The Hon. S.M. Marikkar
Hon. S.M. Marikkar asked the Prime Minister whether second-language learning is compulsory or optional in schools, noting that Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities often live together across many provinces. He argued that Sinhala children learning Tamil and Tamil and Muslim children learning Sinhala is important for reconciliation, and asked whether the Government intends to make such language study compulsory if it is currently optional.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, my first supplementary to the Hon. Prime Minister is this: Except for certain areas in the North and Nuwara Eliya where Sinhala people are the majority, many provinces have Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities living together. Especially many Muslim communities live among Sinhala villages. For the country’s future, Sinhala children learning Tamil, Muslim children learning Sinhala, and Tamil children learning Sinhala is vital. As the Government prioritizes reconciliation, are these second languages already compulsory, or optional? If optional, do you intend to make them compulsory?
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Friday, 23 May 2025 ·No. 1750228312097834 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. S.M. Marikkar. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 23 May 2025. No. 1750228312097834. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/23850