“Colonial policy and Education in Sri Lanka”

Introduction

Written by:- Kapilan.V. and Yogesh .A.

Sri Lanka has situated in middle of Indian Ocean in Southern region. Therefore, there are some social-Economic changes were brought from India. Continuously, we can say about arrival of European in to Sri Lanka. First entry of European seek for business and separate their religion in Sri Lanka, here after they had changed as rulers of this island. They used their education and cultural patterns to separate religious practices in Island. Therefore, Sri Lanka’s colonial period is 1505 AD -1948 AD.

Colonialism is a practice of domination, which involves the overthrow of one people to another. One of the difficulties in defining colonialism is that it is hard to distinguish it from imperialism. Frequently the two concepts are treated as synonyms. Like colonialism, imperialism also involves political and economic control over a dependent territory. The term colony comes from the Latin word colonus, meaning farmer. This root reminds us that the practice of colonialism usually involved the transfer of population to a new territory, where the arrivals lived as permanent settlers while maintaining political allegiance to their country of origin.

For example:When a country develops colonies, or acquires them, it becomes an empire. "The sun never sets on the British Empire" because at any given time, the sun was up somewhere in the world where a British colony existed.The colonial policy was started by Portuguese. Continuously, Dutch and British rulers had held this island around up to five century. They maintained their policy as trade and religious practices. Even though , We can see their different ruling patterns due to domination of this country.

At the onset of the European period in Sri Lanka in the sixteenth century, there were three native centers of political power, the two Sinhalese kingdoms of Kotte and Kandy and the Tamil kingdom at Jaffna. Kotte was the principal seat of Sinhalese power, and it claimed a largely imaginary over lordship not only over Kandy but also over the entire island. None of the three kingdoms, however, had the strength to assert itself over the other two and reunify the island.

In 1505 Don Lourenço de Almeida, son of the Portuguese viceroy in India, was sailing off the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka looking for Moorish ships to attack when stormy weather forced his fleet to dock at Galle. Word of these outsiders who "eat hunks of white stone and drink blood (presumably wine). And have guns with a noise louder than thunder. “spread quickly and reached King Parakramabahu VIII of Kotte (1484-1508), who offered gifts of cinnamon and elephants to the Portuguese to take back to their home port at Cochin on the Malabar Coast of southwestern India”. The king also gave the Portuguese permission to build a residence in Colombo for trade purposes. Within a short time, however, Portuguese militaristic and monopolistic intentions became apparent. Their heavily encouraged "trading post" in Colombo and open hostility toward the island's Muslim traders aroused Sinhalese worries.

Portuguese domination was extended from1505 to1658 in Ceylon. Sri Lanka was involved by outsiders arrival of Portuguese. Therefore ,Sri Lanka history is considered as turning point coming for outsiders.The three main colonial powers in some extent paid their attention to diffuse Christianity and colonial education. The main objective of Portuguese educational policy was to propagate Christianity and their culture. The cultural expansion through theconversion of natives into Christianity was given priority in the agenda of the Portuguese colonial policy. This project was patronage by the king of Portugal extending the assistance in monetary as well as security terms. The king himself secured missionaries for the colonies. In almost every that left Lisbon for India were sent under royal auspicious missionaries of various orders for the newly gained territories.

When the first Board of Missionaries to Ceylon was dispatched by the Portugal monarchy in 1543, it was the king Bhuwanekabahu, who reigned in Kotte (1521-1551). The expansion of the Christian education was facilitated by Don JuwanDharmapala- the king of Kotte, granting finance and lands for buildings. Under the Madras administration the well-organized education was allowed to fall into disuse by the military governors The east India commercial company cared less for promoting education either in India or Ceylon until they became the political power.

The Portuguese era was fraught with turmoil and conflict. The Portuguese intended to be traders and offered the Sri Lankan monarch protection in return for securing the cinnamon monopoly. Later they were drawn into the island's politics due to feuds and schisms in the Kotte dynasty. The Portuguese recognizing their limitations in manpower and resources took a pragmatic approach in their relationship with the Sri Lankans. Miscegenation bred loyal soldiers locally and increased their military strength. Whatever, the drawbacks of miscegenation as practised by the Portuguese, their offspring remained loyal to the Portuguese Crown and to the Roman Catholic religion, often long after the Portuguese had withdrawn.

