The Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa says that English language will be central in school education before the end of this year, during smart classroom initiatives done via the ‘Sakwala’ program.
He said that IT should be made a compulsory subject from first grade.
Below are the comments made by Premadasa:
“Before the end of this year, human resources will be provided and IT will be made compulsory. Teaching will be carried out in English. Some people get upset when I say this because they are ill-informed. I will give you a small example. A child from Mahadivulwewa school studies well and goes on to pursue an arts degree at the university. While another child goes to Colombo International, studies in English and is doing a degree in English. Should the job be given to the child who studied arts in Sinhala or to the child who studied in English?
This is the reason why we need English language-centred education in every school. Can the children of farmers be sent to international schools? This is free education. This is Kannangara’s free gift to our country. But when we try to implement this; strange opinions come out of the woodwork.
Medawachchiya is also protesting. They are putting up signs that they will “defeat” Sajith Premadasa’s “foreign” English language-centric and IT-centric education.
Both children and parents have been mobilised. Teachers have also been mobilised by principals. I don’t mind. It doesn’t matter if you want to protest.
But before picking up placards, think about the situation; should we go for a modernist new education system that will allow your daughter and son to get that job or not? This is not my question to answer. Parents should not be fooled by ‘Sinhala only’ politics. Some people say “Sinhala Only”, others say “Tamil Only”.
Don’t be fooled by these kinds of politics. It’s a dirty politics. Don’t be fooled by “Sinhalese only” or “Tamils only” politics that are just trying to fill the ballot box and make politicians into kings. What will be the fate of four million children? These slogans are made by Marxist extremists and radical leftists; they talk about the social justice for the downtrodden while their children go to international schools and foreign universities.
They are trying to save free education by sending their children to international schools which are English language-centred and IT-centred. They hand you that placard and tell you: “come to Medawachchiya town for the sake of the nation” Are their children going to international schools for the sake of the nation? Please understand this lie and deception.
Education and livelihood should go on the same path – Prof. G.L. Peiris
Opposition Leader Premadasa is of the opinion that we have many expectations when it comes to an education. Getting a good job, building an economy to maintain your home and family and living a satisfied life – these are the ultimate goals of an education. The burning issue in Sri Lanka is the gap between education and livelihood. We have many graduates, but it is difficult for them to find suitable jobs for their degrees. It is a strong cause of youth discontent. Education and livelihood need to go in one direction. From that point of view, it is necessary to make some changes in the field of education.
When looking at the core and subjects of the interior of the country, it should be connected to the profession. English is an international language, it is very important to be proficient in that language. The English language is very important when it comes to IT. English is requirement for a professional education like engineering. This is why Premadasa clearly says that special attention should be paid to English education. For that, English education should be developed practically.
It does not mean that we should neglect our native languages Sinhala, Tamil, and focus on English. This is not the idea. In our country, primary education is always done in the mother tongue. This does not mean that the mother tongue is neglected and English is taught in primary education. He said that English should be taught successfully so it will be beneficial for a future career. It is done as part of modernising education. He said that plans should be made to suit the present society.
Excellence in creativity comes from the mother tongue – MP Gevindu Kumaratunga
When talking about the importance of education in the mother tongue, we can see that many forces in the political field of this country do not understand the importance of getting education in mother tongue and the importance of correct use of the mother tongue. From Premadasa’s point of view, we hear the same incomprehensive statements. We have understood that the current leadership is going in the same direction. That is the sad situation. There is a set of comments made by our native sages in this regard. In relation to the mother tongue and creative thinking, we have had the highest views on design in Sinhala.
Especially the English language, the British Council has made great efforts to maintain the English language throughout the world. Special studies have been done in this regard. If we go back about five hundred years ago, England is an underdeveloped country that was a colony of Rome.
A large number of researches has been done in this regard. It is a matter that is generally accepted through studies; they consider the turning point in England to be when they stopped praying in Latin in the churches of England, turned the Bible into English, and began to practise their religion in English.
England becomes a world power within a hundred years; Becoming a nation that gives new things to the world. After all, they control one-fifth of the world, and maintaining the colonies by depriving the mother tongue and thought and mother tongue and design and other matters of native finance. Today, many studies have been conducted on the issues of training workers and producing slaves.
If you go to France, no matter how much you study English here, you have to study in French in France. There are studies about this in France. Fifty percent of the French people could not speak French. It was the intellectuals and rulers of that country who brought that country to this state today. Most of us think that this is an English world. But if you go from country to country, for example, it can be in Germany, it can be in Italy, it can be in Denmark.
