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Sri Lanka having ended the internal conflict is facing a crucial period with a stagnant economy, unrest between communities and the possibility of facing sanctions from the international community. The possible way out could be the most unlikely route, the long-neglected section of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
Stagnating economy
Sri Lanka, which averaged economic growth of 4.5% since post independence era, rose to over 8% during 2010 and 2011, reduced to 6.4% in 2012 and is forecast to grow at 7.5% in 2013. The growth pattern indicates that continuing growth needs heavier effort. The possibility of productive growth from a lower income country to a higher middle income country in a few years, then to a rich country within a single generation was proven by Singapore.
The World Development Report 2013 released recently, states Sri Lanka needs a labour force with employable skills. Today, Sri Lanka risks being stagnant as a middle income economy, unless drastic changes are made for the development of human resources with employable skills demanded by the economy.
Problems facing improving the economy are:
Unrest among communities
The war with the LTTE created suspicion among the two major communities and healing wounds will take time and effort. Meanwhile, groups as the Bodu Bala Sena carry out campaigns arousing Buddhists’ sentiments against the Muslim community.
When problems appeared in Dambulla, the Government ignored the incident, which the BBS took as a tacit approval. When Fashion Bug at Pepiliyana was attacked, some suspects were arrested and three Buddhist monks surrendered to court; the Government exerted pressure on both parties and Court procedure was averted. Kuragala, an ancient Muslim Shrine near Balangoda, came under BBS attack and the Defence Secretary had to personally visit the site with moderate Buddhist clergy and the Archaeological Commissioner.
These recent issues did not go unnoticed by the international Muslim community. The Pakistani Foreign Secretary was in Colombo few weeks ago and had discussions with the Muslim community and the Defence Secretary. Further attacks on Muslims as threatened by the BBS would be sure to deteriorate relations with the Middle East, our only friendly international community.
Sanctions from international community
Sri Lanka is already facing mild trade sanctions from the international community and our exports to US and Europe no longer enjoy the duty concessions they enjoyed few years ago. Our garments and industrial exports are dwindling and our export markets are invaded by lower cost Asian suppliers.
The international community is concerned about the delays in implementation of recommendations of our own commission to promote reconciliation among communities and the Government failed to announce a road map for implementation of proposals. Meanwhile India, with elections scheduled for 2014, is facing strong pressures from student groups and the politicians in Tamil Nadu to pressurise Sri Lanka, to the extent of breaking the fragile coalition Government.
India is particularly interested in the implementation of the 13th Amendment and the pressure is bound to increase in months to come. The increased Indian pressure may force other nations to follow and impose sanctions on Sri Lanka. The possibility of future sanctions will undoubtedly affect prospective investors and the existing investors will be forced to look elsewhere. The economic consequences of possible sanctions from the international community are a force to be addressed.
Low growth in industrial exports
The garment sector in particular having excelled without Government assistance developed and increased their exports. Their campaign ‘Garments without Guilt,’ cooperation with buyers in new ventures and backward integration allowed the garment sector faster delivery and the ability to retain a top international position in spite of escalating costs.
For other industries retaining and increasing exports in the face of increasing costs and workers’ demands for higher wages require progressive movement into higher technological manufacture, possible only with heavy investment on research and development, which needs persons capable of carrying out research and product development with drive and motivation. Does our education system produce persons of such calibre?
Stagnant agricultural sector
Agricultural exports, especially tea, rubber and coconut, face issues such as escalating wages, the inability to retain workers, ageing plantations on eroded land and competition from low-cost producing countries. The 20% salary increase agreed on for plantation workers from April 2013 would be an additional burden. Younger workers in the sector are moving towards other higher paying jobs in construction, garments and employment abroad, leaving the elderly parents to service plantations.
Meanwhile, our traditional markets in the Middle East faced with international sanctions are unable to continue purchases. The agriculture sector needs to carry out research and develop new products by agriculturists to service the changing requirement in the world market.
Inability to attract and develop high-tech industries
Sri Lanka failed to attract high-tech industries due to its inability to provide skilled workmen to man the industries. The education system continues to produce graduates in Swabasha with poor command of English and IT skills expected by the employers.
IT industry catering mostly to low level products
Employee requirement of the IT industry depends mostly on the private sector and State universities contribute only a small percentage. Most employees with basic education in State schools lack the appropriate knowledge of English and attitude required by the industry.
Local IT colleges and State universities produce only the basic levels and not computer engineers, architects or project managers demanded by the industry to achieve higher levels. Existing lower level IT jobs are under threat from lower cost countries and recently a Hong Kong-based international bank discontinued over 1,000 IT employees from their Colombo office.
