The Mother Sri Lanka preschool program named “Buds of Patriotism” is a program jointly organized by the Mother Sri Lanka Trust and the Children’s Secretariat of the Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Affairs with the aim of building a patriotic next generation of Sri Lankans. This program was first announced in December last year to coincide with the Early Childhood Development Week declared by the government and its’ island-wide implementation was launched at the auditorium of the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute on March 10, 2011. The event was attended by island wide network of Early Childhood Development Officers, the members of the National committee on early childhood development, Mother Sri Lanka officials, Ministry officials with the Minister of Childhood Development and Women’s Affairs, Tissa Karaliyadda as the Chief Guest.

Mother Sri Lanka is a movement working towards bringing together diverse perspectives under one umbrella to develop positive thinking about Sri Lanka. The movement was launched in November 2008 and so far has carried out many programs in order to reach its’ goals. Mother Sri Lanka School Program, one of the major components, of the movement was successfully completed in June 2010 at an event in the presence of the His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa, after reaching 3million school children aged 11-18 years covering the entire island to spread the message of patriotism.

As children are a key target group of the Mother = ලංකා movement, it has been decided to extend the schools program to preschool children. The program will consist of 4 special activities that have been designed to be implemented in every preschool which is registered under the Ministry. The program is expected to reach nearly 17,000 preschools covering almost 600,000 toddlers. Activities will be implemented in each preschool by the teachers under the guidance of the Early Childhood Care Development officers and Child Right Promotion officers at district level. Unilever Sri Lanka has come forward as a financial sponsor for Mother Sri Lanka in this national initiative.

Specialized activities of the Buds of Patriotism Program

• Respect the National Anthem and The National Flag:

Learning to respect the national anthem and the national flag.

This is the main activity of this program where Mother Sri Lanka is heightening the importance of respecting the national anthem & the flag. Every pre-school child is to be taught how to sing the national anthem and how to respect it.

• Keeping the country clean.

Learning to use garbage bins always to dispose garbage.

This activity is mainly focused in dispose garbage at the correct place and thereby keep our country beautiful.

• Appreciate Local Produce

Learn to use local vegetables, fruits and herbs. Valuing local produce is the first step to value our own country. This activity is based on identifying local vegetable, fruits & herbs by growing and nurturing them in the school premises and/or at home.

• Living in Peace and Harmony.

Understanding and respecting all ethnic groups and religions. Peace and harmony depends on a good understanding among citizens. This specific activity teaches toddlers about other cultural events and rituals to develop a good understanding and to educate them to respect them.

The program will be implemented in every district from March 2011 and this will be monitored by the Mother Sri Lanka Trust and the Children’s Secretariat of Ministry of Child Development & Women’s Affairs.

Contact Details;

Mother Sri Lanka Trust

101, R.A. de Mel Mawatha

Colombo 03

Dinasha Weerasinghe

Tele: 0774456652

Fax: 2384201

Email: dinasha@presidentsoffice.lk

Website: www.mothersrilanka.lk

Under the series of programs planned for Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා, the first and the most important program is The Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා School Program, which is aimed at targeting our 4.2 million school children in the country who will be entrusted with the task of taking this country forward.

In order to reach this target group, an approach of engagement, interaction and dialogue has been selected as the most appropriate. Hence, the Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා Trust together with the Ministry of Education has embarked on the Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා schools program which is probably the first of its’ kind to be implemented among Sri Lankan schools.

The Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා School program aims to encourage children to think “Country First” by organising various activities through the Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා clubs.

The Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා Schools Programme is implemented on behalf of the Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා Foundation and The Presidential Secretariat by the Ministry of Education.

Objectives of Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා Schools Program

• To evoke a sense of pride about the motherland among children
• To motivate them to play a proactive role in the next era of development of the country
• To instill faith in the next generation about their motherland’s resources
• To continue this program of work through the establishment of Mother = ලංකා clubs in the schools.

The Dialogue Competition

As a first step, the movement has organised a series of dialog competitions on the lines of: “What can the children of Sri Lanka give back to our country?” - “Apen Ratata, Rata Nagumata”, among all schools that offer upto A’Level classes. The program covers all the public and private schools that offer classes upto A’Levels, numbering over 2500, as well as International schools that have come forward and shown interest.

The presentations were made under the themes:

1. As students how can we are a part of the development of our Nation?

2. I must change for my country to change.

3. How can unity among all ethnic communities contribute to Nation Building?

4. How can we use our indigenous/ traditional technologies/knowledge in today’s world?

5. My attitude will be the spirit of my Nation.

Each participant school is asked to make a presentation of ideas based on the topics given under the above main theme in teams of 6-8 children. The best themes are chosen based on a common marking scheme which rewards innovative and proactive thinking that is creatively presented. The winning schools from the education zonal level will then compete at a provincial level. The winners of the provincial level competition will then compete with other winning schools in a grand all-island competition.

Not stopping at a competition, Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා schools program will be continued among the schools through the Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා clubs which will be established in each participant school.

During the province level competitions each school that participates in the competition is required to establish the Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා Society in their school. The mandate and constitution of these societies are explained at every preliminary meeting to the Educational Directors and school principals by officials of The Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා Foundation.

The primary role of the Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා clubs is to continue the work initiated by this program by starting with the implementation of the practical ideas presented by the school team and thereafter by regularly conducting programs to achieve the objectives of Mother ஸ்ரீ ලංකා.

Total size of the Population that will be reached through the MSL Schools Program