Her generation may see the revealing of the organisers of the burnings of Tamil homes. This will exorcise those masters who still profit from communal bickering in the island and diaspora.

The Reaganomics era thew in huge criminality everywhere it was
promoted. The masters of the universe at BP are now revealing how this
includes the USA where the taxpayer paid to propagandise a doctrine that has become a rod for his own back.

You seem not to be able to tell the difference between ethnicity and nationality.
——————-
“All the Tamils who migrated to other countries like UK, Germany or Swiss, do they have right to work in Tamil? I wonder why this applies only to Sri Lanka!”

Maybe because the Tamils have a very long history of settlement in Sri Lanka, have been there for more than a millenia, and were there at the creation of the nation? Usually, that is how nations are created, by accomodating the rights of all those present at its emergence.

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“…’we’ managed to open many Tamil schools in the country”? How utterly magnanimous of you! Who is ‘we’, by the way? Have you, by any chance, heard of “equal rights”? You know, that belief that is associated with democracy, which ‘your’ country adopted (only to totally sully its meaning).

Marisa!
Where have you been those days? May be not born! But then ask your elders what kind of discrimination occurs..even at the examination department, most of the Tamils got highest marks (bogus) ..we have thousand things to write..not only about the N.I.C.

This is not the time to wash dirty linen..but time to look forward..forget about the past and build a solid future for all of us without racism.

Remember you cannot change the entire legislation because you have few Tamil friends. I too have many friends around the Globe but no one helped me to get Sinhala as an official language. So why only in Sri Lanka. Just a thought!!

So please do not beat the bush! We have long way to go!!

Hope you will tell your young Tamil friends the truth..nothing but the bitter TRUTH!
Thank you

Nice article, well put together, i must say you have given it your all.

If you look at the world in a way where you feel that everything that happens to you is because you belong to a certain race/religion then you will always continue to see every injust in the world as been racially motivated.

When you look at the rest of the world i can firmly say with facts that Sri Lankan tamils are treated well, look at the plight of non muslims in Saudi Arabia or the lack of liberties for minorities in the middle east, change begins at home i guess, i was blessed to have two parents who always told me to see a man/woman for who they were and not by what race they belonged too, dont take me wrong peeps i love my heritage, i love been singhalese and i feel that things twenty years from now are going to be much better, Sri lanka is changing, the silent machine of justice is working but we cannot see it as we are clouded,

Change is needed i do agree, we need reforms in our education system so the next generation of Sri Lankans are truly bilingual. Most singhalese state offcials cannot read tamil and tamil offcials cannot read Singhalese.

Asking why or going against the machine so as to say is not the way forward, bringing change, true change for every man,woman and child in this country should be by bridging gaps and by not fueling the gaps that divide us, making people understand through education and awareness is the way forward, more tamils should learn Singhalese, Singhalese should learn tamil.

Thank you
Suresh

PS: I am a singhlaese with a tamil first name and i love it!!!

“For Tamils in SL if the Sinhalese could simply let us live in peace with dignity, without any harassment, kidnapping, illegal-imprisonments, rape, torture and murder. That is all we need!”

What you said is probably true. Sadly it reflects the extreme success of Sinhalese terrorism.

But then, this is not much of a worry for many Tamils now. For Tamils in SL if the Sinhalese could simply let us live in peace with dignity, without any harassment, kidnapping, illegal-imprisonments, rape, torture and murder. That is all we need!

“English is not going to solve all our problems. There are plenty of Anglophone countries in Africa who are in miserable shape.”

I agree that English is not a cure all for every malady. On the other hand, neither is a Sinhala medium or Tamil medium curriculum. How do we know this? Well, we already know that the affluent class in Sri Lanka sends their children to private schools and international schools, where English is a compulsory subject. In international schools, it is the only medium of instruction. The medium of instruction in all Sri Lankan universities is English. Clearly, everyone who can afford it prefers to have their child educated up to some useful standard of English. Only the children of very poor people will be educated entirely in SInhala-medium or Tamil-medium schools. Now when you think about it, by pushing for “swabasha” – by emphasizing the mother tongue over English, you are doing these poor children a disfavor. They will never be able to compete with their more affluent counterparts who have learned English pretty much through osmosis. It remains to the Government to become cognizant of such a reality, and go one step further: institute a mandatory English-medium curriculum all public schools. There is no point glossing over the wonders of the mother tongue in the face of such economic realities.

