by Florina Benoit
05/10/2005

Read more about the tsunami on our Tsunami Crisis Page.

It is beautiful to see the children in Sri Lanka go to school in the morning with their white uniforms and black shoes. In some villages families are so committed to outfitting their children in uniforms that they will not let their children attend without them.
 
The tsunami was a big hit to the education system in Sri Lanka. Many schools suffered severe damage. In Batticaloa district on the eastern coast, Kaldukah zone was especially badly hit. The schools have suffered not only in terms of lost lives, but also because of the psychological affect on the children.

Everyone associated with the schools is worried about the O/L exam results this year. The children’s books have been washed away, making it difficult for the students to prepare for the exams. Many of the children have lost at least one family member and they are highly traumatized. This situation requires an immediate intervention. Much of the work in Sri Lanka is oriented towards rebuilding infrastructure rather than on responding to the psychological impact of the massive death and destruction.

Current situation in Batticaloa

After the tsunami the Naamagal school was used as a shelter for all those who were affected. The school was not directly hit, but it lost a lot of its students and many parents. The children are still in a state of shock after what has happened. No one knew that the week after Christmas would be one of death rather than birth. The children are all traumatized having lost friends who they played with on the previous Friday. These children need some kind of help to rejuvenate their lives. While at the school I met with the Deputy Zonal Director of Education, Mr. M. I. Shegu Ali. He was talking about the affected schools in his zone. Out of the 94 schools, he said that three were totally damaged and six were partially damaged. 32 schools from his zones were being used as welfare centers. 152 students and two teachers from the schools in that zone died. He said that his office coordinated the relief work in the schools.

Naamagal is a school in Kalkudah zone in the Batticaloa province.  It had 440 students prior to the tsunami, which killed 68. At present there are only 360 students attending classes with many having been displaced to various other places. In one class of 13 children, seven lost one parent and one lost both. This class of 13 students escaped without losing even one of its students because they were all in school that Sunday morning helping with the preparation for the opening of the nursery school.

Navsivan is another school on Navsivan Island. This school has just one building for classes up to the VIII standard. Other classes used to be held in thatched shelters, which were completely washed away by the tsunami. Since it was partially damaged, UNICEF has promised to build the school with added rooms and infrastructure. Since Navsivan is a small island with the sea on one side and the backwaters in the other, transport to this place is very difficult. The children used to come to school by bicycle, but now everything is lost. This school lost seven of its students.

Undachimadam is another village in Batticaloa district, which was devastated by the tsunami. Many of the homes were washed away. Sri Sithivinayaga Vidyalayam, which is the local school, is a little away from the village and was also washed away. The people and the school have moved to the government’s paddy storing building. The families live in the temporary shelters just behind the place allotted for the school.  Since everything was lost, the children in the school don’t even have a place to store the things that they get as relief. There is no place to keep their uniforms, shoes, books, clothes and other things.

When I spoke to the children, they appeared dazed. When one child who lost both her parents was asked what she wanted she said “education.” The teachers are taking extra care and give special classes to the children.

Children from Sri Sithivinayaga Vidyalayam School are not sure about what has happened to them. Initially they had to walk a long distance to school but now their home is in the back yard of the school. They do not understand the intensity of the situation. Most of them are upset because they have lost everything. Some children miss their books and school items a lot.

The government of Sri Lanka needs to support the surviving teachers by providing them with training to equip them to deal with the psychological needs of their students affected by the loss of parents and things that they cherished. The government also needs to expedite the release of funds for rehabilitating schools, with UNICEF taking the lead in providing infrastructure and supplies that were damaged or lost.