Chandani De Silva
SRI LANKA

There are schools both urban and rural as well in Sri Lanka. It’s a difference between these two categories. Schools are the main source to give education to everyone in every country in the world. We can categorize students as slow learners and gifted ones. So also… slow learners and gifted learners both are in urban and rural areas. But the way of learning is somewhat different in these two areas. Regarding facilities in schools urban schools have more facilities than the rural schools.

In this way I would explain the learning facilities in their own environment. If we talk about urban educational environment, they have rich facilities in schools like kinds of sports, laboratories with high equipment, media, communication, photography, English Speaking Club and they have so many modern facilvities like computers, internet and smart classroom as well other internet connections. And also the students have good family background. Their parents have high professional and live in high society in our country and in the world. They are doctors, engineers, lawyers, architectures, lecturers/professors in universities likewise they also have connection with other countries. Some parents do their professions in abroad. Although some students are slow learners. Among these facilities and background they do not learn well and do not use these facilities in proper way. They waste the time and the money. They don’t want to do higher educations. If the rural area students have this chance, they get real opportunity to do their higher education and join to do good profession in the society.

In the other hand when we talk about agricultural field in schools in urban the students haven’t real life situation experience about agriculture. Some students do agriculture as a subject and they see and work in exemplary agricultural field. They learn only the subject and do not see real paddy-fields, chenas and cultivated land in villages. Urban area hasn’t this type of agricultural field. If the urban students want to know more and do higher studies in agriculture. They haven’t such an experience in towns. If they want to get real situation, students have to go to rural areas and live therefore some period to get real experience and gain more knowledge about agriculture field. There are some barriers which have when the urban students face for such agricultural environment education. It is not a successful way and government has to solve these problems or take a decision to make other way to fulfil their needs.

Further more I have to say more about my real life situation experience in the era of getting my first appointment in Monaragala District. It’s a rural area and I had to get my first appointment in remote area. I was also 25years old and got real life experience as I also from as urban area in my childhood. Those innocent students like to come to school and the most of them clever to do their studies. The villagers in area haven’t do good professions. The most of them are farmers and some do minor jobs. Some villagers want to give education to their kids and some people don’t want to do as they do. Although, the students in remote areas have to work in their cultivated land with their family members after school. In the morning, students went to school and in the afternoon, they had to cultivate their lands. They plant green gram and the other kinds of grains, vegetables, fruits and green leaves. Rural children face to this type of life situations and spent more time to do household work than the school work. Students of rural areas can take real experience of agricultural education of agricultural education. Even urban students haven’t such experience rural students have such a real experience spending really in their home garden and cultivated lands. Poor innocent children have such type of lot of memories in their lives. So also they have to face some accidents like snake bites and make wounds by cutting trees in ground. In the period of time, I taught in my first school, I had to face very sorrowful incident. When I spent time in my boarding place there were two sons in that home. Young boy is very active, talkative and cute. He always wanted me to play with him. I was not playng but also I had to look at their playing. While the days went fast and I came for my training in weekends. I just told my boarding sister to look after two sons carefully. When I came back there on Monday, I heard that younger son had fallen asleep forever because of the cobra bite I couldn’t believe my ears and I was shocked. A very large female cobra bite the boy when he was on the small range of rock. That innocent child had taken to the hospital and gave antivenum injections but doctors couldn’t serve him. His name was Chamila and he faced for the grade 5scholarship examination at that period. I couldn’t bear it because he was my little friend. That was one incident happened in this area and it was my real very sorrowful incident I met in my real life. Not only one incident but also there were many incidents happened like that in this area.

In my case, I helped some students to learn, and go educational trip trip and other purposes at their homes (like arms giving, pirith chanting and others ). I do it with money and other things. They were very happy when I helped them. Because of their poverty, the most of the students‘ way of doing higher education doesn’t complete. Even with the other reasons they haven’t chance to fulfil their dreams. They also have to do usually their daily routine. It’s a very bad situation as the clever students can’t give a good service to their motherland if they haven’t a chance to do their education as far as they can and enough situations to do good profession.

There are some barriers which urban students have to face regarding agriculture education. Both urban and rural students have such situations when they do their studies. We can’t look at that and we must have a successful solution to solve this event. It can’t be let move forever to depend on this type of occasions and it is a disaster to the country as we can’t get profit and develop the country without using these resources in correct way.

As an English Teacher as well as a Sri Lankan teacher I also hope and want to make a remedy to solve these problems in education field in Sri Lanka. I try my best to do the best as I can to serve my motherland using new methods to fulfil and develop the educational environment