The concept of Folk School is built around the concept of ‘Folk’. It is not based on a series of education that is imposed from outside to teach people facts or subjects.
Although the word school is used, its basic meaning is a group of different peoples as neighbors or for some reason having a common agreement or, on the basis of some local connections or for example an association between groups in a village or a village in the same province, practically in the practice of some work or some industry. In relation to the relationships that are made, a certain course of action can be combined. The purpose of this is to develop some cooperation by creating some public discussion on such special reasons.
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Valayuttu Division No. 4 Village in Valayuttu GN Division under Kuchchaveli Divisional Secretariat Division of Trincomalee District has been selected under the concept of folk school.
About 481 families live in this village where Sinhalese, Muslims and Tamils live. Among them are 289 Muslim families, 170 Tamil families and 21 Sinhala families. It is bounded by Erakkandi lagoon in the west, Indian ocean in the east, Erakkandi petrol station in the north and Nilaveli village in the south.
This village was directly affected by three decades of war. Because of this, all the people living in the village are directly or indirectly victims of the war. With the resettlement after the war, some infrastructure has been developed by the government and various non-governmental organizations. But about 80% infrastructure is to be developed.
There are two community halls, a school, a Christian church, a Catholic church, two mosques and a temple. Lagoon and Pigeon Island National Park are other resources belonging to this village.
Homestead farming, fishing industry, provision of tourist boat services, cattle rearing, engaging in self-employment and hired work related to palm leaves are the livelihoods of the people living here.
A village where poverty is entrenched. Underdeveloped in terms of education. Erakkandia Sinhala School is the only school in this village. Its educational activities are carried out through Sinhala medium. Tamil and Muslim children also study in that school.
However, due to the lack of minimum facilities, the learning activities of the school have been hampered and due to this, 16 school-going children and 6 non-school-going children have been identified as unable to write letters.
They still suffer from long-term problems such as unemployment and lack of infrastructure development, loss of market for palm-related products, loss of proper price and market for farming, lack of permits and deeds for their ancestral lands.
Kandalkuli is a village in the Kalpitiya area of Puttalam District in the North West Province of Sri Lanka. This village has been selected as the second village of the Folk school project. A total of 1239 families live in the village and the total population is 5082. Muslims live there as well as Sinhalese and Tamils.
Also, the displaced people from Mannar due to the war are still living in displacement camps in this area. There is only one Sinhala school in the village and children of all races are educated there. Fishing, animal husbandry, tourism and farming are the livelihood occupations of many people in this village.
The following issues have been identified as the main problems in the area so far. Ethnic conflicts, low schooling, disenfranchised communities, land disputes, language problems, high rates of child marriage.