Sinhala medium education among Muslims: some issues and concerns

When I was growing up, we had a neighbour who filed a case against his daughter's school because they refused to give her a place in the Sinhala medium. Most people thought he was "crazy" to go to such extremes on such "simple" issues. But looking at it now I realize that what he was doing was making sure his daughter had better chances in the world than he did, having studied in the Tamil medium. He was also refusing to accept issues such as medium of education as natural and prescribed. He was fighting discrimination.

There is an obvious demand for Sinhala medium education among Muslims living in Sri Lanka today. This is true particularly when it comes to Muslims living in urban, Sinhalese concentrated areas. They see the advantageous to be had with a Sinhala medium education and they want to buy into the mainstream options of higher education and employment. Although Tamil medium schooling has been prescribed to Muslims in accordance with mother-tongue education, it has become a system of gate-keeping, keeping Tamil speaking people out of Sinhala medium education and the advantages it implies. As Paulston in "Separate Education as an Ethnic Survival Strategy" points out separate education based on ethnicity and/or religion is sought to gain "greater ethnic consciousness, solidarity, and, at times, the modification of supposedly oppressive relations with the dominant society" (Paulston 181). This same requirement for separate education can backfire "when ethnic groups have made power gains and seek to use existing institutions to advance both individual and group goals" (Paulston 181). In the case of medium of educationin sri lanka, schools use ethnicity and religion to include and exclude groups from access to resources and other material benefits.

Admission into prestigious schools is barred in terms of ethnicity and religion. Admission into relevant mediums is conditioned by a person's ethnicity and religion although there are no written provisions for such conduct: "There [have been] no consistent school admission policies since the take-over of schools in 1961. School admission circulars are issued from time to time by the secretary to the Ministry in-charge of the subject of education." (Mohamed 19)

As per school admission Circula no. N.S.A 70 dated 26 October 1962, for the purpose of admission of children; the schools had been classified into four types:

All island schools

Provincial schools

Electoral schools

Divisional schools

To the All-Island, Provincial and Electoral schools the children were admitted based on a competitive examination comprising of the following subjects making no provisions for children of past pupils and sibling of children already in school:

Mother tongue 100 marks

Numbers	100 marks

General knowledge 100 marks

However it included the requirement that "in the allocation of vacancies in all vested schools consideration should be given to the religious proportion that existed in the schools at the time of vesting" (Mohamed 19). This requirement made in 1962 is still held as relevant although percentages in population have changed and demand for Sinhala medium education has changed. "The school take-over Act No. 5 of 1960 and act No. 8 of 1961 nor any other legislature mention anything to support the above condition" (Mohamed 20) although evidence for the contrary are amply found in the constitution, some of which are given below as quoted by Dr. A. R. Mohamed in his article "A critical analysis of the controversial grade one admission circulars and teaching of religion in schools and their effect on the education of Muslim children".

Constitutional provisions
Article 27(2): The State is pledged to establish in Sri Lanka a democratic socialist society, the objectives of which include:
27(2) h: the complete eradication of illiteracy and the assurance to all persons of the right to universal and equal access to education at all levels

27(5): the State shall strengthen national unity by promoting co-operation and mutual confidence among all sections of the People of Sri Lanka, including the racial, religious, linguistic and other groups, and shall take effective steps in the fields of teaching, education and information in order to eliminate discrimination and prejudice.

27(6) the state shall ensure equality of opportunity to citizens, so that no citizen shall suffer any disability on the ground of race, religion, language, caste, sex, political opinion or occupation.

Education Ordinance of 1956 (also Education Ordinance of 1939 Section 28):

Section 34: No applicant shall be refused admission into any assisted school on account of the religion, nationality, race, caste, social status or language of such applicant or of either of his parents.

Ministry of Education & Higher Education Circular No. 93/27 dated 1.12.93:

";some Sinhala medium school Heads refuse to admit Tamil children to their schools and some Tamil medium school heads refuse to admit Sinhala children to Tamil medium schools. However, irrespective of the mother tongue of the child, if a request is made for a Tamil child to be educated in the Sinhala medium or if a Sinhala child wants to be educated in the Tamil medium and if facilities are available, such a request should be accommodated."

As per School Census 2004, although there are 777 Muslim schools in the country, only 25 or 3.2% of these schools have Sinhala medium classes. This number is hardly enough to satisfy the increasing demand to study in the Sinhala medium by the Muslim population living scattered all over the country. Also of the 777 Muslim schools, only 57 are classified as IAB schools (schools having Advanced level classes in Science, Arts and Commerce streams), whereas there are 453 schools coming under the IAB category among the Sinhala schools.

