English medium learning - ‘to be or not to be?’ (with apologies to Shakespeare) That was the question in our resplendent isle recently, with a politician wanting to stop Sri Lankan children using the international link language, English, as the medium of learning until they completed primary school. Social media went abuzz with comments for and against the remarks made in the Parliament. The Sunday Observer met a cross section of the citizens while exploring the pedagogy of language proficiency.
Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today. ----Malcolm X
Preparedness has always been a problem with education in Sri Lanka from the time we became an independent nation. Education, or the future of the country had been neglected, thrashed, bashed and torn asunder by many a governing body of the country during the past seven decades.
Many education reforms in the country were more regressive than progressive, leaving the masses facing a conundrum.The past two or three decades saw Sri Lanka embracing international education, which came in the form of private schools offering varied syllabi, mostly in the English medium paving the way for local students to gain knowledge on par with international standards.
It is in this backdrop, parliamentarian Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera urged the Government to stop teaching schoolchildren from grades one to five in English, during the recent Committe Stage Debate on the Budget in Parliament.
Proposal
Speaking to the Sunday Observer Ven. Ratana Thera said that he had proposed to the Government that Pre-school and Primary school students should be taught in the mother tongue (Sinhala or Tamil). “The students should be taught in the mother tongue because we do not have facilities to teach students in the English medium. The majority of the students fail the O/L and A/L second language English in government schools. It is a very pathetic situation today. First and foremost, the education authorities should take steps to increase the percentage of the Second Language, English, pass rates. In my opinion,, English should be taught as a secondary language in schools,” he said.
Currently, most of the Government schools have English medium education after Grade five. An option is given for students to select the medium of instruction from Grade six. The public is confused as to whether the Government is trying to make English the main medium of instruction in government schools.
Our attempt to ask the Ven. Thera why he made such a proposal failed as he refused to speak further or answer any questions.
Denial
The Sunday Observer contacted the Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Padmasiri Jayamanne, to check whether the Government has any plans in the future to teach all subjects in English from Primary grades in government schools. “There is no such plan according to my knowledge and I am not aware about this,” Jayamanne said.
Does learning English from the kindergarten or learning it at the junior school level make a difference?
Our understanding of education, learning and how the mind and the brain works has progressed by leaps and bounds in the last two decades. Studies by Harvard University, Cambridge, USA, Center on the Developing Child confirms that the creativity, critical thinking skills, and flexibility of the mind are significantly enhanced if children learn a second language at a younger age.
Preschool years, and especially the first three years of life, are believed to be a vital period in a child’s life. This is when the foundations for attitudes, thinking, and learning, among others, are laid down. Using that ability is greatly encouraged in many other countries because, according to research, learning a second language is as easy as learning the first.
Research has shown that 50 percent of our ability to learn is developed by age four and another 30 percent by age eight. This is why three-year-olds are encouraged to learn a second language.
The world progressed while Sri Lanka lagged behind. English is a link language and a language of employability. Without English – Sri Lanka is closing the doorway to the international arena for the future generation. Only a privileged few would learn in English Medium and go abroad the rest of them will all be regarded as worthless because of language incompetency, opined a teacher with international teaching experience, who sppoke in anonymity.
Personal opinions
Daniel Anurak, a retired government employee who had gained his education prior to the 1960’s and in the English Medium spoke to the Sunday Observer. “Before the 1960’s the mother tongue and the English language was taught equally so all students were equally conversant and good in both languages. In 1956, Sinhala was made the official language in Sri Lanka and it was the medium of instruction in schools and until 1960, the students already learning in the English language could continue to do so and thereafter, it was stopped. From then to date, the main subjects in government schools are taught in Tamil or Sinhala,” he said.
“According to my opinion, the English language is very important. It is a link language and a language of employability. Today, students in government schools are good in studies but they are poor in using the English language. Sometimes even graduates find it difficult to secure jobs as they are not good in English. English language helps for social cohesion and social integration,” said Anurak.
Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court and Associate Member of CIMA, Thishya Weragoda expressed his views of Ven. Ratana Thera’s speech and his experience in struggling to learn the English language. ‘At the government school St. Thomas College, Kotte where entered Grad one only basic English was taught from Grade one to five and there was no English use among the children. I was physically punished by the Principal for speaking in English. I then transferred to a private school, St. Thomas College, Mt. Lavinia where there was English medium education. I was like a fish out of water. For the English based subjects I scored low.
According to Weragoda, it was only at the Law Faculty and while doing CIMA his English skills improved and he became confident.
He says that he still struggles with spelling and that he is eternally in debt to F7 and “Shift + F7” on Microsoft Word. “Today 95 percent of my work is done in English; still I wish I had read more during my younger days. Ven. Ratana Thera should stop trying to ruin the future of this country. Let children learn in whatever language they want. As long as they learn Sinhala and Sinhala Literature as a subject, they will do just fine. My parents sent me to an English elocution class. Now that has really helped me,” he said.
Zain Hameed, a past pupil of an international school, said ,that today he is in a good position in life due to an English education. “I was an average student at school. I passed my exams but did not get top marks like students in government schools do. Today, I do a good job in the private sector and earn a good salary . I am able to integrate and socialise with people and I feel very confident about myself.
I believe that this is due to gaining education in the English Medium. Some of my friends who passed out from government schools with top results are without a job or struggling to get into the job market,” said Hameed.
However, a teacher, Dinesh Perera said that the students should be taught during early stages in the mother tongue. He said, “Sri Lanka is the only country using Sinhala language. It is a unique language which I believe should be protected. If all students start studying in the English language from childhood, our language will die and so our culture will. At the same time, today there are fewer teachers in Sri Lanka to teach in the English Medium. Sometimes teachers teach in broken English. We can see many rural schools today, lacking English teachers. The education authorities should take immediate action on this issue.”
“Do you think that learning English as a second language has anything to do with the deterioration of our culture?” asked Clinical Psychiatrist, Dr. N. Kumaranayake of the Government Base Hospital, Psychiatry Unit, Kiribathgoda. “Culture is not a hot house plant. It grows naturally out of the common soil of the human spirit: it is popular in origin. In Ceylon, English is learnt out of its context away from English scenery, English life and English people; and under such conditions it cannot impart the English culture to Sri Lankans.
I don’t think that learning English as a second language is detrimental for our culture or tradition. Learning English in early age is not the reason behind this disaster,” he said. Dr. Kumaranayake says that no other language can replace our mother tongue. “English language is the key to the modern world. However, mother tongue is the foundation of personality,” he adds.
Sarah Cader, a Montessori teacher from Colombo says that three- year-olds who attend the preschool class enhance their spoken English knowledge through play and songs. “They learn French at the same time, through similar fun activities, music, and stories. So, it’s not uncommon to hear little ones singing French songs at school.
I have experienced that children can easily grasp many languages in the early stage of life. Knowing English increases your chances of getting a good job in a multinational company within your home country or for finding work abroad.
It’s also the language of international communication, the media and the internet, so learning English is important for socialising and entertainment as well as work,” she added.
When contacted several educationists to get their opinion on Ven. Ratana Thera’s proposal they refrained from commenting as there is still ambiguity abou Ven.Rathana Thera’s proposal.