• Buddhist Affairs Commissioner General and top Buddhist Studies academic urge making dhamma education universal, and promoting Buddhist tourism and a Buddhist economy

BY Sumudu Chamara Sri Lanka was once identified as the centre of Theravada Buddhism. Although the country has, to a certain extent, lost that identity due to various social and economic reasons, it can achieve a lot with proper attention to improving the state of Buddhist dhamma education and its position as a Buddhist tourism destination. This is, however, a mission that should start from dhamma education in the country. An expert panel discussion on the Government’s efforts aimed at the advancement of Buddhism in accordance with the Constitution, and the progress of Buddhism as a subject, organised by the Department of Government Information, explained this situation, adding that all stakeholders should come together to discuss how to improve dhamma education, which should involve building a connection between ordinary school education and dhamma education. The discussion was attended by Department of Buddhist Affairs Commissioner General Sunanda Kariyapperuma and former Dean of the Department of Buddhist Studies of the University of Colombo Prof. Asanga Tilakaratne. Dhamma education’s place in the education system The discussion paid special attention to adopting an education system that gives a considerable place to dhamma education, regarding which Kariyapperuma said that children should be provided with not just knowledge, but also good values, and that dhamma education is expected to provide a sound value-centric education. He added that in 2002, a Presidential Commission was appointed to look into Buddhist affairs in Sri Lanka. According to him, the commission’s report clearly stated that while school education focuses on knowledge and dhamma school focuses on good values, proper co-ordination should be established between the two.  Kariyapperuma also explained that the Department of Buddhist Affairs has launched several programmes to uplift dhamma school students by streamlining their education, and dhamma school teachers by providing them with various educational opportunities and rewarding their service. In addition, acknowledging that dhamma schools are operating with minimum facilities, he said that attention has also been paid to providing the necessary facilities to dhamma schools that are in need of such assistance. With regard to plans for the advancement of dhamma school education, Kariyapperuma said that with the Ministry’s intervention, attention has been paid to ensuring a uniform education system in all dhamma schools, which includes revisiting the existing syllabus. He added that this programme is being carried out with the aim of bringing about an effective value-based education and creating practical students. Speaking of establishing proper co-ordination between school education and dhamma school education, he added: “One of the issues that has been referred to us, and has been discussed for some time is the fact that both tuition classes and dhamma schools are being held on Sundays. In this regard, there is a legal issue as to whether it is possible to stop tuition classes from being held on Sundays. After extensive discussions about this matter, it was agreed at the Buddhist Advisory Council that if a proper connection was built between dhamma school education and school education, this issue could be circumvented.” As part of the efforts aimed at creating that connection, he explained, attention has been paid to allocating 25% of marks at the General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level (GCE O/L) to what students learn at dhamma schools, and 75% of marks to what they learn at school, and co-ordinating school textbooks and dhamma textbooks in order to include in dhamma school textbooks practical knowledge that goes beyond what is included in school textbooks. The necessary steps to implement this programme are already in progress. Although school education is seen as the most organised education system, Kariyapperuma said that it is wrong to say that dhamma education is not organised, as a number of parties have strengthened dhamma education in Sri Lanka. He noted that dhamma education does not just entail dhamma schools, but also education provided to Buddhist monks. History of Buddhist education in SL Meanwhile, Prof. Tilakaratne said that Sri Lanka has played a crucial role in Buddhism-focused international affairs, and has achieved a lot both domestically and internationally. He explained the history of Buddhist education in Sri Lanka: “In the past, Sri Lanka was the centre of Theravada Buddhism. After various developments and setbacks, including colonisation, we became an independent nation seven decades ago. During this period, Buddhist temples, Buddhist education, and Buddhist monks were subjected to a certain transformation. It is a well-known fact that the concept of Sunday schools, or dhamma schools, was adopted from Christian British colonists.  “In fact, we started Sunday schools (dhamma schools) according to (Christian) dhamma schools held in churches. However, in this discussion, we tend to forget an important historical fact. That is, even though we talk about the tradition of holding dhamma schools only on Sundays, before that, in Sri Lanka, education in its entirety was provided in Buddhist temples.”  In that context, he said that providing education through Buddhist temples is not a surprising fact, and that what actually happened in the colonial era was the sabotaging of the Buddhist temple-centric education system. What is more, Prof. Tilakaratne said that certain trends in dhamma school-based education that were considered to be new developments introduced in the colonial era had in fact been introduced to that system beforehand. One example he presented was the provision of dhamma education for women, which he said Sri Lanka initiated way before certain other countries. “When looking at these facts, it is evident that in the past, there was a strong relationship between Buddhist temples, dhamma education, and ordinary education. Within that relationship, not only educated groups, but also groups that admire the state of being educated were created in our country.” One specialty about Buddhist education in Sri Lanka, according to Prof. Tilakaratne, is the fact that it was made available to all segments of the society, while other religions had restrictions as to what type of groups could obtain education led by those religions. He added that in this context, not only in Sri Lanka, but also in other countries that practice Buddhism, there was substantial recognition for knowledge and intelligence that were conveyed via dhamma education. Thus, Buddhism in Sri Lanka took the lead with regard to certain religion-based educational initiatives, with one example being the formation of a Buddhist encyclopaedia in 1956, at which time there was no Buddhist encyclopaedia in the world.  “Our country did a lot of very important work with regard to Buddhism in the world,” Prof. Tilakaratne said, adding however that there is a question as to where Sri Lanka stands now. He opined that Sri Lanka has to admit that it does not have the same recognition it did in the past as the centre of Theravada Buddhism. This, he said, is a matter that calls for in-depth consideration, and attention should be paid to how to regain that lost recognition. How ordinary education and dhamma education should be changed, and how Sri Lanka as a nation should be prepared for the same, are main points in this discussion, according to him. “Public institutions such as the Department of Buddhist Affairs can only provide physical resources and impose the necessary regulations. However, when it comes to the composition of dhamma education and what is expected to be delivered through the same, it is a matter that should be decided collectively by scholars including Buddhist scholars, dhamma school teachers, Buddhist monks, and other Buddhist leaders,” he emphasised. During the discussion, the two experts spoke about a Buddhism focused tourism sector within a Buddhism based economy. In this regard, Kariyapperuma said: “Any country has one or several key factors that decide its future, and in Sri Lanka’s case, the key is Theravada Buddhism. It is through Theravada Buddhism that we would be able to act as the centre of the world of Theravada Buddhism and move forward as a country. When it comes to a Buddhist economy, we have good prospects in the tourism sector.” He added that the authorities are currently in the process of implementing several projects to identify and record the value of certain Buddhist tourism attractions. In addition, he noted that there are other Buddhist heritage sites and practices that need to be exposed to the tourism sector. Buddhist meditation activities and Buddhist education are other potential tourism attractions that could help Sri Lanka gain a place as a Buddhist tourism destination, according to Kariyapperuma.  Meanwhile, speaking of the importance of Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka’s economy, education and place in the world, Prof. Tilakaratne said that at present, Sri Lanka’s contribution to the said aspects has been limited, noting that some of these limitations are related to language and the country’s economic situation.