants. How can the child

concentrate on studies in this situation? With all

these difficulties in life we would still be happy if we

can help our children in some way – the only way is to educate ourselves –Please think seriously

about this” was her plea to the hundreds of participants at the convention.

In addition some mothers went on to show their many skills and

talents by entertaining the audience by presenting dances and

singing songs and showed that their capacity and potential is still

there though they are of a lower educational and literary

background.

Photo 49: Three mothers representing fisher folk community of the

North Western Province performing a dance to a folk song by

them.

The performance made by Wijeylakshmie, Shriyani and Marie

Shanthie of the fisher folk community mothers from the North

Western Province singing a song in the style a ‘Virindu’ Sural and

dancing was an attractive feature of the event.

This event was organized by CED partner Mihikatha Environment Organization in Mahawewa,

North Western Province. The song sung was composed especially for the occasion by Mr.

Rohana Maddumarala and addressed the theme of Education for All and importance of not

neglecting the education of future generation.

These entertainments of the mothers were supported by songs sung by child singers from the

Music CD produced by CED Sri Lanka to celebrate International Children’s Day in year 2008

which was on sale at the convention premises. These songs too were composed around the

theme of education.

42

Photos 50 & 51: Songs by child singers presented at the convention for the pleasure of the audience

The Closing

The Policy Makers’ Speeches

Photo 52: One of the Chief Guests, Mr. K. Kekurandara, Secretary to the Ministry of Education,

Central Province addressing the gathering.

Photo 53: The Chief Guest, Mrs. G Y Wijesuriya, Deputy Director, Department of Non formal

Education, Ministry of Education addressing the gathering in the absence of Minister of

Education on behalf of the national policy makers on education.

Last but not least the audience had the opportunity to listen to what the policy makers had to

say. Mr. K Kekulandara, Secretary to the Ministry of Education, Central Province and, Mrs. G Y

Wijesuriya, Deputy Director, Department of Non formal Education, Ministry of Education spoke

on the importance of Mothers Education and elaborated the facilities available in the national

education system for adult education, while also stressing the point that even with their level of

“illiteracy”, and the obstacles faced in receiving education when they were children , the

mothers have always played the major role in furthering the education of the children in the

43

past and accepted that there is a need to play this role in a more capacitated manner in the

future.

Award of Gifts

The mothers who spoke and performed were given gifts sponsored by the Coalition for

Educational Development to appreciate and encourage their contribution and participation in

the campaign.

Gifts were awarded by the distinguished guests to the occasion.

Photos 54, 55 & 56: Dr. Godwin Gunawardena, Director National Institute of Education (NIE), Mrs.

G. Y. Wijesuriya, Deputy Director, Department of Non Formal Education, Ministry of Education

and Mr. K Kekulandara, Secretary to the Ministry of Education, Central Province awarding gifts to

the mothers.

The vote of thanks

As all good things must come to an end,

the National Convention on Mothers

Education too came to an end leaving the

memories and thoughts on improving

mothers education in Sri Lanka in the hearts

and minds of those gathered at the

convention centre. CED Director Mr.

Nishantha Kasthuri and the Chief organizer

of the campaign thanked everyone who

participated and contributed to make the

campaign a success.

Photo 57: Delivering of vote of thanks by

CED’s Mr. Nishantha Kasthuri, Chief

Organizer of the Mothers Education 2008.

44

Photos 58 & 59: The media eagerly capturing the event on their cameras

Photo 60: The compeers for the event

The Participants

The total number of mothers that participated at the National Convention amounted to 478. In

addition to that there were 75 participants from CED partner organizations (excluding CED

Secretariat staff, which is three in number) that accompanied mothers and coordinated

activities at the convention including the officials of the coalition.

Table 9, 10, 11 and 12 summarizes participation by districts, organizations and by provinces

respectively in detail for reference.

It should be noted that some of the organizations that reported their local activities could not

participate the national event due to transport, accommodation, budgetary and other

unforeseen constraints and also some of the organizations that did not take part in the initial

planning meeting was allowed to take part in the national convention due to the requests

made by them and also to represent and mobilize a wide range of mother groups in the overall

campaign. Furthermore participation of some organizations have to be compromised specially

to achieve the latter.

These participants represented 8 out of 9 Provinces and 18 out of 24 districts of the country and

are from 39 organizations.

Kurunegala, Ratnapura and Putlam are the districts with the highest number of participation to

the national convention. While Trincomalee and Moneragala ranked the lowest in the list.