Dwindling foreign exchange earnings
Currently 1.8 million or 23% of the total labour force are employed abroad and the country depends heavily on their remittances for foreign exchange requirements. Certain ministers have been critical on sending locals for employment abroad, especially for low level jobs as housemaids, and restrictions have already been imposed. They wish to cater to higher levels of employment eligible for higher emoluments. But such employments require corresponding skills and steps to such improvement are yet to be seen. When remittances from employment come down, the result of restrictions would be felt.
In a positive development, a Singaporean company called applications for training as construction workers for employment in Singapore. Opportunities exist for higher level positions as nurses, trained skilled tradesmen and women in hospitals, industry, trade and commerce with skills, English and computer usage. Prospective employees require internationally-accepted trade certificates. The Government established vocational training institutes to produce such workers, but the training institutions themselves are facing a dearth of qualified trainers.
Heavy public sector with low contribution to the economy
The public sector staff even at higher levels are unable to communicate in Tamil or English, resulting in Tamil and Muslim citizens being deprived of due services. With increasing tourist arrivals, the Police have faced communication problems, leading to ugly situations. The proposal to increase the cadre of Tourist Police is handicapped due to the shortage of English speaking officers.
The tourism sector is already facing a shortage of staff and trainees lack proficiency in English to communicate. With the arrival of German and French tourists and the country’s hope of attracting visitors from Russia and China, personnel conversant in such languages would be needed. But has the country taken adequate steps?
Future growth in tourism and casinos
The Government seems to have has placed faith in tourism and casinos to accelerate growth. Both sectors require heavy capital costs with high foreign components. In construction, local input would be sand, metal (stone) and construction labour. Other materials, equipment and fittings are imported. During the operation stage most consumables including food are imported.
Recently the Indonesian Embassy stated that 2,000 people from their country, mostly girls, are employed in local casinos. Proposed casinos would require more staff, but locals without language skills and with social stigma would lead to the employment of more foreigners. With the heavy tax concessions already announced, one wonders who benefits from the casinos.
Need for English
An ingredient arising out from above is the importance of English and weakness in our education system. While our country enjoyed universal free education and gender equality for over half a century, the country has failed to benefit from free education.
C.W.W. Kananangara proposed free education from kindergarten to university and the English medium education beyond Grade 5. The current Swabasha education was the result of the ‘Sinhala Only’ policy by S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike in 1956, which resulted in political and social unrest and suspicion among communities.
When Lee Kwan Yew, then Prime Minister of Singapore, visited Sri Lanka in 1956, Sri Lanka enjoyed a higher living standard over Singapore. He remarked: “While Singapore moved to English medium education, Sri Lanka did the opposite” and the effect of the decisions is visible.
Successive governments over the decades accepted the need for English-based education, but were unwilling to take appropriate steps. Now the stigma attached to the English ‘kaduwa’ has worn away and parents understand the value and the need for English education.
Parents send their children to so-called international schools, some of which feature a standard of English which leaves much to be desired. The Government has allowed English medium education in State schools, which is implemented by some schools at different grades. But only few schools continue; others had to revert due to the shortage of English speaking teachers.
A school offering English medium at Grade 6 requires four teachers for mathematics, IT, science and English, needs four additional teachers each successive year and when students reach O/Levels, the school needs 24 teachers in the English stream, hence the problem. Although the Government allows English medium education, none of the teachers’ colleges have been converted into English due to the non-availability of lecturers capable of teaching in English, so the cycle continues.
The Government established the University of Technology (UNIVOTEC) in 2009, which expected to produce lecturers for the vocational training institutions. But UNIVOTEC is yet to produce a single lecturer as they themselves are struggling to find lecturers capable of teaching in English.
The President launched the program ‘English Our Way’ for rural children to break the ice and gain basic English speaking capability. Soon problems appeared; non-English speaking school principals did not support a system they did not understand. For the success of any English education program, whether a school, Government institution or Police Station, the head of the organisation should be taught first.
(The writer is a Chartered Civil Engineer graduated from Peradeniya University and has been employed in Sri Lanka and abroad. He was General Manager of State Engineering Corporation of Sri Lanka and currently employed with a Chinese construction organisation. He can be contacted on [email protected].)
The extent of problem
Most teaching in universities is conducted in Swabasha and even the courses conducted in English quality are questionable. The staff in teachers’ colleges, UNIVOTEC and vocational training institutions face the same problem. To enable them to impart proper education to students, all lecturers numbering over tens of thousands need to be taught English.