In the universities of those countries, they prepare degrees and study for post-graduate degrees in the language of that country. As an Asian country, even today in Japan, when they go to study motor engineering, they teach them Japanese first. China does all its activities based on their language. That’s why when our people go to Korea, they write the Korean Proficiency Test. You have seen our people in line for days. That is why there are differences in designs in those countries. Let’s take a simple example of that. A crooked face comes to Europe’s television scene from Korea. Not only for Korea, it is another step forward for the entire human being.
Also, the thoughts and wishes of this language world are connected with the design. I am begging the responsible political parties to please re-examine your language policy. Learn about the world. The world is not English. English is a tool for us. Please read the book written in English instead of using it as an ornament. Read books on language studies.
Read research on language and creative thinking, language and innovation. If you read it, you will understand that our political leaders are delusional. One of the results of this journey is that we have become a country that is in debt and beggars. Kumaratunga has said this very clearly. May my motherland get a leader who understands the value of the mother tongue and works for it! I hope so.
Teaching in English is cultural genocide – Dhamma Dissanayake
Senior Lecturer, Department of Political Science and Public Policy Studies, University of Colombo
From 1931 until now, the leaders and administrators could not make Sri Lanka a perfect State for nine decades. The country’s bankruptcy is the result of decades of negligence by leaders and administrators. So they are so defeated that they think; it is not their fault that the country is not developing, it’s because people don’t know English.
Also, they think that if English knowledge is given to the people of the country, there will be a great development. One thing that those people who go all over the world forget is that especially when Germany, France, Japan and China are taken, those countries work in their mother tongue. They have given a secondary place to other languages. All these countries are technologically advanced countries that we cannot imagine.
These people are ahead of the English-speaking countries which are highly developed scientific knowledge and technical knowledge. What is the reason for that? It is not because of the English language. The problem is that the rulers of our country do not have the knowledge and imagination. They do not know how to develop a country.
Therefore, he said that this happened because he did not know English; they blame the people of the country. They also say that the youth of the country do not have jobs because they do not know English. Has the employment problem been solved in countries like Britain and America where English is spoken as the mother tongue?
According to the information we know, thousands to hundreds of thousands of workers are fired from jobs in those countries every day. That is because of the crisis in the manufacturing and service economy; in our country, there is no need for the administrator to bring the production and service economy to an optimal level.
Also, there is no problem in teaching English or any other language to those studying education. Our country is a country where Shad Bhasha Parameshwara was. Teaching in English and teaching English are two things. These people have messed this up. English should be taught to the children of our country. And it should be easy to learn any other language. But they should have the right to choose which language they choose to learn.
The rulers and administrators of a country that try to teach in English know very well that there are not enough teachers to even teach English. In fact, there is a shortage of teachers in all provinces for English, mathematics, music and Tamil subjects; teaching a subject that does not even have such teachers is an anti-ethical and anti-human act. We ask our managers and administrators to teach English properly. We say that there is no great result from teaching in English. Teaching a subject in English in a very creative and interesting manner is extremely problematic.
Those who teach in English cannot solve these problems. This is a country where children study under trees without a roof. Is it possible to go to a place like this without solving those problems? There are no teachers; there is no school. These people keep these questions and say you don’t know English. That is why there are no jobs; Blame it. There are many issues to be resolved. It is not a problem that all these children speak English. But teaching in English will throw a lot of people aside. Due to this, there has been a situation where some students do not apply for some specialised degrees in universities.
A language is not just speaking and writing. Underestimating the native language is a great crime because the great culture, knowledge system, religious knowledge, medicine, folklore built through it all depend on the dictionary called language. If education underestimates the mother tongue of one’s own country, then the great culture of that country is underestimated and ignored. Such policies can be called a kind of cultural genocide. Teaching in English can be called a great cultural genocide.
Teaching in English is practically very difficult – Prof. Charitha Herath
Teaching in English is a very difficult process to implement in practice with the existing facilities in our country. But it is very important to give a place to English education internationally. It requires good preparation; if it is a principled decision, most people will agree.
It is important to give priority to English while teaching the mother tongue. It requires a large number of teachers and development of technical infrastructure.
Also, there is a shortage of English medium teachers in Sri Lanka. There are no training institutes at present; so it is a very difficult task. To make such a policy decision, Sinhala, English and Tamil should be taught in the same way; it is very important. English should be given more space while teaching all the three languages effectively. There are many great roadblocks and plans should be made to address them. It is a big process and a difficult task that requires a lot of effort. It will take two or three years.
Translated by Jonathan Frank
