Hon. Mano Ganesan

¶ 01 Thank you, Hon. Prime Minister. You see it from one angle; I see it like this. In this country, Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities — or Hindu, Islam, Catholic and Buddhist — live together. You are also from Colombo District; let us take Colombo. There, we see Buddhist schools, Hindu schools, Catholic schools; Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim schools. Break this concept. This is the time. New concepts are needed. From childhood we send Hindu children to Hindu schools, Catholic children to Catholic schools, Buddhist children to Buddhist schools; then when they grow up we say, “Rise as Sri Lankans.” That does not work — it collapses. That is my view of national reconciliation, as a former Minister of National Unity, Reconciliation and Official Languages. Please look into this. It cannot be done at once; you cannot immediately change Nalanda, Ananda, Hindu College, Catholic College. But start somewhere. That is my proposal.

¶ 02 Next, three national schools in Colombo: Royal College, D. S. Senanayake College and Isipathana College — state schools that have developed across governments. In all three, Tamil-medium classes have been systematically reduced. During Yahapalana, when I was in Cabinet, I fought on this, even with the leader of Hon. Kabir Hashim’s party — himself a Royalist — and with the Education Minister. Yet, we could not stop the reduction of Tamil classes at Royal. Please look into this.

¶ 03 Also, class sizes: typically 40–45 in a class, yet they are bringing down both the number of students per class and the number of Tamil-medium classes, while Sinhala-medium classes may be 12 and Tamil-medium only two. In Colombo city, Tamil speakers are the majority — around 60%. Then, at least allocate proportionately. If there are ten classes of 40, that is capacity for 400, under one roof for Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim children — but we do not do it. Start without fear. That is national reconciliation. You came as a government promising system change. If not you, who?

¶ 04 About C. W. W. Kannangara, called the father of free education: I do not accept that fully. Though he introduced free education, he did not pay proper attention to estate schools; when proposals were made, he set them aside. Therefore we cannot accept him as the father of free education. In 1977, only at the end of Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s government were all plantation sector schools integrated into the national education system. We were late starters; hence our indices are low. We must focus more on marginalized and underprivileged segments. You know the world’s affirmative action principles — giving special consideration to underdeveloped groups due to historical or social reasons. When the ground is uneven, we cannot all run equally. We must give special attention.

¶ 05 Although plantation schools were integrated, they are still incomplete. Another problem is that Provincial Councils are not functioning; the major devolved powers are education and health. Without PCs, focused attention to schools suffers. I raise this because you are not only the Education Minister, but also the Prime Minister.

¶ 06 Please look at the system: national schools, universities, and the many schools under Provincial Councils — today effectively under the Governors, who cannot properly manage them; a major issue.

¶ 07 Next, appoint an Additional Director in each province to focus on second-language issues. In provinces where Tamil-medium schools predominate, if the Director is Tamil-speaking, appoint a Sinhala-speaking Additional Director, and vice versa elsewhere. Extend this down to zonal level. Education involves student issues, teacher issues, and administrative issues; these are best understood by officers conversant in the school’s medium.

¶ 08 In Nuwara Eliya, many Tamil schools exist but there are no Tamil Education Directors in some zonal offices. Find out and fix it. Appointing Tamil officers is not communalism — it is their right. The real communalism is denying that right. People rightly expect to discuss their school administration with an officer who understands their language.

¶ 09 On plantation-area schools across Colombo, Avissawella, Kalutara, Kegalle, Ratnapura, Kandy, Matale, Nuwara Eliya, Monaragala, Galle, Matara and Kurunegala: appoint a special committee to assess these schools and their deficits, and take your reform programme to them while ensuring justice based on that assessment.

¶ 10 Another key problem in Tamil-medium schools in those districts outside the North and East is teachers, especially for science streams — many schools have no science subjects or science streams. This is shameful. We have discussed this with the Indian High Commissioner; India is ready and has allocated funds. Please use these funds for this purpose — not for something else. We in the Opposition are prepared to help. Establish a specialized teacher training entity to address Tamil-medium teacher shortages, with India’s assistance. India is a friendly country; use that opportunity. Only then can we uplift our underprivileged people — all Sri Lankans — to a national level. I am focusing on reaching national standards domestically; let us move forward. As Education Minister and as Prime Minister, I trust you will do this.

¶ 11 Thank you.