ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION IN SRI LANKA
A brief history
Sri lanka is a country which had been under the British rule for many years.English Language was the official language in that era.After the 1948 independence,still the English was the official language.But in 1956 the Sri Lanka government took an unwanted decision which introduced Sinhala as the official language known as Sinhala Only Act.Even today, as the general public in the country we face some bad consequences of this resolution.Still Sri Lanka is a developing country.
I personally believe that the English Language should be the official language in Sri Lanka if Sri Lanka wants to be a developed country one day. And the education should be given in English.If Sri Lankan government introduces English as the language of education,it would be a great step forward in the education system in the country.
English teaching in schools
The untold story of the pathetic situation in the education system of our country is lack of having English knowledge.English is not taught properly in Sri Lankan schools.Yet we are having an outdated teaching method which focuses on only reading and writing.Since English is a language,the government schools should constantly focus on speaking and listening as well.
English is taught as an ordinary subject like mathematics and science rather than a language in major exams in the country like Ordinary Levels (O/L) and Advanced Levels (A/L). A majority of teachers are trained in training colleges throughout the country.Most of these training colleges do not release well qualified English teachers.The other critical issue is the syllabus.This school syllabus is not good at all. Majority of students are bored with this boring syllabus. From grade 1 to 11,the students are given eleven text books and work books.Finally after O/L's they are still attending English language classes.Students who do not get through English Language from O/L's can do A/L's and students who get through A/L's without English language can enter any government university.The utmost dream of the students who sit for the Advanced Level examination is to enter a government university in the country.On the other hand,the popular Sri Lankan subject streams are Maths and Science.The primitive motive that a lot of Sri Lankans are having is that those who follow Maths and Science will get better jobs.They don't think about the big opportunities they can experience if they do other subject streams properly.
Graduation and finding a job
The university degree can also be completed and obtained without English.The problems arise at this stage. The graduates are not qualified for the job market in the private sector.Then they protest demanding government jobs as their final solution for a permanent employment.Majority of the graduates who pass out from state universities in the island face this situation.As well as they can not apply for professional jobs in overseas because of not having a sound English knowledge.Also there is a huge tendency in the world for online jobs.The countries whose official language is English have more opportunities in this sector than other countries.
The youth in the country has also been struggling since ages applying jobs in the private sector.Most of them are having only paper qualifications like O/L Certificate or A/L certificate. Though they are possessing Sri Lankan exam qualifications,it would not enough for the current ,competitive, market oriented world.There is a huge skill gap between the job market qualifications and the qualifications possessed by Sri Lankan youth.When they face interviews,most probably they fail.Some of the leading companies in Sri Lanka,when they do their recruitment process,they generally look for the individuals who are having a sound English knowledge.These circumstances have arisen due to the unplanned English education process in Sri lanka. Spoken English is not taught in Sri Lanka at all.Possessing a huge file with hundreds of certificates is not enough for modern employments.They should speak English.Basically English is needed for a better communication process.The private sector demands that. Not the paper qualifications.
Political background and the government's plans to promote English language
Sri Lanka is a country which has a parliament that comprised with 225 members.Most of them are uneducated and some are only possessing secondary education while least number of members are having a degree.Though they are having a degree or a PhD for a particular subject ,they have not been offered a ministry related to his specialized subject.For an example,if somebody is specializing in Economics,he is given the wild life ministry.If somebody is specializing in the field of sports,he is offered the ministry of tourism.The one who is having a tourism and heritage management degree is given the health ministry.This is how the process of offering ministries among the elected fellows.
On the other hand the parliament is the place where the laws are made.We can never expect a standard policy making from them.The tragedy is that the people also expect such kind of politicians as their rulers.The people of the country are also willing to elect such thugs and buggers as their representatives.Majority of members do not speak English while few members manage it however.People do not protest against the wrong actions the politicians make. Sri Lankan politicians are notorious wrongdoers.This can be applied to the other local government bodies too.The members of the local government bodies are doing illegal businesses such as illegal lifting of sand,transporting forbidden wood, distilling ,illegal wood cutting,possessing mobile wood cutting equipment and many more illegal businesses.These buggers are allowed to contest for the provincial council elections and also the general elections.In Sri Lanka,nobody asks the qualifications of the politicians.The only service that does not need qualifications in Sri Lanka is politics.Actually the politics is not a service in Sri Lanka.It is a job which allows them to earn a huge amount of money for their future generation.
