*Early Childhood Education as Civilisational Foundation: The Arumpu Pre-School Initiative*

On 14 February 2026, a Pre-School Awareness Programme was convened at Highgate Murugan Temple (N6 5BA, 200A) under the auspices of Arumpu, a social service NGO founded by Sachchithanantham and his colleagues. Operating with a familial ethos and collective accountability, Arumpu has positioned early childhood development as the foundational axis of its community engagement.

Commencing at 17:00 and concluding at 21:10, the programme brought together approximately one hundred participants, including educational practitioners, religious trustees, cultural leaders, parents, and children. The event combined policy reflection with cultural performance, thereby presenting early education not merely as institutional preparation, but as civilisational formation.

*Institutional Framework and Distinguished Presence*

The event was chaired by Dr Appaiya Devasagayam, Trustee of Sri Ganagthurkkai Amman Temple.

The Chief Guests were Mr T. Sivakumar, Standing Committee Member of Tamil-Speaking People, and Mrs Swarna Sivakumar.

Special Guests included:

Sivashri Pa. Vasanthan Gurukkal, Chief Priest, Arulmigu Karpaga Vinayagar Temple

Mr Se. Kanagasundaram, President, Arulmigu Uyarvazhar Kunru Murugan Temple

Mr Manickam Indusekaran, President, Saiva Munnetra Sangam London

Mr K. Paramanathan, Trustee, Arulmigu Sri Sakthi Ganapathi Temple

Mr Sooripillai Balasingam, Trustee, Saiva Munnetra Sangam London

Dr Chandrasekaram Paramalingam

Mr Mu. Nithiyanandan

Mr Nadarajah Sachchithananthan, President of Arumpu

Their presence reflected a structured alliance between educational advocacy, Saiva religious institutions, and civic leadership within the diaspora.

*Policy Context: Pre-School Education in Sri Lanka*

Speakers situated the discussion within the broader structural landscape of Sri Lanka’s early childhood sector. Formal national attention intensified in 2018 with the introduction of a government-endorsed pre-school curriculum, widely regarded as a significant regulatory and pedagogical milestone.

Current statistics indicate:

19,628 pre-schools nationwide

Approximately 600,000 enrolled children

Nearly 30,000 teachers

Institutional distribution demonstrates that 71% operate privately, 20% are government-administered, 7% are supported by religious bodies, and 2% are managed by social service NGOs.

A central concern articulated during the programme was the discrepancy between formal teacher qualifications and applied pedagogical competence. The absence of sufficient practical training in developmental psychology, behavioural scaffolding, and child-centred methodology risks producing long-term educational and emotional deficits. The issue, therefore, is not numerical expansion but qualitative consolidation.

Arumpu’s guiding philosophy was expressed through an agrarian metaphor: when seeds are deeply rooted and properly nurtured, corrective intervention later becomes unnecessary. In educational theory, this corresponds to preventative structuring at the formative stage of cognitive and socio-emotional development.

*Cultural Pedagogy and Performative Scholarship*

The cultural dimension of the evening was organised in collaboration with Saiva Munnetra Sangam, integrating artistic expression into the pedagogical framework.

Tamil School Fine Arts Division (Nalvar Tamil Paadasalai)

Students — Sahana Manoraj, Ajin Sathees, Nithesh Prabhakaran, Prarthana Nishanthan, Keerthanan Nishanthan, Lathushiya Thulasithas, Pranavi Yoganandasivam, Roopika Balarasikumar, Kreetha Kalaivaanar, and Darshan Kalaivaanar — delivered a refined musical presentation.

Accompaniment was provided by Miss Lavanya Devaraja (Violin) and Roshan Mohanakumaran (Mridangam) under the guidance of “Sangeetha Kalaavithushi” Srimathy Sugirthakala Gadadcham.

For twenty minutes, the audience remained in contemplative silence, absorbed by tonal discipline and rhythmic coherence. The performance illustrated how structured musical training strengthens concentration, memory retention, and aesthetic sensibility in early learners.

*Villupattu: Refuge and Renewal*

Presented by Annai Sivagami Maadhar Ani, this Villupattu production foregrounded themes of displacement and reconstruction within a diasporic context.

Script: Mrs Annalakshmi Jeyababu

Direction: Mrs Annalakshmi Jeyababu and Mrs Sudharsini Vageesan

Participants included Mrs Perinbanayagi Rajeshwaran, Mrs Ananthi Ravindrathagore, Mrs Kengadevi Jeyaratnam, Mrs Suganthi Indusekaran, Mrs Gomathi Vijayaraja, Mrs Bhaskari Dayalan, Mrs Vasuki Sachchithananthan, Mrs Sudharsini Vageesan, Mrs Tharini Mayavatheeban, and Mrs Ambika Sathyarajan.

The performance demonstrated that women can excel in Villupattu — a form historically perceived as male-dominated — thereby expanding the gendered parameters of traditional folk expression.

*Bharatanatyam Performances*

Students of Bharatha Kala Mamani Rohini Santharooban presented:

Mattunagar Vaaviyile Kottamidum Meeninamgal

Azhagana Pazhanimalai Aandava

Performers included Ragavi Dharmaraj, Lakshmitha Chandrasekaram, Sandina Velvan, Juvanthina Veltano, Ashwin Udayaputhiran, Vaishali Karan, Dishali Tharan, and Aathmika Thavanesarajah.

The choreography displayed technical discipline, precise abhinaya, and thematic devotion, reinforcing the symbiotic relationship between aesthetic education and spiritual literacy.

*Concluding Analysis*

The Arumpu initiative represents more than an educational advocacy event. It exemplifies a community-embedded model in which early childhood formation, cultural transmission, and institutional collaboration operate as interdependent structures.

In a sector where private provision dominates and qualitative disparities persist, civil society organisations such as Arumpu function as stabilising agents. By integrating curriculum awareness with artistic pedagogy and community mobilisation, the programme advanced a preventative vision of education — one that recognises early childhood not as preparatory schooling, but as the architecture of future citizenship.

The success of the evening — measured through intellectual engagement, disciplined performance, and intergenerational participation — underscores a central proposition: sustainable societal development begins not at the university, nor at secondary education, but at the formative threshold of childhood.

Writer:

Nila Bala @Small Drops

(Balananthini Balasubramaniam)

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