The figures you cite do not give the true picture.

—-

English compulsory in Japan

In an attempt to stay competitive and produce graduates able to work in a bilingual environment, the Japanese government has decided to make English compulsory at elementary school by 2008. Since neighbouring China and South Korea have made English compulsory in school, this move by Japan is seen as a national strategy.

http://www.suite101.com/blog/bhumikaghimire/568

In the next decade, every Japanese, Korean, and Chinese child will study English for a full 8 years whether he likes it or not.

English is absolutely vital for our progress in this day and age. The “Sinhala only” policy was a disaster. All Sri Lankan school children should be given an opportunity to learn English. To do so we must give our teachers a proper training in English teaching. The role of the teacher is crucial because a vast majority of our school children come from non-English speaking homes.

I agree with Rajivamw that “Sinhala simply does not have critical mass at this point to generate a knowledge base adequate to the challenges we face in these globalized times.” I would also add Tamil to that.

Heshan claims that the ‘vast majority’ of people in Germany, France, Japan, Russia, Korea and China speak English ‘fairly well’ .

Here are the facts, which are likely to put a damper on his opinion.

Country – Percentage of english speakers
————————————-
Germany – 56%
France – 36%
Japan – 11.75%
Russia – 4.9%
Korea – not provided
China – 0.77%

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_English-speaking_population (primary references contained within, feel free to follow)

Except for Germany, which manages 56% (is that a vast majority?), the rest prove to be quite pitiful in their English speaking skills. Even little ‘ol Sri Lanka has a 9.9% English speaking population.

As for whether “most” Europeans speak 3 or 4 languages fluently. Only 50% of Europeans are able to ‘participate in a conversation in another language than
their mother tongue’, never mind 3 or 4 languages.
Source: http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_237.en.pdf

The gist of the UN document that I quoted is what you stated in your second para, “communication”. That the mother tongue has a special place in the “process of understanding” is universally recognized.

Any meaning can be conveyed more effectively using the mother tongue than by the use of English alone. Problems come up when you try to “coin” words instead of “adopting” them from another language. English Language adopts many words from diverse languages without coining Anglicanised versions for them.

I have not stated anywhere that “only” the mother tongue should be used but “primarily” the mother tongue should be used. It implies the use of a supplementary language.

As in the case of analyzing a problem with many variables where we keep all but one variable constant, in assessing the effectiveness of instructions delivered primarily in the mother tongue we have to compare results by using mother tongue as the primary source to one group and using English exclusively for another group. The two groups should be otherwise identical. My intent was to underscore, that the blindly slavish, “English is best” attitude was faulty.

Your last paragraph requires no comment from me

You said …..”As much as I’d like to believe that” ….The Sri Lankan Constitution guarantees equality of her Citizens. This is the Supreme Law of the country.

Seeing is believing. Please visit http://www.constitution.gov.lk/downloads/Chapter%20III%20-%20Fundamental%20Rights.pdf

Perception of fear is different for each person. Some fear more and some fear less. Being afraid to make an untraceable anonymous complaint at a bank is unusual. The existence of such people is not an excuse for not asserting ones rights. There are many respected and fearless Tamils in the legal profession (lawyers, judges, SC judges, etc). To state that all Tamils are such cowardly is a slur on the Tamil community.

I gave an example of how a civic minded disabled person won the rights for the Disabled and the changes that started to occur after that. Actually changes started to take place even before the order was delivered.

Discrimination against the coloured races in the US did not vanish in a day just because the laws were in the statute books. It took courageous people to test the enforcement of those laws.

I hope the legal profession would get together on this issue and sue the Govt under the FR in every instance that they receive complaints of FR violations.

The problem is how many leading lights of the Law profession will be willing to sacrifice their time to sue the Govt without charging any fee from the aggrieved.