It is not surprising therefore if those of Portuguese descent or those of Roman Catholic faith display Portuguese cultural traditions.

However, the Portuguese cultural imprint has not been limited to these two minority groups. Portuguese cultural behaviors will be spreadby the mainstream Sri Lankans who are neither of Portuguese background nor Roman Catholics. Moreover, so deeply have these influences been captivated into the daily and unconscious behavior of the population that it will continue in perpetuity.

We can say the Dutch rulers are considered as followers rulers in this island after Portuguese. A reason is said, the Dutch rulers agreed to trade in Lanka with King of Rajasingan II. Ducth rulers dominated their ruling system in coastal side of Lanka. They had both of objectives to trade and asking tax. Continuously, they extended their religious practices and other formal cultural behaviors in Sri Lanka. There are most of Sri Lanka’s places were ruled under the governor of Dutch, without kandy.

The Dutch, however, maintained their pretension that they administered the territories under their control as agents of the Kandyan ruler.

After taking political control of the island, the Dutch proceeded to control trade. This monopoly was at first limited to cinnamon and elephants but later extended to other goods. Control was vested in the Dutch East India Company, a joint-stock corporation, which had been established for the purpose of carrying out trade with the islands of Indonesia but was later called upon to exercise sovereign responsibilities in many parts of Asia.

The Dutch tried with little success to replace Roman Catholicism with Protestantism. They rewarded native conversion to the Dutch Reformed Church with promises of upward mobility, but Catholicism was too deeply rooted. (In the 1980s, the majority of Sri Lankan Christians remained Roman Catholics.) The Dutch were far more tolerant of the indigenous religions than thePortuguese , they prohibited open Buddhist and Hindu religious observance in urban areas, but did not interfere with these practices in rural areas. The Dutch banned Roman Catholic practices, however. They regarded Portuguese power and Catholicism as mutually interdependent and strove to protection against the reemergence of the former by persecuting the latter. They harassed Catholics and constructed Protestant chapels on confiscated church property.

The Dutch contributed significantly to the evolution of the judicial, and, to a lesser extent, administrative systems on the island. They organized indigenous law and customs that did not conflict directly with Dutch-Roman jurisprudence. The outstanding example was Dutch codification of the Tamil legal code of Jaffna , the Thesavalamai. To a small degree, the Dutch altered the traditional land grant and tenure system, but they usually followed the Portuguese pattern of minimal interference with indigenous social and cultural institutions. The provincial governors of the territories of Jaffna patanam, Colombo, and Trincomalee were Dutch. These rulers also supervised various local officials, most of whom were the traditional mudaliyar (headmen).

The Dutch, like the Portuguese before them, tried to entice their fellow countrymen to settle in Sri Lanka, but attempts to lure members of the upper class, especially women, were not very successful. Lower-ranking military recruits, however, responded to the incentive of free land, and their marriages to local women added another group to the island's already small but established population of Eurasians ,the Portuguese Burghers..

During the Dutch period, social differences between lowland and highland Sinhalese hardened, forming two culturally and politically distinct groups. Western customs and laws increasingly influenced the lowland Sinhalese, who generally enjoyed a higher standard of living and greater literacy. Despite theirrelative economic and political decline, the highland Sinhalese were nonetheless proud to have retained their political independence from the Europeans and thus considered themselves superior to the lowland Sinhalese.

Colonial policies of Portuguese had European’s imperialism as a background. Portuguese moved towards East Asian countries such as Sri Lanka because of Changes which occurred in Europe. Likewise Dutch also moved to Asian Countries. In Sri Lankathe major policies of Portuguese and Dutch were only of spreading Religion and Trading. For that both parties established their ruling in all regions without kingdom of Kandy. Portuguese spread Roman Catholic religion in Coastal areas of the Island. In addition, the politics and Religion were forecasted with inter relationship by Portuguese. In Sri Lanka Franciscan Board, Jesus Board, Dominican Board, Ogastiniyan Board processed in the base intention to expend the religion.

