https://www.alumniportal-deutschland.

org/en/global-goals/sdg-04-
education/education-social-cohesion-sri-lanka/

GIZ University Initiative “Between Lecture Hall and Project Work” 2016

How does the level of education influence a society’s cohesion? Manuel Heckel and Salma
Abdelrahman (University of Stuttgart) investigated this question with regard to Sri Lankan
society and won the first prize of the GIZ University Initiative “Between Lecture Hall and
Project Work” 2016.
Students from various disciplines took part in the competition “Between Lecture Hall and
Project Work” by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). It was the
initiative’s 15th edition in 2016. Numerous German universities challenged their students to
analyze a GIZ project in teams of two or alone. Using a scientific research question, students
turned their skills from theory to practice and made recommendations for the GIZ projects
accordingly.
Manuel Heckel and Salma Abdelrahman from the master’s programme “Integrated
Urbanism and Sustainable Design” at University of Stuttgart impressed the jury at the final
symposium in Berlin with their presentation on “The Influence of Education on Social
Cohesion – The Case of Sri Lanka”, and received the first place.
How is education related to social cohesion?
Manuel: While reviewing current research on social cohesion, we found two strands. Robert
Putnam, a US-American political scientist, stresses the importance of social networks and
finds a strong correlation between education, trust and memberships in associations. Andy
Green and John Preston, social scientists from the UK, however, contest this understanding,
saying that to achieve social cohesion on a societal level (not among groups), other factors,
such as cultural, institutional and economic ones, are more important. Education, they state,
correlates only indirectly through these other factors with social cohesion when it comes to
the whole society. When working on the project and our recommendations, we followed
the approach to social cohesion by Green and Preston.

What is the situation in Sri Lanka and how did it grow historically? What importance does
education have in this country?
Salma: After the end of colonialism, education was widely and freely available in Sri Lanka,
which led to a rapid increase of well-educated graduates faced with the challenge of finding
jobs. Since opportunities were rare, unemployment increased and, amongst other factors,
contributed to the conflict that later turned into a civil war.
Manuel: Nowadays education is very segregated in many aspects such as language, religion,
gender and space. Furthermore, access to qualified teachers is limited to few Sri Lankans,
which additionally increases and reproduces existing inequalities. The Sri Lankan
government attributes education a significant role – maybe overestimating its capabilities –
on its way to reconciling as well as developing the country. For the society, education is
important to find job opportunities, although due to the segregation in the country, many
who receive public education are nevertheless left without jobs.

Please tell us about the GIZ project that you investigated.

Salma: We investigated the project “Education for Social Cohesion” as part of the “Between
Lecture Hall and Project Work” seminar offered as an elective course at the university. The
project is based in Sri Lanka and tackles issues related to social cohesion.
Manuel: The project is now in its second phase which started in April 2016, continuing the
previous work on different levels. On the micro level, for example, the focus is on
disseminating the concept of the 200 pilot schools previously implemented. The concept of
those schools concentrated on three components, namely multilingual education, psycho-
social care and peace and value education. The second phase is planned to end by March
2019.
Salma: To achieve the goals, GIZ works with several partners in Sri Lanka. On the macro
level, for example, with the Ministry of Education, on the meso level with pedagogical
universities and local authorities, and on the micro level with the pilot schools that Manuel
has mentioned, and in this phase also with further interested schools.

What was your motivation to choose this project?

Salma: There were many interesting projects available to us, actually. I find the topic of
integration generally very interesting and I was curious to find out to what extent research
attributes education a role in it. I have learned a lot through our research process, so I am
very glad that this was the project we were assigned to research.
Manuel: I was a little hesitant at first, as it was a topic that seemed to be not clearly related
to our studies (urbanism). So it was my second choice. But in retrospect, I’m very grateful
we picked and also got this project to work on, as it gave me many new insights into a field
previously not well known, which is nevertheless very relevant to our studies. I think it
helped to learn to see our studies more holistically and their relevance to various topics.

Which questions did you investigate?

Salma: Our knowledge of Sri Lanka was rather general before we started this project. To
start our analysis, we looked into the project documentation provided by the project
director of this particular project. To understand the Sri Lankan context, we needed to
understand more about the country’s history since the end of colonialism and the relation
between education, culture and economy and the roles they played since the civil war.
Some of the questions we investigated to get a more in-depth understanding of the issues
the country is facing were how segregated the society really is, mentally as well as spatially,
and what the challenges of the current education system are.

Which methods did you use during your investigation?

