By S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole –

Prof S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole

In America there is a raging debate going on today concerning issues of intelligence and the H-1B visa programme. The H-1B visa allows people with only a bachelor’s degree in a designated specialty area (often IT and engineering) to secure a non-immigrant visa to work for an employer for up to 6 years. It often leads to easy immigration when an employer applies for the visa that US industry badly needs, and then to permanent residence.

Others outside the specialty area cannot so easily secure a work-visa, even with a master’s degree, and need to go through complex selection processes to demonstrate that no American is displaced.

The H-1B programme has grated the thin skin on the red necks of racist Americans, who are upset that foreigners of colour are getting permanent residence and salaries well above ordinary Americans. The racists had not complained when Italians came in. Then the White Irishmen had been brought in on easy visa terms under the influence of the powerful Irish Senator, the late Ted Kennedy. As Asians of colour came in the Irish and the Italians were informally accepted as White and we became the off-colour people.

Racism has always influenced American immigration policy. In recent times, under the influence of the Democratic party, more of these racist policies have been rectified. This rectification is what upsets the folk of the Republican MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement as they see people of colour qualifying for immigration more easily than white immigrants. They ignore the fact that many white people from developed countries have not practised the strong academic rigour that drives students in countries like India and China, allowing them to meet the strict visa conditions for H-1B. Training in Indian IT schools geared towards H-1B visa eligibility typically focuses on building strong proficiency in popular programming languages like Java, .NET, Python, and other in-demand tech skills, including data structures, algorithms, database management, web development, and software engineering methodologies, with a heavy emphasis on practical application and project-based learning to prepare the graduate. Sevreral tens of weeks of training (including work experience) are required. It is difficult to compete with Indians so trained.

Success in STEM (standing for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) requires hard work, discipline, and a strong mindset. This is why parental involvement helps cultivate the habits and discipline required to succeed in STEM. Communities where parental discipline is less rigorous see a corresponding fall in STEM.

The US has been actively promoting STEM over the last decade. As noted by Bill Kuhn, “STEM education in the U.S. has seen a massive expansion over the past two decades. Programs like FIRST Robotics, Girls Who Code, and federally funded initiatives through the Department of Education have transformed opportunities for young people to engage with STEM. High school students now have access to all sorts of programming, such as advanced courses like AP Computer Science, engineering electives, and STEM-focused extracurriculars. Data from the National Science Board shows that the number of STEM-focused degrees has nearly doubled from 2000 to 2019. ”

However test scores in the US, although up, have simply not kept up in comparison with South Asia and Southeast Asia. And there has been pushback to some of these programs. As Kuhn notes, “In the United States, student mental health is already in crisis. Nearly one in three adolescents experiences an anxiety disorder, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, and teen suicide rates have risen sharply in recent years. Adding more academic pressure to this environment risks exacerbating the problem. While some argue that relentless competition produces better outcomes, the reality is that it often stifles creativity and innovation, two qualities that are essential to America’s economic strength. Countries with rigid educational systems may excel in standardized test scores, but they often struggle to cultivate the entrepreneurial spirit that drives industries forward.”

Other countries have also been easing up on student pressure. Again, quoting Kuhn, “in 2021, the Chinese government implemented the “double reduction” policy, aimed at reducing academic workloads and limiting the prevalence of tutoring. […] Similarly, South Korea, long known for its hyper-competitive education system, has introduced curfews on after-school academies (hagwons) to protect students’ mental health. Meanwhile, movements like tangping (‘lying flat’) have emerged as a cultural rejection of the rat race, with young people opting out of the relentless pursuit of material success in favor of a simpler, less stressful life.”

The new Sri Lankan governent too banned private tuition but when parents protested that their children need to compete for university admission properly, the government backtracked and said the ban applies only to the GCE O.L and below. Classes, however, go on, above and below the O.L.

In Jaffna, on the other hand, parents are putting their children through rigorous discipline, allowing Jaffna to rebound and come up once again from the very bottom of provincial rankings to the top. I see tuition houses with as many as 100 parents on their bicycles and motorbikes waiting take their children from one class to the next. To perform well in Sri Lanka’s academic exams, rigorous discipline with feet to the fire is necessary. From what I see, Jaffna will keep it up. Jaffna’s acadmic culture supports children to face down barriers to their education, and is seen as part of building character. It is considered worthwhile to face stress for a short time to build a bright future, not putting up with cry-babies. For these reasons, a Jaffna parent will not readily give his or her child the option to opt out of the so called rat race.

Whether to put a child through this rigorous discipline in studies must be left to parents not governmment. The argument that parents with money should not give their children an advantage holds no water. The reality is that parents with money will always find ways to give their children more. Like similar accessibility programmes in the US, the Sri Lankan Government’s role should be to help disadvantaged students find equal footing, such as through creating more opportunities, funding schools in rural areas, and improving programs for teachers. Otherwise, it is at risk of recreating failed policies like standardisation that justrified unequal treatment of its citizens, adding marks to the Sinhalese.