We can never expect a considerable development of the education in Sri Lanka.There should be a miraculous improvement in the whole education system in the country.In Sri Lanka,everybody should do every subject.They should follow all the subjects that they are offered by the government until they finish O/L.This traditional methodology should be changed.The teachers along with parents should identify the skills of students at their early ages and students must be given a chance to select their path.Some students show their talents in the field of art.These artistic students should also pass math in O/L.If they fails,then they are discouraged and his or her artistic skills are also disappeared in the time pass. Disappointed youth then act as three-wheeler drivers. Majority of the creative younger generation suffer due to lack of English knowledge.
What should be done to promote English
When planning English text books from grade 1 to 11,the panel should be comprised with university professors and experts of English language.The support and the supervision ought to be taken from foreign experts like British Council and Cambridge university .These traditional text book oriented method must be abolished.As an alternative,a new standard English educational packages can be introduced.All four skills should be covered by these packages.These packages should be as follow.
01.Beginners pack
(reading,writing,listening,speaking,pronunciation,grammar,elocution)
(from grade 1 to grade 5)
02.Elementary pack
(reading,writing,listening,speaking,pronunciation,grammar,elocution)
(from grade 6 to grade 8)
03.Intermediate pack
(reading,writing,listening,speaking,pronunciation,grammar,elocution)
(from grade 9 to grade 11)
04.Upper Intermediate or Advanced
pack
(reading,writing,listening,speaking,pronunciation,grammar,elocution)
(from grade 12 to grade 13)
Graduates should be given a proper training on how to teach these lessons.If the education ministry in Sri Lanka takes such a positive approach,there will be a huge awakening in the field of English language learning in the country.These amendments in the education sector must be brought as soon as possible if Sri Lanka really wants to be a rich nation.The foundation for a rich nation is their education system.The foundation for a good education system is English language.Economic giants like Japan and China do not immensely focus on English education due to there huge developments in every sector.But for us the situation is different.We as a small country must think about the importance of teaching English.English is not a colonial language anymore.It is a language of communication.It is a language of education.It is the language of business and much more.There for learn English,live English and love English.
Composed by
English Lover's club
Sri Lanka
Sri lanka is a country which had been under the British rule for many years.English Language was the official language in that era.After the 1948 independence,still the English was the official language.But in 1956 the Sri Lanka government took an unwanted decision which introduced Sinhala as the official language known as Sinhala Only Act.Even today, as the general public in the country we face some bad consequences of this resolution.Still Sri Lanka is a developing country.
I personally believe that the English Language should be the official language in Sri Lanka if Sri Lanka wants to be a developed country one day. And the education should be given in English.If Sri Lankan government introduces English as the language of education,it would be a great step forward in the education system in the country.
English teaching in schools
English is taught as an ordinary subject like mathematics and science rather than a language in major exams in the country like Ordinary Levels (O/L) and Advanced Levels (A/L). A majority of teachers are trained in training colleges throughout the country.Most of these training colleges do not release well qualified English teachers.The other critical issue is the syllabus.This school syllabus is not good at all. Majority of students are bored with this boring syllabus. From grade 1 to 11,the students are given eleven text books and work books.Finally after O/L's they are still attending English language classes.Students who do not get through English Language from O/L's can do A/L's and students who get through A/L's without English language can enter any government university.The utmost dream of the students who sit for the Advanced Level examination is to enter a government university in the country.On the other hand,the popular Sri Lankan subject streams are Maths and Science.The primitive motive that a lot of Sri Lankans are having is that those who follow Maths and Science will get better jobs.They don't think about the big opportunities they can experience if they do other subject streams properly.
Graduation and finding a job
The university degree can also be completed and obtained without English.The problems arise at this stage. The graduates are not qualified for the job market in the private sector.Then they protest demanding government jobs as their final solution for a permanent employment.Majority of the graduates who pass out from state universities in the island face this situation.As well as they can not apply for professional jobs in overseas because of not having a sound English knowledge.Also there is a huge tendency in the world for online jobs.The countries whose official language is English have more opportunities in this sector than other countries.
