Think Positively !!!

- Every working day is a fortunate day.  Every working minute is a lucky minute!!!  - Chinese proverb

Every day is a heaven-sent day for all of us.  Therefore, it is our duty to feel the most of it.  A full day is contained 24 hours.  During that period, we spend nearly 8 hours by sleeping and during the rest of the time, we are attending to household chores, to fulfill duties to our loving family members and friends.  Some time we spare to attend our personal needs.  Our thoughts are always with us whatever we do and if we do not think positively in every moment, we are lost creatures. 

One can say that, it is very difficult to think positively at times, when we face to sad events.  For example, sometimes our loved ones will apart from us suddenly, we lose our loved ones, our business will go down, we lose our jobs and we step into unnecessary relationships and suffer a lot.  In those happenings, we shed tears.  Afterwards, we will have to move-on with our day-to-day work.  Since the world is moving ahead, we cannot stay in one place.  A new sun will come in the morning and a new moon will come with a smile in the evening.  Again, another day will dawn with new lives, new ideas and new happenings.  

According to Lord Buddha, every single person or an animal takes a birth will die one day.   That will take place in the same time, even in the womb of the mother (stillbirth), or the same day it takes the birth, or within a day, week, month, a year or after sometime of the birth.  Also, if a thing, which produced will be broken or lost one day.  That event is for sure at any time!!!

Therefore, we have to move - on with the others in the world.  Some people cannot bear this truth, they commit suicide.  But, that is not the last thing we could do.  Our education help us to prevent from those types of things.  Also, our elders, religious priests or teachers help us to refrain from dreadly things.  We should not think the life is over with some unfortunate happenings.  We should understand the reality of this life.  It may be difficult to face the tragical things, which comes into effect in a sudden way.  But, we must be able to face the problem in an intellectual way.  We must face the situation, whether it is good or bad, in an intelligent way.  If we cannot face that situation alone, then we must seek an advice from a person, who is having vast experiences in life.  Everyone face good, bad, happy and unhappy events throughout his/her life.   Everyone lose their loved ones, miss their loved ones, break the relationships, financial problems and several other situations.  Life is full of uncertain happenings.  We have to face them in a positive way.

According to Gautama Buddha, our life is full of labha (profits), alabha (losses), ayasa (disgrace), yasa (prestige), nindaa (blame/indignity), prashansa (respect/dignity), duka (sadness/poverty) and sapa (happiness/luxury).  This concept is common for all the human being in this world. 

Always think positively and act positively for a happy, delightful and blissful life !!!

SCHOOL

School is a place where we learn several things, such as, Science, Mathematics, Languages, Environmental studies, History, Geography and several others.  Also, we participate in competitions, games and several other activities in the School.

Firstly, we start early childhood education in the kindergarten. When we start to go to preschool, our age should be around 2 1/2 - 3 years.  After learning several things from our parents and elders at home, we start learning further from the teachers in the montessori and school.  From the preschool, we make friends and we learn manners and good behaviour.  Also, we learn how to share our things with our colleagues and play with them in peace.  We mostly attend to drawing, creative work, singing, dancing and sports in the preschools.

Once we complete the early childhood learning, we enter into the formal Government schools or International Schools, whereas Government Schools are not taking monthly fees from the children and International schools will charge a monthly fee from the children.  Children should complete the age of 5 years to enter into the formal schools in Sri Lanka.  We have to send applications to the schools, where we like to start learning, but there are specific rules and regulations to follow - up.  Parents like to educate their children in reputed schools, which are having all the facilities, like good education, sports, swimming, aesthetic studies, such as ,dancing, singing and drawing.

When we reach to the Grade five class, we have to sit for a boundary examination known as the "Scholarship Examination".  This examination is a one day event and held in the month of August in every year.  That is an all - Island examination and parents are bound to get their children to do this examination well, because Government offer a well - known schools for the candidates, who secured highest marks in this examination.  There are limited cut-off marks for the children to achieve to get a prominent school.