Although Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) programs have come under attack by Trump and his MAGA fanatics, these attacks are primarily driven by racism, and ignore the impact diversity programs have had on the US economy. For years the US Government promoted Diversity because without intervention, wealthy, white people were disproportionately fast tracked to educational opportunities, jobs, and positions of power. Affirmative action programs improved inclusion by creating more fair selection processes for excluded groups. For example, student aptitude in the sciences was not simply judged blindly through test scores but viewed in the broader context of their schools or neighborhoods, and whether they had access to science classes. Many people of colour entered elite institutions through these diversity programs and proved themselves capable of success when given equal access. Jobs offers also took DEIA into consideration.

With the H-1B visa, the majority who come through this process are usually Indian IT and engineering personnel. These fields draw high salaries, causing resentment. Next come the Chinese. The racist countervailing view is that H-1B visas favour Indians and Chinese over US citizens. Engineering professors are mostly Indian or Chinese. This caused resentment.

The BBC gives us an idea of how India dominates: Indian nationals like Mr Chauhan dominate the programme, receiving 72% of H-1B visas, followed by 12% for Chinese citizens. In 2023, the majority of H-1B visa holders worked in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, with 65% in computer-related jobs. Their median annual salary was $118,000 (£94,000). […] The H-1B programme is also the reason for the “rise of Indian-Americans into the highest educated and highest earning group, immigrant or native in the US”, say the authors of The Other One Percent, a study on Indians in America. (8 Jan.  2025)

Vivek Ramasamy, once a US Presidential candidate who was made co-leader with Elon Musk of the nonexistent Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under Donald Trump, got involved in the debate over visas. He said that “America has long venerated “prom queens over mathletes” and “football over the valedictorian.” We know this to be true in Sri Lanka too from the days when the Sinahlese gave the best jobs to Thomian and Trinity college boys who played rugger but did poorly in their GCE ALs. (This had changed from the year 2000 when at Peradeniya’s computer science programme that I started at the Engineering Faculty, some of my best students came from Trinity because Jaffna had gone to sleep).

Ramasamy said what cannot be said in polite society. He had to quit his DOGE job as a result. In America  we “Indians” see many unfair practices. For example many Indian and Chinese PhDs come as postdocs at $24,000 a year (in the years 2010-) while an American BS graduate got $36,000 a year. The postdoc did all the work. The professor brought in the miserly $24,000 from the NSF and got his promotions. After satisfying his American boss for may be 4+years, the post-doc would get good references to go as an Assistant Professor in an American university. In my own research group from 1984-1995 I had about 7 engineers and scientists, of whom about 5 were Sri Lankans. I had good defendable reasons when others called my lab the Research and Analysis Wing. But the President carefully checked the credentials of my recruits and the seeming lack of DEIA, and was satisfied that combined with other labs mine contributed to the DEIA of the department.

These H-1B routes to citizenship are what the MAGA Republicans resent. Trump was quick to recognize this racism in White-America and tapped into it. His rise to power in 2016 revealed the racism in America. Now, his re-election to a second term gives his supporters the fuel of championing a so-called just cause. I fear what this new wave will unleash in the US and across the rest of the world.

When I came to America in 1982 it was a beautiful place that I fell in love with. I came on a student visa to Carnegie Mellon. After graduation I switched to H1 and when I married, as I recall my wife came on H4. She applied for her visa at the Colombo Consulate and got it although we had been married only two weeks.. Our Green Card application was not by lawyers but done free by the university’s  Personnel Director. There was racism, but there was also a deep sense of decency, fairness, and politeness. The many scientists and engineers I brought in on student visas found abundant opportunity and are now leading in their areas of work. My PhD student, Dr. S. Jayakumaran, for example, has his own company, SJ Engineering Consultants, that has been featured in the press for its innovative design of bridges. Many are professors. Others are in industry. They came in good polite times when their transition to residence was automatic and accepted without issue. Their colour did not matter. They are a shining example of what becomes possible when the natural brightness of Sri Lankan students, cultivated with discpline and rigour through their parents, is then paired with access and opportunity. This beautiful heritage is what is threateed by Trump and his MAGA.

In the meantime, my grandson Thoma, born last week, is an American. I believe his parents will also register him in Sri Lanka. Trump is questioning his birthright to citizenship but that is not an issue for him as his parents are already Americans. But Trump is trammelling the rule of law – the US Constitution in fact – that in its 14^th amendment at the end of the American Civil War, promised “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”

Little Thoma faces an uncertain future as Trump challenges the rule of law. 49.97%  of Americans voted for Trump, for going against the rule of law. On the Sri Lankan side, should his parents bring him to Sri Lanka, they must have the freedom to choose the academic rigour with which they will cultivate his potential and build his future. He must grow up in a world that celebrates both academic freedom and the rule of law.