Sri Lankan boy authors book on pandemic’s impact on students
An Anthology of Expressions is Year 9 pupil Sanith Santhasa’s third title
SSo many things have changed after the pandemic hit the world. There has been a major disruption in the way education is imparted and it has affected students like me.”
anith Santhasa Piyadigamage, a Sri Lankan expatriate boy studying in Dubai, has written his third book — An Anthology of Expressions.
The Year 9 student at The Winchester School in Jebel Ali said the book is about a mix of emotions that he felt during the pandemic. “So many things have changed after the pandemic hit the world. There has been a major disruption in the way education is imparted and it has affected students like me. I feel that because of the pandemic, there has been a major setback in learning, accessing educational resources, in addition to school counselling. That is why I decided to write a book to express my feelings and thoughts.”
Debut book
In 2018, Sanith published his first book titled Thoughts of a Ten-year-old.
“The book was about my changing viewpoints while transitioning from a child to an adolescent. My second book, Tolerance for Happiness, was launched in 2019 during the Year of Tolerance in UAE. That book paved the way for me to be the youngest guest speaker at Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) in 2019.”
He explained that human perceptions on social values are controversial and subject to change. “In the 21st century, human society has expanded into dimensions beyond what we could have possibly imagined a few decades ago. An Anthology of Expressions places emphasis on humanity and its perceptions, displayed by way of vivid and meaningful expressions. From fiction to some of my own personal experiences, the characters I have in different chapters of the book are a result of social degradation.”
Sanith Santhasa Piyadigamage | Year 9 student