It is said that the word serendipity originates from Serendib ? an ancient Arab reference to Sri Lanka, a tear-shaped island below India. This past January, master?s candidates in the International Education Policy (IEP) Program traveled to Sri Lanka to conduct field interviews with tea plantation workers, government ministers, and leaders of international nonprofits for a research capstone project.
The Initiative for Sri Lankan Education (ISLE) is a student study group proposed by master?s student Kevin Kalra. Composed of 16 Ed.M. candidates, the group is completing a qualitative study on the economic barriers to secondary education access for the tea plantation worker community of central Sri Lanka.
Members of the Sri Lankan tea plantation community are of Indian Tamil origin, brought to the island 300 years ago by the British to labor on Sri Lanka?s agricultural plantations. Unlike their counterparts in other former British colonies, the Sri Lankan tea plantation community remains a marginalized population. Since the end of Sri Lanka?s civil war in 2009, the government and major international organizations seek new ways to improve education access and quality for the tea plantation community.
The group planned and coordinated the trip since August 2012, under the guidance of faculty advisor Assistant Professor Sarah Dryden-Peterson, and challenged their skills in collaboration, teamwork, research, and intercultural understanding. Highlights of the trip include meeting with the Honorable Minister of Education of Sri Lanka at the President?s home, visiting with tea plantation workers and their local schools, and discussing the research topic with leaders of the Sri Lankan Commissions for UNESCO and UNICEF. Study trek participants also completed a service project in Kalutera, distributing school supplies at a local primary school and participating in traditional welcome ceremonies.
The group?s research findings will benefit two organizations ? the Educate Lanka Foundation (USA & Sri Lanka) and the Upcountry Education Development Society (Sri Lanka) ? to expand their respective scholarship and subsidy services to Sri Lanka?s upcountry.
Click on the icons below to learn more about the group?s research experience in Sri Lanka. Locations do not represent the actual locations students visited. This is intended to protect the anonymity of their interview subjects.
For additional information about the students? experience in Sri Lanka, please visit their blog: srilankahgse.wordpress.com.
View HGSE Sri Lanka Study Trek in a larger map
The group wishes to thank Chandra Schaffter of Sri Lanka and his family for their generosity; the Honorable Consul General of Sri Lanka in Texas, Bandula Wijay, for his continued support; and Professor Fernando Reimers, program director for IEP, for his encouragement and advice.
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