Under Portuguese’s ruling they had designed allcurricular activities with traditional academic institutions through indigenous languages. Originally missionaries who came here held the thoughts pertaining to religion with assistance of interpreters. But they had realized that it was not satisfied methods. Therefore, there was also the situation to learn indigenous language. The interest they have of speeding their Christian religion stimulated them to learn indigenous. Likewise amongst those who learned indigenous languages, missionaries took first place. So Sri Lanka during the Portuguese period all the curricular activities were given to missionaries.

In the Attempting of Education which existed in Portuguese’s period religious was only important. Religious thoughts to adults and children were held in indigenous language. Missionaries who had the intention to teach religious thoughts make their education in the schools which was located near churches. Education was offered children of Portuguese through their mother tongue in Malvanai in Colombo . With that they started the schools and cultural center for Sri Lankan children. Franciscan Board established Anthoniyar School In Colombo, a school in Jaffna, a school in Navahamuna, and a school for Orphans in Mukathuvaram. And also schools were also held nearby residences of missionaries.

In 1802 Ceylon, except Kandy, was under control of the British. In 1815 the British captured also Kandy. After 1815 there could be see some changes in Ceylon. The British constructed roads in the mountains and set up coffee plantations. In 1867 tea plantations and industry introduced by the British. In 1870 all the coffee plantations replaced by the tea plantations because of illness of the tea bush. After the first war the Ceylon National Congress was established. Ceylon was the first country in the British overseas areas that got universal suffrage.

In Sri Lanka British rulers gave priority to their trade and religion. They also gave significance to trade as Dutch. But, plantation and sector were also initiated by them. Until the British period there were 16 districts. Then only it had reduced into 5 districts as southern province, western province, eastern province, and central province. And also income and Numbers of civil servants were bargained and prohibited pensionable system as well. As results of British colonialist, unlimited power of governor of British was reduced, feudal system was prohibited, exclusion of trade rights were banned, A legislative system was originated, in the legislatives there were two council as legislative council and executive council.

Education in colonial period.

The education system of Sri Lanka until colonial times primarily was designed for a small elite in a society with relatively low technology. The vast majority of the population was illiterate or semiliterate.

Although colonization brought European-style education to Sri Lanka, especially to prepare students for positions in the colonial administrations, few women went to school and most people remained uneducated. During the sixteenth century, Portuguese missionaries established up to 100 schools designed to foster a Roman Catholic culture among the growing Christian community in the low country. When the Dutch took over in 1656, they set up a well-organized system of primary schools to support the missionary efforts of the Dutch Reformed Church. By 1760 they had 130 schools with an attendance of nearly 65,000 students. The British takeover led to the closing of many Dutch schools and a short-term contraction of European-style education in the low country. By the mid-nineteenth century, government-funded schools and Christian schools were again expanding; in 1870, however, their combined student bodies had fewer than 20,000 students. Because they were educated in English, the graduates of the European-style schools, a large portion of them Christians from the low country in the southwest, went on to fill lower and middle-level positions in the colonial administration. Apart from the European-style schools, education continued through the traditional system in Tamil and Sinhala.

In 1870 a series of events revolutionized the education system in Sri Lanka. The government began to expand the number of state-run schools and instituted a program of grants for private schools that number of students (which totalled more than 200,000 by 1900), but the lopsided development that had characterized the early nineteenth century became even more apparent by the early twentieth century. Private schools taught in English, which offered the best road for advancement, were dominated by Christian organizations, remained concentrated in the southwest, and attracted a disproportionate number of Christian and Tamil students. Although institutions that used Tamil and Sinhala continued to function as elementary schools, secondary institutions that taught exclusively in English attracted an elite male clientele destined for administrative positions. The education of women lagged behind; by 1921 the female literacy rate among the Christians was 50 percent, among the Buddhists 17 percent, among the Hindus 10 percent, and among the Muslims only 6 percent.