The youth in the country has also been struggling since ages applying jobs in the private sector.Most of them are having only paper qualifications like O/L Certificate or A/L certificate. Though they are possessing Sri Lankan exam qualifications,it would not enough for the current ,competitive, market oriented world.There is a huge skill gap between the job market qualifications and the qualifications possessed by Sri Lankan youth.When they face interviews,most probably they fail.Some of the leading companies in Sri Lanka,when they do their recruitment process,they generally look for the individuals who are having a sound English knowledge.These circumstances have arisen due to the unplanned English education process in Sri lanka. Spoken English is not taught in Sri Lanka at all.Possessing a huge file with hundreds of certificates is not enough for modern employments.They should speak English.Basically English is needed for a better communication process.The private sector demands that. Not the paper qualifications.
Political background and the government's plans to promote English language
Sri Lanka is a country which has a parliament that comprised with 225 members.Most of them are uneducated and some are only possessing secondary education while least number of members are having a degree.Though they are having a degree or a PhD for a particular subject ,they have not been offered a ministry related to his specialized subject.For an example,if somebody is specializing in Economics,he is given the wild life ministry.If somebody is specializing in the field of sports,he is offered the ministry of tourism.The one who is having a tourism and heritage management degree is given the health ministry.This is how the process of offering ministries among the elected fellows.
On the other hand the parliament is the place where the laws are made.We can never expect a standard policy making from them.The tragedy is that the people also expect such kind of politicians as their rulers.The people of the country are also willing to elect such thugs and buggers as their representatives.Majority of members do not speak English while few members manage it however.People do not protest against the wrong actions the politicians make. Sri Lankan politicians are notorious wrongdoers.This can be applied to the other local government bodies too.The members of the local government bodies are doing illegal businesses such as illegal lifting of sand,transporting forbidden wood, distilling ,illegal wood cutting,possessing mobile wood cutting equipment and many more illegal businesses.These buggers are allowed to contest for the provincial council elections and also the general elections.In Sri Lanka,nobody asks the qualifications of the politicians.The only service that does not need qualifications in Sri Lanka is politics.Actually the politics is not a service in Sri Lanka.It is a job which allows them to earn a huge amount of money for their future generation.
We can never expect a considerable development of the education in Sri Lanka.There should be a miraculous improvement in the whole education system in the country.In Sri Lanka,everybody should do every subject.They should follow all the subjects that they are offered by the government until they finish O/L.This traditional methodology should be changed.The teachers along with parents should identify the skills of students at their early ages and students must be given a chance to select their path.Some students show their talents in the field of art.These artistic students should also pass math in O/L.If they fails,then they are discouraged and his or her artistic skills are also disappeared in the time pass. Disappointed youth then act as three-wheeler drivers. Majority of the creative younger generation suffer due to lack of English knowledge.
What should be done to promote English
When planning English text books from grade 1 to 11,the panel should be comprised with university professors and experts of English language.The support and the supervision ought to be taken from foreign experts like British Council and Cambridge university .These traditional text book oriented method must be abolished.As an alternative,a new standard English educational packages can be introduced.All four skills should be covered by these packages.These packages should be as follow.
01.Beginners pack
(reading,writing,listening,speaking,pronunciation,grammar,elocution)
(from grade 1 to grade 5)
02.Elementary pack
(reading,writing,listening,speaking,pronunciation,grammar,elocution)
(from grade 6 to grade 8)
03.Intermediate pack
(reading,writing,listening,speaking,pronunciation,grammar,elocution)
(from grade 9 to grade 11)
04.Upper Intermediate or Advanced
pack
(reading,writing,listening,speaking,pronunciation,grammar,elocution)
(from grade 12 to grade 13)
Graduates should be given a proper training on how to teach these lessons.If the education ministry in Sri Lanka takes such a positive approach,there will be a huge awakening in the field of English language learning in the country.These amendments in the education sector must be brought as soon as possible if Sri Lanka really wants to be a rich nation.The foundation for a rich nation is their education system.The foundation for a good education system is English language.Economic giants like Japan and China do not immensely focus on English education due to there huge developments in every sector.But for us the situation is different.We as a small country must think about the importance of teaching English.English is not a colonial language anymore.It is a language of communication.It is a language of education.It is the language of business and much more.There for learn English,live English and love English.
Composed by
English Lover's club
Sri Lanka
Timely topic and nice article.
ReplyDeleteYes Ashoka.We can generate more and more intellectuals from Sri Lankan soil by recognising English as the langulangof education..
Delete