Table 10 gives in detail the participants from different organizations representing the districts and

provinces including the names of the participating organizations.

In considering the provincial participation as shown in Table 11 below North Western, North

Central, Central and Sabaragamuwa were the provinces with highest participation to the

National event.

However it should be noted that this is no way a reflection of neither the interest of the local

partners nor distribution of mothers with low literary levels in the country as participation was

45

limited and even compromised in certain cases on the request of the organizers depending on

the budgetary limitations and feasibility.

Number of organizations participated from each district and province are summarized in the

Table 12 for reference.

Table 9: Number of Participants by District

Participation

Province District Female

(Mothers) Male Total

Gampaha 12 3 15

Colombo 10 2 12 Western

Kalutara 23 4 27

Ratnapura 60 7 67 Sabaragamuwa

Kegalle 14 3 17

Galle 15 1 16 Southern

Matara 28 4 32

Kurunegala 68 8 76 North Western

Putlam 55 7 62

Nuwara Eliya 33 10 43

Kandy 29 3 32 Central

Matale 13 2 15

Uva Moneragala 6 1 7

Anuradhapura 44 5 49 North Central

Polonnaruwa 45 8 53

Trincomalee - 1 1

Batticaloa 13 3 16 Eastern

Ampara 10 3 13

Total 18 478 75 553

Table 11: Provincial Participation

Participation

Female

(Mothers) Male Total Province

No No No %

Western 45 9 54 9.8

Sabaragamuwa 74 10 84 15.2

Southern 43 5 48 8.7

North Western 123 15 138 25.0

Central 75 15 90 16.2

Uva 6 1 7 1.3

North Central 89 13 102 18.4

Eastern 23 7 30 5.4

Total 478 75 553 100.0

46

Female Male Total

Gampaha Rural Women’s Foundation (RWF) 12 3 15

Colombo ‘Sanhinda’ Children’s Home 10 2 12

Kalutara Diriya Kantha Foundation 23 4 27

Ekabadda Praja Sanwardana Kantha Maha

Sangamaya 15 1 16Organisation of Environment & Children Rights

Preservation 45 5 50Environment & Community Development

Information Centre 1 1Association of Social Activities Development

(ASAD) 1 1 2

Dehiowita People Development Foundation 13 2 15

Galle DEHERM Organization 15 1 16

Tissajaya Children’s Welfare Foundation 26 4 30

Visura Development Foundation 2 2

Child and Youth Development Centre 16 1 17

Prathibha Children’s Development Foundation 14 2 16

Child and Women Development Centre 11 1 12

Wayamba Govi Kantha Sansadaya 14 3 17

Women Development Foundation 13 1 14

Mihikatha Environmental Organisation 14 2 16

Sarvodaya Shramdana Sangamaya 26 4 30

Vinivida Organisation 15 1 16

Hearts (Social Welfare Development Source) 8 2 10

Nawayugam Social Development Centre (NSDF) 14 4 18

Social Welfare Development Forum (SWDF) 11 4 15Centre for Plantation Rural Community

Development (CPRCD) 15 2 17Plantation Rural Economic Development

Organization (PREDO) 14 1 15

Janasarana Educational Development Services 13 1 14Sithuwama Training Education & Development

Organisation 1 1

Uva Wellassa Farmer Women’s Organization 6 6Socio Economic & Environment Development

Organisation 1 1

Sahana Association for the Disabled 14 2 16

Samasevaya 30 2 32

Human Rights Community Eduaction Centre

1 1

Ape Shakthi Kantha Sangamaya 14 2 16

Gamisarana Maha Sangamaya 1 1

Sri Lanka Rural Development Foundation 16 2 18Drug Prevention & Environment Preservation

Organization 14 4 18

Trincomalee KERD Foundation 1 1

Women Development Forum 7 1 8

Kind Heart 6 2 8

AmparaSocio-Economic Environment Development

Organisation (SEEDO) 10 3 13

8 18 39 478 75 553

Eastern

Anuradhapura

Monaragala

Matale

Central

Uva

Batticaloa

Nuwara Eliya

Kurunegala

Putlam

Table 10: Total Number of Participants by Orgnization

ParticipantsOrganization

Ratnapura

Kegalle

Province

Matara

North Central

Kandy

Polonnaruwa

District

North Western

Southern

Sabaragmuwa

Western

47

The Other Participants

Policy Makers

National - Mrs. G Y Wijesuriya, Deputy Director, Department of Non formal

Education,

Ministry of Education

Dr. Godwin Kodituwakku, Director, National institute of Education (NIE)