The colonial pattern began to change in the 1930s, after legislative reforms placed the Ministry of Education under the control of elected representatives. The government directly controlled an ever-larger proportion of schools (about 60 percent by 1947) and teacher-training colleges. As part of a policy to promote universal literacy, education became free in government schools, elementary and technical schools were set up in rural areas, and vernacular education received official encouragement. In 1942 with the establishment of the University of Ceylon, free education was available from kindergarten through the university level. met official standards. Medical and law colleges were established in Colombo.

Conclusion

In Sri Lanka, colonial policies were originated from 16th century. because of that, Traditions of Colonialists replaced the ancient historical traditions. Portuguese captured all the part of Island except Kingdom Of Kandy. They had policies to spread Religion and Make Trade as major policies. Religion and Education were integrated under their ruling and education was expanded through all Missionaries. Priority was given only for religious education. In their monarchy, those who followed Education and Religious matters got more privileges. Especially the punishment to any offence was reduced and was take out tax called as MARALLA.

Likewise, , Dutch ruled until 1658-1796, proceeded of policies in Trading and Spreading protestant religion. According to pact of Mulvane Trading and getting treaty were main economical policies. They had proceeded many policies in the structure of Forces and Administration. Not only that, there were also followed structure of Hospitals and Court , Roman Dutch Lows as a ruling policies.

Until 1796-1802, Diarchy existed in Sri Lanka. Until 1802-1948 Sri Lanka became under the imperialism of British. Like Portuguese and Dutch British too had same policies as Trading and extending Religion. In 1815 through Kandy Contract, entire Sri Lanka had become possessive under imperialism of British. On the other hand they carried on economical policies pertaining to plantation economy.

British rulers introduced to involve the civilian to government sector.the constitution was established in Sri Lanka. Here after, the parliamentarian ruling method was introduced by British. Likewise, there are some policies were introduced regarding imperialist of this country.

When we talk about before, colonization education system that we can classify, two types of education those are civiliuan who try get self-studies (kurugula), and Vihara studies under thye bhikku educated people. There is another education method was introduced after the arrivals of Portuguese in Sri Lanka. But, they maintained the religious education to spread among the people also they did not consider about the Scientific studies. Education was taught though the missionaries under the Portuguese period. Also, the education was brought belong to institutions like, Kovil patru and pre schoolsw by them.

Here, upper class or caste people followed education as well as mudhaliyar family was included. Then, Dutch rulers introduced their education system in Sri Lanka through their religious practices like Portuguese method, but they gave important role in Scientific education as well as maths and other critical subjects were raised in that period. And, there are some schools were established under Dutch period. Continuously, British rulers introduced the education both men and women. Also, American missionaries schools were bounded by them for example, Methodist college,Vaddukoddai American missionaries school in Jaffna.

The establishment of University study was raised by British rulers ,here after most of students who got the higher education from University. Also, British education system and private universities were bounded by British colonization period. Whatever, there are most of changes were happened in british colonization based on plantation economic and formal education than other both Portuguese and Dutch.

method was introduced by British. Likewise, there are some policies were introduced regarding imperialist of this country.

When we talk about before, colonization education system that we can classify, two types of education those are civiliuan who try get self-studies (kurugula), and Vihara studies under thye bhikku educated people. There is another education method was introduced after the arrivals of Portuguese in Sri Lanka. But, they maintained the religious education to spread among the people also they did not consider about the Scientific studies. Education was taught though the missionaries under the Portuguese period. Also, the education was brought belong to institutions like, Kovil patru and pre schoolsw by them.

Here, upper class or caste people followed education as well as mudhaliyar family was included. Then, Dutch rulers introduced their education system in Sri Lanka through their religious practices like Portuguese method, but they gave important role in Scientific education as well as maths and other critical subjects were raised in that period. And, there are some schools were established under Dutch period. Continuously, British rulers introduced the education both men and women. Also, American missionaries schools were bounded by them for example, Methodist college,Vaddukoddai American missionaries school in Jaffna.

The establishment of University study was raised by British rulers ,here after most of students who got the higher education from University. Also, British education system and private universities were bounded by British colonization period. Whatever, there are most of changes were happened in british colonization based on plantation economic and formal education than other both Portuguese and Dutch.