Murder of PHI, result of brutalisation of society during war - Bandula

Dharma SRI ABEYRATNE

'People have lost their morals and ethics due to the brutalisation of society during 30 years of terrorism, Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena said.

The minister who was addressing the 24th Asian Pacific Children's Convention in Colombo yesterday said it is the erosion of these human and social values that led to the killing of an official on an dengue eradication mission.

The minister handed over air tickets to six students who achieved best result at the Year Five Scholarship examination to participate at APCC in Fukuoka, Japan. The six students will represent Sri Lanka at APCC as the country's ambassadors. Another 300 students from 40 countries will also attend the APCC.

APCC Projects are grass-roots inter cultural exchange programmes designed for children to learn to become "Global Citizens" who can respect and understand others with the spirit. Hence, APCC invites 11 year old children from various countries and regions in the Asia-Pacific region to come to Fukuoka each summer to take part in a home stay and exchange camp programme. The mission Project is an opportunity for the children of Fukuoka to visit other Asia Pacific countries and regions, and learn their local culture.

The Asian-Pacific Children's Convention in Fukuoka was founded by the Fukuoka Junior Chamber, an event to celebrate 100th anniversary of Fukuoka city.

Minister Gunawardena also said by holding the APCC, they hope to foster "Global Citizens", who are able to think of the world beyond national boundaries and desire world "Peace and Co-existence".