Provincial - Mr. K Kekulandara, Secretary to the Ministry of Education, Central

Province

Invited Guests

Mr. Kamal Herath, Advisor Education, Plan Sri Lanka

Mr. Senaratna De Silva, National Coordinator, Desha Hithayshee association

Table 12: Organizational Participation

Province

No. of

Organizations

Participated

District

No. of

Organizations

Participated

Gampaha 1

Colombo 1 Western 3

Kalutara 1

Ratnapura 3 Sabaragamuwa 5

Kegalle 2

Galle 1 Southern 3

Matara 2

Kurunegala 5 North Western 8

Putlam 3

Nuwara Eliya 3

Kandy 2 Central 7

Matale 2

Uva 2 Moneragala 2

Anuradhapura 3 North Central 7

Polonnaruwa 4

Trincomalee 1

Batticaloa 2 Eastern 4

Ampara 1

Total 39 18 39

48

5 A Summary of the Outcomes and Achievements

of the Mothers Education Campaign

- Awareness among 60 CED partner organizations regarding Adult/Mothers Education was

created.

- More than 40 partner organizations were directly mobilized in their respective provinces

and localities to carry out awareness programs regarding Adult/Mothers Education

which also included selecting and mobilizing the most disadvantaged

community/mother groups for advocacy in provincial and national levels.

- A total of 806 mothers were educated and mobilized provincially regarding mothers

education

- These mothers represented 8 provinces and 18 districts of the country and included all

three main ethnic groups and a wide spectrum of disadvantaged communities with low

literacy levels.

- Local level educationalists and policy makers were educated on the importance of

Mothers Education through these local/provincial activities.

- Stigma associated with low literacy was reduced in some localities and mothers

themselves accepted and acknowledged the importance of educating adults and

mothers.

- Approximately 40 organizations were mobilized nationally for a national convention on

Mothers Education in Sri Lanka perhaps a first in the country.

- A total of 478 mothers from 18 districts and 8 provinces were directly mobilized to the

national level to carry out a national level advocacy program for Adult/Mothers

Education.

- 75 members of CED partner organizations were directly mobilized for the same purpose.

- Thus making a total of 553 individuals taking a pledge at the National Convention on

Mothers Education to work with CED to uplift the Adult/Mothers Education in the country.

- Perhaps for the first time in the country the representative of disadvantaged community

members themselves met the National and Provincial Policy Makers to advocate for the

cause of Adult/Mothers Education in a single platform along with the media

- Wide media coverage was received for the event as well as for the CED as an

organization that carry out advocacy in the education sector.

- A platform was created to discuss the importance of adult/mothers education both at

local and national level.

49

- Provincial and National level educationalists were made aware of the concept of

Mothers Education in relation to Adult Education including the Minister of Education

himself.

- Other International Non-Governmental Organizations that work in the education sector

were made aware of the Mothers Education and importance of it in the country’s Adult

Education Program and CED’s work in relation to these in line with Education for All and

Millennium Development Goals.

- CED’s capacity and its partner organizations’ capacity in relation to organizing provincial

and national level events and mobilizing relevant communities for these, aiming policy

advocacy was enhanced in general and especially with regards to Adult/Mothers

Education.

- Position of the CED as an organization that carry out advocacy programs in the

education sector was strengthened so was its recognition among policy makers, public

and other non-governmental organizations.

Media and Publicity

Photo 61: CED making its presence felt as an organization

dedicated to uplift the educational needs of the country.

Most of the country’s leading electronic and print media

institutions and organizations were invited to the National

Convention to capture and report the event . A video

footage of the event was also prepared by the CED and

delivered to ‘Swarnavahinie’ and ‘Derana ‘ private media

institutions who’s visual teams were not present at the event to

capture the event.

As a result the event was featured in one of the National

Television News Telecasts ‘Esanin Puwath’ on the following day

giving the event the widest possible media coverage.

Furthermore a feature article in English and Tamil languages

was submitted to the respective print media out of which Tamil

language article had been given a high prominence by the respective Tamil News Papers.

In addition to the media coverage through electronic and print media the event was notified

including invitation to all the Provincial Government Education Officials and all the country representatives of the International Non Governmental Organizations that work on education in

the country.

The objective of this was not only to popularize and create awareness of Adult/Mothers

Education per se but also to give the widest publicity possible to the CED and position itself as

50

an organization that carry out advocacy programs in the country’s education among the

multiple stakeholders such as the Government, International and Local Non-

Governmental Organizations and the Public at large.

