Introvert Nation - Episode II

[read Episode I here]

The whole country is between a rock and a hard place on the issue of private medical education in Sri Lanka. In media –social and otherwise – unprecedented number are voicing their concerns, for and against. To be honest, not really. We’ll rather like a funny cat-video (of an uncontrollably shaking media freelancer) than getting involved in this cockfight.

The ones to whom the implications are closer to home and to those gloom of tomorrow is as sure as sunrise are waging battles; personal ones and revolutionary ones. The rest – you and me –opt to avoid the bloodshed and prefer to see white in this sea of grey.

It was in early 1970’s K.W.Thomas of UCLA interpreted Black and Mountain’s managerial grid as an interpersonal conflict handling model; compete; collaborate; compromise, avoid and accommodate. If he is correct, seems we have no concern in satisfying the-other’s concerns; jumping between avoiding and competing.

Kilmann, R.H; Thomas, K.W, Interpersonal conflict-handling behaviour as reflections of Jungian personality dimensions, Psychological Reports, 1975, 37, 971-980 

It is rather strange that this is possible while we see the accommodating nature we see in every day Sri Lankan. Once I was on a public-transportation and didn’t have enough money; the one question the conductor had was if I had enough money for the next part of my journey. But there is every chance of those becoming folk lore. 

There are valid points from either side: Can the government alone fund higher education for all? Should the quality of education be compromised to make higher education more accessible? Doesn’t local private higher education reduce out flow of money on foreign private higher education? – and most of other arguments are just bullshit (Biased Unverifiable Lax Logical Substantiation of Hegemonic Ideological Truth – courtesy Dr Adam McNamara). 

Isn’t there a possibility of both parties coming together to a collaborative solution? Isn’t there a possibility of inviting the silent bystanders to a productive discussion- sans bullshit. What are the current laws and policies on higher education in the country? How should the higher education be managed and developed in the next decade? If private partnerships are required to prop the higher education needs, what mechanisms should be put in place to maintain the quality of education? 

However, at the end of the day, the reality we fail to understand is that a degree certificate is as useless as printed paper as money, when you are in a toilet without water and in winter without wood.