Dr. Wijesinha has done a lot for the education of youngsters

There has been some criticism recently of Dr. Rajiva Wijesinha’s role as an educationist. I suppose there are various philosophies of education but in my opinion the true educationist is basically a “teacher” who manages to actually educate a child beyond the syllabuses.

It was my privilege, along with a few others , to have been co-opted by Dr. Wijesinha some years ago in the printing of several books in science, history and culture. Others included Nirmalie Wickremesinghe (Principal of Ladies’ College) and Nirmali Hettiaratchi, also very well known in the world of teaching English.

Mrs. Hettiaratchi and I collaborated on a book of ‘Myths of Ancient Greece’ while I produced two books of History titled ‘About Our Past’ and ‘More About Our Past’. Dr Wijesinha realised that students in the Sri Lankan universities were so weak in English they had no access to any knowledge of World History. Accordingly his directions to me were that I write History using simple language. The books were sold by the British Council at Rs.10 each and proved so popular he commissioned two more on Historic Buildings and A Guide to Western Culture.

There were many other books produced in other subjects under the guidance of this dedicated teacher who was determined to see that undergraduates in his care were being educated , as I said earlier, OUTSIDE their usual syllabuses. There were record sales and the books went into several printings.

I have always admired Dr. Wijesinha’s commitment to the education of youngsters in Sri Lanka and his desire to make young people think. I feel it is a pity that criticism should be made of this respected educationist without regard for his many successes in the world of education.

Goolbai Gunasekara