18 March 2019 10:37 am
Former Education Minister Bandula Gunawardane said he would take legal action against the in the English medium, disregarding the mother tongue of the student.
Asserting that children should be educated from Grade one to five in their mother tongue, he told Daily Mirror that English education could be gradually introduced thereafter. He said several other subjects could also be taught in the English medium after Grade five, but mother tongue should be the medium of instruction in the primary grades.
Mr. Gunawardane said he had consulted lawyers to file a Fundamental Rights application against the conduct of primary education in English disregarding Sinhala and Tamil as the mother tongue of many students. “In my opinion it is better to retain the child's mother tongue as the medium of instruction,” he said.
He said he was also against a move by the government to allow government sponsored private schools to open up branches. He said such a move would compromise the concept of equality in education. (Kelum Bandara)