Afterwards, General Certificate of Education (G.C.E.) Ordinary Level (O/L) Examination in the month of December for the Grade 11 students.  Pupils in every school should get the minimum qualification of 6 simple passes, just to get through this Examination.  The results are counted by A, B, C, D, E.  To study in the G.C.E. Advanced Level (A/L) class, children should gain sufficient results with minimum qualifications of 6 simple passes plus As, Bs, and Cs.

There are three streams, such as Science, Commerce and Arts in the Advanced Level Class.  According to the results, children can study in the Advanced Level class in Science, Commerce or Arts Stream.  Every child has to do three main subjects and the English subject is compulsory. G.C.E. Advanced Level Examination is held in the month of August, in every year.  Three simple passes is the minimum results and if they want to enter into the Universities, there are limited marks to secure by the children.

There are only limited vacancies in the Government Universities in Sri Lanka,  Therefore, now-a-days children look forward to enter into the branches in foreign universities, situated in Sri Lanka or well-to-do families are sending their children abroad for higher studies.  They mostly go to the universities in Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand, United States of America and United Kingdom.  There are plenty of Agents to send those children to foreign universities and they do all the paper work and some agents are taking money from the children and some are taking money from the foreign universities.  Therefore, those agents are serving the local students, without getting any money from them, because they get a good sum of foreign aids from the foreign universities.

Anyway, schools are offering a very good service to the children to gain their knowledge in several things, other than subjects.  We are lucky, as Sri Lankans, we get free education from the inception upto the University level.  Therefore, we should get the maximum of this free service from the schools

.

 WE THANK THE SCHOOLS FOR THEIR PRECIOUS SERVICE!

What is the real Freedom?

The National Day of Sri Lanka is fallen on the 4th of February in every year.  In 2016, too, we celebrated the freedom of Sri Lanka by hoisting the National Flag, singing the National Song and with some cultural events at the Galle Face Court on 4th of February with a huge crowd of local and foreign well-wishers.  

In the year of 1505, the coastal area of Sri Lanka was captured by Portuguese.  Afterwards, Dutch and lastly British Rulers came into the power of our motherland for several centuries.  Our fellow Citizens were discriminated by the foreign rulers with tragic and harsh laws.  Although the coastal area was under the power of British Rulers, they could not touch the Kandyan Kingdom until 1815.  

With the unfortunate struggle suddenly propped - up among the King Shri Wickrama Rajasinghe and our Chiefs, our power hungry Chiefs have been supported the English Rulers to take the liberty of spreading - out their strength all over the Island.  With the signing of Kandyan Convention in 1815, our whole country was under the control of the British.  They took the King Shri Wickrama Rajasinghe under the imprisonment and took him and his two queens to Vellore Fort in Southern India and he died at the age of 52 years.  

British Administrators took the power in a terrible way on our citizens and exploited the resources, as well.  These unethical happenings carried - on to start - up  struggles everywhere in Sri Lanka against the British Leaders.  These conflicts were led by our National Heroes such as, Veera Puranappu, Gongale Godabanda  and Kappetipola Nilame in which we lost the lives of those fearless National Heroes.  Among all these antagonisms, British were able to control the whole country, without loosening their power.  

In the 20th Century, the master-minded people, such as S. Mahinda Thero, A.F. Senanayake, D.S. Senanayake, Sir Arunachalam Ponnambalam, Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, Srimath Anagarika Dharmapala and some other learned persons got along with some peacemaking societies seek the independence by common masses and discussions with Colonial Rulers.  At this time, our neighbouring country, India, too, was fighting against the British Rulers for their freedom.  Finally, just after the freedom given to India, Sri Lankans, too, were fortunate to get the freedom from the Colonial Empower.  

Though we got the freedom before 68 years, still we are having cultural, economic, social and ethnic problems.  But, as a multi-national and multi-religious country, we all have to get together and bring the real peace to this country.  

We salute the three forces for their valuable contribution given to the 30 years of ethnic war and was able to bring the peace to the Island.  Also, we must think the value of freedom one can get in this life and put the whole heart to protect the freedom, which we got 68 years back.  

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!