Having said that, in my opinion people communicate far more effectively in their mother tongue than in a foreign language. Even in thoroughly anglicised Singapore, I’m surprised at how much everyday conversation (and even business) is still conducted in Chinese, Malay and Tamil.

Also, Heshan brings up a good point, although probably not in the way he intended. Language is not the ONLY factor. English is not going to solve all our problems. There are plenty of Anglophone countries in Africa who are in miserable shape. A good work ethic, an entrepreneurial spirit, a sense of honour, intellectual curiosity, thrift – these are far more important.

And when Heshan says that the ‘vast majority’ of people in Germany, France, Japan, Russia, Korea and China speak English ‘fairly well’ – and that ‘MOST Europeans speak 3 or 4 languages fluently’ – well he reminds us that English is not a magic cure for ignorance!

That is not necessarily true. How exactly does the Mother Tongue occupy a special position in a child’s mind? Within a certain age range, any child will easily pick up a new language. It does not matter what the language is, the child will pick it up. It is a well-known fact that small children learn new languages much faster than adults.

“Education in the following countries are not based on the use of English. Germany, France, Russia, Japan, China and probably Korea as well (There would be more). The advancement achieved by these countries is sufficient proof if proof is needed.”

Five of the countries you named, except for China, are industrialized. Ironically, despite such industrialization, the vast majority of people in all of these countries can speak English fairly well. You mentioned three European countries… most Europeans can speak 3 or 4 different languages fluently. Clearly, this is a contradiction of your “mother tongue is best” theory.

“English is not that “Universal” as some seem to think.”

It is even more universal than we perceive it to be. It is the language of science and technology, and one of the main languages of business and commerce. Try visiting all seven continents and getting by with just French.

“In the United States, a research unit at George Mason University in Virginia has monitored results at twenty-three primary schools in fifteen States since 1985. Four out of six different curricula involved were partly conducted in the mother tongue. The survey shows that, after eleven years of schooling, there is a direct link between academic results and the time spent learning in the mother tongue.”

I don’t see any link between academic results and the “time spent learning in the mother tongue,” unless the learner is a recent immigrant. But even if he is a recent immigrant, his fluency in the mother tongue will not make any difference in his performance in certain subjects. Subjects like math and science have their own “language”… this language is then used to derive various relationships between objects. On the other hand, the logic behind such derivations is independent of any so-called mother tongue… in fact, it is a scientific fact that such logic involves areas in the left-hemisphere of the brain and not the right. In contrast, the right hemisphere of the brain is responsible for reading and writing activities (while the left one is responsible for abstract thought). It is obvious why the “mother tongue” does not make a difference in the mastery of subjects which require abstract thinking. That is because everyday language by itself is imprecise. This includes all possible “mother tongues.” On the other hand, the language of math and science is not native to anyone… it can only be learned.

“In New Zealand, a recent study showed that Maori children who received basic education in their own language performed better than those educated in English only”

Language is not the only factor. If language is the only factor that the study considers, then the study is faulty. Let us take the case where two Maori twins, from the exact same socio-economic background, are separated at birth. If one Maori twin sticks with his own family, and attends a special school for Maori children, and the other twin is adopted by an upper-class New Zealand family, and attends a private English-medium school, which twin is likely to perform better?

Many were outraged in 1998 when Californian voters, by a 61% majority, imposed English as the state’s sole language in publicly-funded schools despite opposition from a coalition of civil liberties organizations.

“Approval by referendum of Proposition 227, as it was called, meant resident foreign-born children, mostly Spanish-speaking, could no longer be taught in their own language. Instead, they would have an intensive one-year course in English and then enter the general school system.”

Bilingual education is very expensive. California schools are already overcrowded and underfunded. So taking away Spanish due to racism, or was it simply a way to deal with a growing budget deficit?

“Though I would be against it, imagine the uproar if Sri Lanka followed the example set by California?”

Children who learn only English can still cope with fast-paced technology and commerce. On the other hand, children who learn only Sinhala (or only Tamil) will not be able to do so.

