A trilingual Sri Lanka vital for reconciliation
Converting Sri Lanka into a trilingual country is
very important to make reconciliation work better and to implement
all important decisions in the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation
Commission's (LLRC) report, Presidential Advisor and Coordinator to
the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on English and IT, Sunimal
Fernando said yesterday.
"All sectors in Sri Lanka have to play vital roles
to implement these decisions and to convert Sri Lanka in to a
trilingual country. The education system too has a great
responsibility in this effort and as heads of the Sri Lankan
education sector, we promise to extend our maximum support to
implement these decisions," he added.
Fernando was addressing a workshop on 'Teaching
and Learning through the eyes of Japanese Volunteers' jointly
organised by the Presidential Initiative for a Trilingual Sri Lanka,
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Education Ministry,
National Institute of Education (NIE) and the Bandaranaike Centre
for International Studies (BCIS). It was facilitated by the S W R D
Bandaranaike National Memorial Foundation.
The 10 Year National Master Plan for a Trilingual
Sri Lanka has provided equal opportunities for all Sri Lankans to
obtain skills in Sinhala and Tamil as languages of communication and
debate with English as a life skill at levels suitable for
individual needs and ambitions.
"There is no need to follow foreign experts,
methods and theories to teach the English language to the Sri Lankan
students.
Sri Lanka has a number of the cleverest English
teachers coming from Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim families. They know
the correct way to teach the English language to the students.
Measures should be taken to relax the administrative rules and
regulations governing teachers and officials attached to the
Education sector of Sri Lanka.
It will be a great support for them to launch
number of new educational programmes and obtaining best results
therein, the Presidental Advisor further explained. Education
Minister Bandula Gunawardena, Education Ministry Secretary Gotabhaya
Jayarathne, representatives from Japanese Embassy and number of
Japanese volunteers working in Sri Lanka were also present.
Courtesy : Daily News |