The Policy Advocacy

The two main policies relevant to Mothers Education were addresses by this short campaign in

general. The two policies are the Adult Education Policy and the Non-Formal Education Policy.

According to the background work carried out by the CED Sri Lanka it seems like both the

Education Ministry and the Ministry of Social Services are responsible in implementing activities in

these subject areas but to this date though there seem to be some activities in the Non Formal

Education sector carried out by Provincial Ministries of Education there seem to be not much

progress in terms of Adult Education and Mothers Education, which is an area that needs to be

highly advocated on if Sri Lanka is to achieve the goals of Education for All and Millennium

Development Goals by the UNESCO and United Nations within the given time frame

51

Annexes

52

Annex 01

Mothers Education 2008

Project Proposal

Mothers

Education

Project Proposal -

2008

Coalition for Educational

Development

917/2, Ethul Kotte, Kotte,

Sri Lanka

53

Contents

Page

1.0 Introduction, Background and Justification of the Project. 03

2.0 Objective 04

3.0 Main Activities Planned 05

4.0 Methodology 05

5.0 Time Schedule 06

6.0 Budget 06

54

1.0 Introduction, Background and Justification of the Project.

Though it is true that there is a considerable decrease in the number of children who are out-of-

school, despite substantial efforts by Governments, Non Government Organizations and other

parties interested in education promotion and also despite the high economic growth rates

reported across many countries “Education for All” still remains a distant goal in the regions of

Asia and South Pacific. This is true in the Sri Lankan context as well, especially with regards to the

EFA goals 3 and 4 where promoting life skills and lifelong learning and improving adult literacy

rate are the key objectives.

In the backdrop of the lack of active participation and lethargic attitude of the Sri Lankan Civil

Society in “educational Policy” matters the concepts of “life skills and lifelong learning” though

present have still not been considered as matters that need active attention by the society as

a whole.

When it comes to literacy rate, though Sri Lanka is considered to have a very high overall literacy

rate of 91.5%, whether this is true in a practical sense is doubtful due to many reasons. One

reason being the definition of literacy itself, if considered as the ability to write their own name,

though the percentage of people who could successfully do it may be high, it may not reflect

their true writing and reading skills which could be considered as “functional literacy”. There is no

doubt that the functional literacy rate is well below the recorded rates. In addition to this,

disparities exist in different geographical locations which have varying levels of development, as

well as different communities, which is especially true for some selected disadvantaged

communities. These communities include the plantation sector, the fisheries community, minority

communities like the indigenous people and the gypsy community, people living in urban slums,

street children, children whose parents/mothers have migrated for employment, and those who

have internally displaced due to the ethnic conflict, natural and other manmade disasters.

Though many measures have been taken to improve the quality of life and the standard of living

of most of these disadvantaged groups, specific measures to include them in education is not

effective enough which contributes to the delays in achieving the target of ensuring “Education

for All”.

The concept and the actual activity of ‘Mothers Education’ therefore play an important role in

overcoming the identified obstacles in the field of education in the country, as mothers are

considered as persons who could play a major role in influencing the family and its children’s

education. Thus improving the quality and level of “Mother’s Education” will directly and

indirectly facilitate the process of achieving quality education for all. With this background in

mind the project in subject is designed to achieve the following main objective.

55

2.0 Objective

The main objective is to advocate the policy makers in order to effect the necessary changes in

the existing “national adult education policy” in such a way that it gives more prominence to

women and especially to “mothers education”

2.1 Specific Objectives

1. Mobilizing women especially the mothers from the disadvantaged communities to

come together and build up a border national alliance to advocate for desired change

of “adult education policy”.

2. To build up a common consciences that there is a vacuum in the present adult

education policy by not recognizing the importance of improving educational standards

of women especially the mothers.

3. Creating a platform for women in the provincial and National level to raise their voice

to draw the attention of the policy makers about the need for a “gender sensitive

adult education policy”

2.2 Expected Outcomes

1. Direct and active participation of 60 partners of CED in mobilizing mothers for an

advocacy programme to emphasize mother’s education ensured.

2. More than 1000 poor, vulnerable , marginalized , illiterate mothers from 6 provinces

acquire knowledge and practice about importance of education of their children and

of their own through village divisional ,district and provincial level awareness

campaign .

3. Attitudes of most vulnerable mothers are changed and enhanced to be interested in

education and leadership qualities , literacy and socialization ect.

