The Hon. Mano Ganesan

¶ 01 Thank you, Hon. Deputy Chair.

¶ 02 The Hon. Deputy Minister Sundaralingam Pradeep referred to me, noting we fought. It’s true—we still fight. Let us, Government and Opposition, join hands to fight together for our most backward, poor people and deliver benefits.

¶ 03 A few months ago, I posed a question here to the Prime Minister/Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, Hon. (Dr.) Harini Amarasuriya. She was absent then due to Cabinet; I asked the Deputy Minister. Now the Prime Minister is here; I wish to raise some long-standing education issues in Colombo District. These are not created by this Government; they are long-standing.

¶ 04 Take three major national schools in Colombo: Royal College, Isipathana College, and D.S. Senanayake College. All three have Sinhala and Tamil streams. Yet, in these resource-rich schools, Tamil-medium classes are being reduced. At Royal, in Primary there are eight Sinhala-medium classes and only two Tamil-medium. In Grades 6–12, there are seven Sinhala-medium and six Tamil-medium classes; but at Advanced Level, in Maths and Science, there are fourteen Sinhala-medium, two Tamil-medium and two English-medium classes. In Commerce A/L, five Sinhala-medium, one Tamil-medium and one English-medium class.

¶ 05 At D.S. Senanayake: Primary has six Sinhala-medium and one Tamil-medium class. Grades 6–11: seven Sinhala, two Tamil, two English-medium classes. A/L Maths/Science: four Sinhala, one Tamil, two English-medium. A/L Commerce: four Sinhala, one Tamil, one English-medium.

¶ 06 At Isipathana: Primary has six Sinhala and one Tamil-medium class. Grades 6–11: six Sinhala, one English, one Tamil-medium class. A/L: six Sinhala and one Tamil-medium class.

¶ 07 Hon. Prime Minister, this is discriminatory. In cosmopolitan districts like Colombo, where Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic and Catholic communities live together, we must build national unity. Yet we separate children from a young age into Tamil, Sinhala, Muslim, Catholic, Buddhist, Hindu schools, and at 18 ask them to stand as Sri Lankans. That is wrong.

¶ 08 Colombo is the right place to start integrated schooling. In these leading national schools with ample resources, increase Tamil-medium classes—at Royal, Isipathana, D.S. Senanayake. I know that some officials and principals plan together to reduce Tamil-medium classes. Even when 40 students could be placed in a class, they don’t admit that many to Tamil-medium. This has been happening for long—even when we were in Government. I bring this to the Minister’s attention. I once raised Royal in Cabinet; Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam told me, “Please don’t talk about Royal.” What does that mean? We fought then; we fight now. Hon. Minister, please act—show us. We will give full cooperation.

¶ 09 Cosmopolitan districts are where unity can be built. Create classrooms under one roof for Sinhala, Tamil and all children to learn together—starting with the big schools. At Royal, old boys, principals, officials and others form a powerful network. Break that power where it blocks fairness, and correct the situation. The same at Isipathana and D.S. Senanayake.

¶ 10 In Jaffna, there is a Sinhala Maha Vidyalaya. My personal view is that a separate Sinhala Maha Vidyalaya is unnecessary there when renowned national schools exist like Jaffna Hindu and Jaffna Central. Start Sinhala-medium sections in those schools and integrate the Sinhala Maha Vidyalaya into them so Tamil and Sinhala children study together under one roof.

¶ 11 There are also staffing issues—management cadre problems. In these national schools, there is no dedicated management cadre for Tamil-medium; all general cadre posts go to Sinhala-medium, leaving Tamil sections understaffed. Therefore, in cosmopolitan areas like Colombo, please create a special zone for Tamil-medium education within national schools to properly manage development and administration of education.

¶ 12 On the hill country, as my friend Hon. Pradeep said, outside Nuwara Eliya, many areas—including his district—lack A/L Science streams. In our time in Government, we obtained Cabinet approval for hill-country schools to secure up to two acres of adjacent land for expansion. Hon. Pradeep, use that; you have the right.

¶ 13 Our people only obtained full citizenship in 2003; we are late starters, hence we lag in politics, society, economy, culture, education and health. Don’t blame each other; you have come to change the system—start from the plantations.

¶ 14 Hon. Minister of Education, establish a special teacher training college for the hill country to address teacher shortages with a remedial action plan. We have a reasonable Minister; I request her to act. Hon. Pradeep, first establish a campus of the University of Peradeniya in Nuwara Eliya and in time convert it to a university—just as the Vavuniya Campus of Jaffna University became the University of Vavuniya.

¶ 15 Thank you.