Manuel: Since we could not be in Sri Lanka, our investigation is mainly based on reviewing
the GIZ project description and documentation, the Sri Lankan National Action Plan and
academic papers related to education, social cohesion and Sri Lankan history. Additionally,
we conducted semi-structured interviews over Skype or telephone. We had interviews with
the GIZ project director, a GIZ employee and a professor of Sociology at the University of
Colombo, Sri Lanka.

What are the outcomes and recommendations of your investigation?

Salma: To contribute to the project, we developed three recommendations. We linked them
to both our theoretical findings and the national action plan of the Sri Lankan government.
Our recommendations build on each other and they relate to our education as students of
urban planning as well, as we felt we can contribute best to the project in that respect.
Manuel: Our first recommendation is to extend the pilot school programme to strategically
selected schools (ideally in a participatory way), which would address spatial segregation by
reaching more remote and peripheral areas. Our second one is based on the realisation that
education happens not only formally, but to a great extent informally. We relate to the
current German discourse and recommend thinking in terms of “educational landscapes” by
opening up schools to the community (and vice versa), to allow for the cultivation of a
common citizenship. This, we believe, is especially important for segregated societies.
Salma: And lastly, our third recommendation is to design a game to engage students in
learning and practicing cooperative values and democratic participation. The aim of the
game is to support peace and value education as well as to gain insight into community
issues and dynamics.

What is your personal assessment: How can this situation be improved in the long term,
also beyond the GIZ project?
Manuel: We believe that education is, as Green and Preston show, only indirectly relevant.
To improve social cohesion in Sri Lanka in the long run, we think it is vital for the
government to continue its commitment to justice. Moreover, we think (and this also came
out in the interview with the Sri Lankan professor) that it is important to get representatives
of all societal groups to come together and work on a plan to integrate the society. We
believe that the plan should also include effective elements to foster equity among Sri
Lankans.
Salma: To elaborate on that, one of the tools that could bring people together is currently
not well taken advantage of: the media. The media could play an active role in integrating
different societal groups and help promote and cultivate a common citizenship. Currently,
however, channels and broadcasts are exclusive to particular linguistic segments of the
society.

In comparison to Sri Lanka: What is the situation in Germany regarding education in

relation to social cohesion?
Manuel: While education was once a strong element to build nations, its role was later
reconsidered and considerably weakened, especially after World War II. However, Germany,
like many developed countries, faces increasing levels of individualisation and education is
seen once again as a way to promote social cohesion (largely based on the findings of
Putnam). Furthermore, there is a discourse about “Bildungslandschaften” in Germany.
Education, especially seen as educational landscapes, is more and more often linked to
neighbourhood development programmes such as “Soziale Stadt”. We think this approach
can be fruitful, which is also why we included it as one of our recommendations.

How important is education for you personally?

Salma: I think education is an essential part of living a fulfilling life. And by that I mean both
formal and informal education. By the time I turned 16, I had attended six different schools
in four countries and I feel very lucky for the experience. For me, gaining new knowledge
and meeting new people gives me energy and meaning to my life, and so do the long
discussions I have with my friends and family, my grandparents especially. But then again,
where and how does anyone learn? In school, through books and the people they talk to! In
some way we are what we learn, I guess. So that seems pretty important to me.
Manuel: I agree with Salma and maybe want to add that education, in my opinion, has no
end. I feel the more I learn, the more curious I become, up to the point where I feel
overwhelmed by what I do not know (yet). I realised that in those moments it is important
to relax and let my thoughts wander, since during this “day dreaming” I can connect to my
creativity and let education become productive. Which may link a bit to a course like
“Between Lecture Hall and Project Work” – it is about the in between, the swinging back
and forth between learning and creating.

The first prize of “Between Lecture Hall and Project Work” was a GIZ internship. What are
your plans for the future?
Salma: Well, the reason I chose the master’s programme that I am doing now is because I
wanted to look at cities and people from another perspective. Having been brought up in
different countries around the world, I am fascinated by the complexity and diversity of
cities. I am already looking forward to the experience I will gain during the internship at GIZ
offered to us, as I can definitely see myself working for international development and with
international organisations in the future.
Manuel: In the near future, over the next year, I will continue and finish my Master of
Science in Cairo, Egypt, an experience I am looking forward to. Afterwards I would like to
work for international development, which is why I am very happy to have been offered an
internship at GIZ. I would also like to work for the UN, or possibly an NGO operating in this
field. After some years of practical experience, however, I intend to do a doctorate. I think
that I not only want to see change in the world and contribute to bringing it about, but also
want variety in my life.