4. More than 1000 vulnerable mothers participate in the convention for mothers to

agitate for an improved gender sensitive adult education policy

5. Attitudes of most vulnerable mothers are changed and enhanced interest to make

them realize that they cannot be dormant and inactive spectators in influencing

educational policies, but could make an effective impact on policy changes.

6. CED would further strengthen its credibility with the Provincial and Central Education

Department about its ability to mobilize people to advocate for policy changes in the

field of education.

7. Provincial policy makers will give their attention to change their strategies on adult

education policy and utilize resources to enhance mother’s education and adult

education of their respective provinces.

8. National policy makers will give their attention to improve and change adult education

policy to utilize resources to enhance adult education in country.

9. Policy makers and other stakeholders will realize that adult education and mothers

education improvement is a key need of province and country through media

publications

56

3.0 Main Activities Planned

To hold a national level convention with the participation of mothers from six provinces

representing the disadvantaged communities to gain publicity , to draw the attention

of the policy makers with regard to the identified deficiencies in the present adult

educational policy and in order to use it as a leverage in advocating the policy

makers for desired change.

4.0 Methodology

Activities for Output 1,2, & 3

4.1 Making use of the International Literacy day on the 8th September to stress the

importance of improving the literacy of women especially the mothers, with the

intention of holding the mothers convention in November.

4.2 Conducting awareness programs for mothers at the village , district and

provincial level by partner organizations as part of their own contribution towards the

success of the advocacy campaign.

4.3 Gathering of about 1000 mothers through the 60 partner organizations of CED and

other Civil Society Organizations from all the provinces to a selected location in the

Capital city with the intention of mobilizing them for a mass scale advocacy program.

Activities for Outputs 3 & 4

4.4 Holding a convention and workshops in order to draw the attention of the policy

makers with regard to the identified deficiencies in the present adult educational policy

in the country.

4.5 Giving adequate media coverage through a poster campaign from all

representative organizations and provinces along with the use of electronic and print

media.

4.6 Use the publicity and the information gathered from the convention to advocate

the policy makers on adult/female and mothers education.

The above activities would collectively bring about the outcome 5, 6,7.8 and 9.

57

5.0 Time Schedule

No. Activity September October November December

1. Planning Meeting 1st week

2. Invitation to CED Coordinators,

stakeholders and mothers

groups

3rd week

3. Awareness programs for

selected mothers by partner

organization

1st week

4. Banner Display From 2nd

week

5. Media discussion From 3rd

week

To 4th

week

6. Conducting the National level

convention for mothers with

National and Provincial level

stakeholders

2nd week

7. Feedback from the participants

including stake holders

From 1st

week to

4th week

6.0 Budget

Activity Total Cost From CED/ PO From ASPBAE From ASPBAE

In Rs. In Dollars

1 Planning Meeting 20,000.00 20,000.00 -

2 Invitation to CED Coordinators, stakeholders and mothers groups 12,500.00 12,500.00 125.00

3 Awareness programs for selected mothers by partner organization 400,000.00 400,000.00

4 Banner Display 127,800.00 63,900.00 63,900.00 639.00

5 Media discussion 100,000.00 40,000.00 60,000.00 600.00

6 Conducting the National level convention 750,000.00 50,000.00 700,000.00 7,000.00

7 Transport 340,000.00 120,000.00 220,000.00 2,200.00

8 Administrative Cost 135,030.00 135,030.00 1,350.30

Total 1,885,330.00 693,900.00 1,191,430.00 11,914.30

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Annex 2

The Presentation made at the Mothers Education Project Awareness and Planning

Meeting for CED Partner Organizations held at CHPB, Pelawatta, Battaramulla on 2nd

October 2008 (English)

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Annex 3

The Presentation made at the Mothers Education Project Awareness and Planning Meeting for

CED Partner Organizations held at CHPB, Pelawatta, Battaramulla on 2nd October 2008

(Sinahala)

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Annex 4

Attendance of the October 2nd, 2008 Planning Meeting for CED Local Partner Organizations

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Annex 5

The Navayugam Social Welfare Development Forum (NSDF)’s report of local level

Mothers Education Project activity in the Nuwara Eliya district of Central Province.

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Annex 6

Invitation and the Programme of the National Convention

Outer Cover

Inner cover

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Annex 7

Name Tags and Food Coupons of the Mothers Education National Convention

Name tags from different colors were designed for different participants

Food Coupons

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Annex 8

Hand Out – English

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Annex 9

Hand Out – Sinhala

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Annex 10

The Pledge

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Annex 11: Attendance of the Mothers Education National Convention

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