“Source – UN”

Once again, do provide a direct link. I have trouble believing the UN would conduct such erroneous studies.

The Mother Tongue has a special position in a child’s mind and the performance of a mother tongue educated child is far superior to that of a child forced to study using a foreign language (English for example). For this reason the Mother tongue has to be used primarily.

Education in the following countries are not based on the use of English. Germany, France, Russia, Japan, China and probably Korea as well (There would be more). The advancement achieved by these countries is sufficient proof if proof is needed.

English is not that “Universal” as some seem to think.

Studies show that we learn better in our mother tongue.

In the United States, a research unit at George Mason University in Virginia has monitored results at twenty-three primary schools in fifteen States since 1985. Four out of six different curricula involved were partly conducted in the mother tongue. The survey shows that, after eleven years of schooling, there is a direct link between academic results and the time spent learning in the mother tongue.

In New Zealand, a recent study showed that Maori children who received basic education in their own language performed better than those educated in English only, notes Don Long

Many were outraged in 1998 when Californian voters, by a 61% majority, imposed English as the state’s sole language in publicly-funded schools despite opposition from a coalition of civil liberties organizations.

Approval by referendum of Proposition 227, as it was called, meant resident foreign-born children, mostly Spanish-speaking, could no longer be taught in their own language. Instead, they would have an intensive one-year course in English and then enter the general school system.

Though I would be against it, imagine the uproar if Sri Lanka followed the example set by California?

Source – UN

————–

Source UN? I have trouble believing the source is the UN. When I typed parts of the above into Google, nothing came up. Why don’t you provide a direct link.

@Nimesh, your point is quite valid, I stand corrected. The introduction of a proper functioning equal language policy would resolve all these issues however.

@dimitri, “there are racial issues that we need to deal with in Lanka….this is NOT one of the dire ones!” Not being able to read your own personal documents is not important an issue to discuss Dimitri? Yes, I agree there are many other issues that need to be highlighted, but, I believe in winning one battle at a time is better than none at all.

@Sitheeg AKMI, “Information in NIC depends on the language application made not only the secuirity reasons but also the convenients of holder to proof his iditity all over the Island for the official as well as private purposes it has been written in Sinhala.” Please clarify what you mean by this, cos’ it’s not very clear.

“2. Information in birth certificate written the language which the birth and deth registrars language . that is depends on the area. there are Sinhala people they have their birth certificate in Tamil because their parent/s lived in Northen or Eastern province.same as some tamils may have in Sinhala their birth certificate.” I wasn’t aware that there are in fact Sinhalese who hold Birth Certificates written in Tamil. If so, by all means, that’s wrong too. Every person should have their vital documents filled out in their respective mother tongues. That’s the main point of this article Sitheeg. The implementation of an equal language policy. I would have thought was more or less understood by now.

Look at Israel, how many cease fires came their way, none held.

Look at Iraq, Afganisthan, and many others, who have NOT got a second chance.

Case in point to follow is Ireland.

They genuinely decided, that enough is enough.

Are we going to permit a resumption of the WAR or violence and once again permit the slaughter of innocent civilians??
Soldiers, Servicemen.
The thousands of families yet grieving.

Have we forgotten so soon?

What does it matter to have 3 or even 4 national languages recognised by the Government.

Case in point, USA, how many immigarnts are living in harmony.

They have opened their doors, inspite of 9/11.

Each year thousands are permitted to migrate to the USA.
Even little Sri Lanka receives a quota.

NOW is the time for Rehabilitation of the displaced.
Now is the time to care for the internally displaced persons. Many owned land, businesses etc.

Let us also not forget our heroic servicemen who boldly laid down their lives, their families too should receive immediate assistance.

And the 3rd catagory being innocent victims, of all races who got caught up in the cross fire,trapped in buildings, roadside bombs etc., etc., their families too should be assisted.

Let us all call it a day, have done, put all our shoulders to the wheel and ensure, like in Germany,”Never ever another Holacast”.

Capt. Nihal C.I. De Silva (Sri Lanka Rifle Corps 1st Battalion Volunteers.)
Member Foreign Correspondent’s Association.