If the schools are to be converted into English medium from Grade 6, over 250,000 teachers in State schools need to be transformed into English. To achieve the same in 10 years, over 25,000 teachers need to be converted in a year. In addition over 1,400,000 staff in Government service need to be made proficient. The transformation of the medium of instruction to English could only be achieved with the acceptance of policy, a detailed program and implementation which would take at least 10 years.
Measurement of English proficiency
To ascertain the training requirement, every member of teaching staff, State employees, university students and school children need to be tested. The standard of an individual could be ascertained by a test similar to IELTS.
Each officer in State service should be expected to improve standard and for the annual salary increment and promotion should require achieving a specified level in IELETS. The highest achievers in IELETS would be further trained in universities and teachers’ colleges especially established for the purpose. Upon completion they would be entitled to higher salaries and promotions.
13th Amendment to the rescue
The enforcement of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in November 1987 was preluded by the Indian intervention into the northern conflict and visit of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The amendment led to the establishment of provincial councils, made Tamil an official language and English a link language. The Indian Government is vehemently interested in the implementation of the 13th Amendment.
The provincial councils have been established and Tamil was made an official language, although reservations have been expressed on the extent of implementation, but no attempt whatsoever has been made for the implementation of English as a link language and the particular section of the Constitution remain neglected.
Sri Lanka could request help and the Indian Government would certainly agree to fund the implementation of the long-neglected section of the Constitution which was instituted at Indian insistence.
Assistance required
The problem of having to train tens of thousands of teaching staff, hundreds of thousands of State employees and millions of school children would require establishment of infrastructure capable of offering services in Colombo and in every district. This will necessitate a separate university for English and foreign languages, improvement and expansion of English departments of all universities and English language colleges in every district.
Such establishment would require massive funding, planning and commitment from politicians to every individual. The universities and the proposed institutions would need a large number of staff who could be got from India and the UK. Meanwhile our personnel could be sent for training in Indian universities, who on arrival could accept lecturing positions in local institutions and progressively relieve expatriate staff. The construction and establishing of the institutions and equipment could be with assistance from Indian and British institutions.
Sri Lanka needs an IELTS type examination system for testing millions of lecturers, Government staff, university and school students. Considering IELTS was developed by the Cambridge University, we could request British help to establish and run a similar system.
Educating the masses
In addition to the above, the general public too requires a cost effective method of learning English, which could be done with modern technology.
1. Introduce a full-time TV channel for English teaching. There could be number of programs for different levels and each lesson needs to be broadcast a number of times during the day so that people could join the program at a convenient time and visit a missed lesson.
2. The website ‘skoool.lk’ indicates the possibility, but the program produced by Cambridge University has a British background. A similar program with local background would be immensely helpful to improve English to all sectors.
3. Make use of ‘Massive Open Online Courses’ (MOOC), an internet-based teaching method presently used by an increasing number of universities world over in teaching subjects to millions of students on varying courses. The same method could be used for teaching English to our population.
As both systems do not require a person to attend classes in public and the studying is being done with privacy, more mature persons would appreciate the facility.
Conclusion
The use of English as a medium of instruction as envisaged by C.W.W. Kannangara would have enabled our children to face global challenges. Teaching in Swabasha for political gains and refusal to switch back by the subsequent governments led to current suspicion amongst communities.
Meanwhile, India conducted education in English medium from Grade 6 and their products were accepted by world over. The Indian Government attempted to correct Sri Lanka’s imbalance through the 13th Amendment.
Reintroduction of English medium education would require long-term commitment and the Government cannot afford the expenditure. But funding the implementation of the 13th Amendment English as a link language would receive welcome support from the Indian Government.
English becoming a link language would allow better communication, understanding, equal opportunities to all communities and dispel minority suppression as claimed by the international community. The development of human resources will enhance productive employment, attract further investors and pave the way for growth from middle income country to a higher income country within the current generation.
With the Government considering the abolition of the Land and Police powers for Provincial Councils established under the 13th Amendment, finer clarification of the vaguely worded ‘link language’ provision may satisfy the Indian Government to some degree, and help transform their attitude towards Sri Lanka positively, rather than encouraging other nations to impose sanctions.
(The writer is a Chartered Civil Engineer graduated from Peradeniya University and has been employed in Sri Lanka and abroad. He was General Manager of State Engineering Corporation of Sri Lanka and currently employed with a Chinese construction organisation. He can be contacted on [email protected].)
