4 October 2022 12:00 am Views - 88
By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera
Concerns were raised in Parliament by both government and opposition MPs over conducting of Law College examinations only in the English language.
Responding to a question raised by SJB MP Buddika Pathirana, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said he had referred the matter to the Council of Legal Education headed by the Chief Justice to take a decision.
MP Pathirana said students were facing difficulties due to a gazette notification issued making it compulsory to conduct Law College examinations only in English.
The Minister said the gazette notifications in that regard was first issued in 2013 and that it was changed by him in 2015 considering the requests of the students.
“I issued a new gazette notification in 2015 so that students can sit Law College examinations in either Sinhala or Tamil languages. It was again changed in a new gazette notification issued by the previous Justice Minister two years ago,” he said.
SJB MP Hesha Vithanage said examinations in Law College should be conducted in Sinhala and Tamil languages as well, and conducting the examinations only in English is unfair for rural students.
Former Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara said only Sinhala and Tamil languages are considered the official languages and conducting examinations only in English was in violation of the Constitution.
“English is only a link language. Students should be allowed to face any examination in either of the two official languages,” he said.
Education Minister Susil Premajayantha said there was provisions in the Constitution for any higher education institute to conduct examinations in any language.
Parliamentarian Uddhika Premaratne said a mechanism should be introduced to promote English language among rural schools on par with urban schools.
Minister Premajayantha said steps are being taken to introduce English language from Grade One onwards from next year under the new education policy.