R Chandrasoma

If we review the modern (Post-Colonial) evolution of modes of education in Sri Lanka, we must surely beƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  impressed by the revolutionary character of the transformations seen within the compass of a few decades. In colonial times, anything beyond the mastery of the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Three R sƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ in the vernacular was only for the pampered and anglicized elite. The masses were largely untutored. This shameful imbalance changed with the departure of the Colonial Overlord and the right to collegial instruction was recognized as fundamental in a liberated dispensation that claimed to be free and fair. It was natural to suppose that this precious gift of public education must be delivered in the traditional language of its citizens and that English ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” the lamguage of the oppressor ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” must be replaced by the vernacular of the natives. Viewed abstractly in terms of the rights and claims of a free people, this ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”indigenizationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ of education is a great and laudable chapter in our struggle to be truly on our own ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” that is, unfettered by ideological compulsions that attend conquest and subservience.

Sadly there is a downside. A language is not simply a tool for easy and efficient communication. It is the means of entering a community of thinkers that share a heritage of of science, culture and values that is richly distinctive ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the participant community. That there are great and abiding differences between suchƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  linguistic communities needs no special pleading or argument. In switching from Englisn to Sinhala (or Tamil) there occurred a cultural frame-shift that transcended mere differences in the sounds and shapes of words. The sad truth is that the Sinhala-educated scholar lacks that great intellectual support that learning and nurturing in a world-language such as English would provide. This is a statement of fact that must be accepted – however galling it is to nationalists piqued by the suggestion of inferiority in so fundamental a matter as the medium of socio-cultural intercourse.

Let us look synoptically at what has happened after five decades or so of linguistic and cultural independence. Today we see a nation ( we speak of its leaders and trend-setters) with no educational polish or philosophical sophistication. They are isolated in the world not through political differences but because of their linguistic isolation and the need to have translaters and intermediaries to communicate with the great and powerful in the world. More importantly they are cut off from the intellectual (and global) elite because they cannot read books written in a world language. These seemingly disparaging remarks are not ment to belittle but to point to a damaging development in the socio-cultural evolution of our Island. This was not always so ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” the early political leaders of Sri Lanka were masterfully bilingual ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” a condition that is very rare today not only among contemporary politicians but among our leading academics and scholars as well. The halting English the latter speak is a pain to hear when the wonderful fluency of an earlier age is recalled.

Let us give a more concrete instance of this retrogression. A few deades ago, Buddhist scholars were au fait with philosophical movements in the West and felt a compulsion to relate the professed religious truth with the philosophical upheavals in the West. For example, the Buddhist scholar K N Jayatillaka was inspired by Wittgenstein and attempted to rephrase early Buddhist formalisms in terms of the symbolic logic and analytical philosophy in vogue in the West in his time. Today we see a community of linguistically isolated monks and scholars whose poor knowledge of English debars any meaningful encounter with the refined intellectualism of the West. In their writings they seem to travel backward in time and pretend that the best minds of the West are either misbegotten or irrelevant to their discourse. They parrot what is traditionally given as the inviolable truth. Indeed, there is a species of anti-intellectualism in the Folk -Buddhism of Sri Lanka that is directly attributable to the contumacy of the Monks who pose as its standard-bearers.

The situation we have outlined above is socially unstable and we see the beginings of a movement that will profoundly disrupt the social order currently observed. The rich and the powerful ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…”sensing the decadence of the indigenous culture – will educate their children in private schools that are Western in their cultural orientation and cherish English as the medium of instruction. Meanwhile, the the ordinary people will have their children in run-down ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”national schoolsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ staffed by teachers who can, at most, speak a form of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Pigin EnglishƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. The exercise of this option by the rich is not simply a matter of choosing a better language ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” it is a choice between what is best described as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”world-systemsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” the open and expanding versus the stagnant and static. There is a more troublesome development that cannot be easy to thwart given its alarmingly political character. The minorities ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” the Muslims, for example ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” will exploit the laxity in regard to the choice of language to consistently prefer English over the the indigenous options. This will lead to a situation where educated minorities (those traind in English) will be the achievers while the Sinhala mother-stock will be increasingly declasse vis-vis the others. For those with eyes to see, this conflict is vividly portrayed in the contest currently witnessd between the popularly elected government ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” a government with a massive majority in Parliament ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” and an English-speaking Coalition of the Elite backed by Western Governments. This conflict will worsen in the yeats to come as the language-divide between the poor and the rich widens. There is no easy solution to this structural failure in social engineering but a first step is to aknowledge its gravity ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” and the urgency of reparative steps.