Why is there a demand for Sinhala medium education among Muslims? Recently it was discovered that fewer Muslim parents were admitting their children into Muslim schools. The reasons for this is that the more prestigious schools are assumed to have more recognition as well as the best resources. As one of my interviewees pointed out: "when applying for a job, in terms of schooling, would they be more likely to give me the job if I say I went to 'Mahamaya Girls' College' or 'Badi-Ud-Deen Mahmoud Girls' College', 'Kingswood College Kandy' or 'Madina Central Madawala'? Obviously they would go for the school they have heard of the most, the one with the most prestige!". When it comes to employment, proficiency in English closes one set of gates. To Tamil speaking people, proficiency in Sinhala closes another set of gates. Double disadvantage.

There is a demand for Sinhala medium education among Muslims living in non Tamil speaking areas because knowing the majority language well has tremendous advantages. When it comes to jobs apart from the North and the East where government services function in Tamil, it is impossible to find employment in the government sector if a person cannot function in Sinhala. Even where a person may be hired for his/her proficiency in Tamil, he/she is still expected to be able to function in Sinhala as administrative functions are performed in Sinhala.

In my questionnaires when I asked candidates which medium they would choose to educate their children? All twelve unanimously agreed that it would have to be the Sinhala medium, although most were annoyed that I had not included English medium as an option. Some of the responses as to why they considered the Sinhala medium more advantageous are as follows: "the majority of Sri Lanka speak Sinhala", "its just easier", "a lot of courses are available in Sinhala", "there are more resources, more tuition classes, books and teachers", "The majority of the country being Sinhala speaking and most of the facilities in major schools catering to the majority, makes Sinhala the better choice of education in Sri Lanka", "it is useful for day-to-day activities".

Tamil medium schools and Tamil medium in schools has the tendency to isolate students. Their reality becomes limited to their community and their school. Whereas Sinhala medium schools and Sinhala medium in schools have the tendency to expand your reality. With Sinhala medium education you have the advantage of exposure to two realities on your hands. You have reference to the "mainstream" Sinhala speaking reality, while you still automatically have access to your own Tamil speaking Muslim society, although their interaction with their Tamil speaking Muslim community may change because of their Sinhala medium education. With Sinhala medium education you compete at a national level as you compete with the majority of the country.

Sinhala medium education does not mean the loss of Tamil. Out of ten people with Sinhala medium education I interviewed, only two could speak very little Tamil, although they could understand very well. The others could speak well enough to have a close relationship with their extended family. This does not mean that all those with Sinhala medium education also have Tamil. There are many who don't. However within the Muslim community they are not looked down upon particularly within urban settings, although the perspective within homogenous Muslim societies may differ. This is perhaps due to an awareness of the advantages of knowing Sinhala well, particularly because a person cannot function effectively within an urban setting without Sinhala.

However none of them identified Tamil as "our" language. They looked at it as something useful, particularly when it comes to communicating with relatives and religious purposes, but not as a language with practical, material value. Some of their responses as to why Tamil is also important are given below:

"It is an advantage to know all the languages when you live in a multi lingual country", "You need Tamil to move along with other Muslims", "To maintain good family relationships", "Learning both languages helps bridge gaps in society", "Most Islamic books are published in Tamil and Tamil is spoken within the community", "Most religious sermons are conducted in Tamil", "It is always advantages to know both languages" and "As Muslims its impossible not to know Tamil as most of our relatives are Tamil speaking".

They also agreed that Tamil was important for religious activities. However more recently leading religious figures in the country have come into prominence because of their eloquence in Sinhala and English and the advantage it gives them in negotiating with social and political forces at hand in a multi-ethnic country.

My research was conducted using a sample of individuals between the age of twenty and thirty-five. The question arises as to whether Tamil is dying out among the younger generations of the urban Muslim population? There is notable decrees in the demand for Tamil medium education and an increase in demand for Sinhala medium education and prestigious Sinhala schools. And in facing difficulties in getting admission into Sinhala mediums or prestigious schools, Muslim parents revert to the alternative of "International" schools.

Multilingual Muslim parents opt to use Sinhala and/or English with their children in view of the advantages to be had, at the expense of Tamil. Tamil stops being the language even at home. Consequently young children studying in Sinhala or English medium have the tendency to give Tamil a lower status in comparison to Sinhala and English. My eleven year old cousin consistently gets no higher than thirty five percent for his Tamil exams in his English medium school. When you ask him why he puts no effort into the subject he says "yuck! I don't like to learn Tamil". One of the reasons for this is being situated in a context where the majority is non-Tamil speaking, in Sinhala medium schools more than international schools, where Tamil is considered the "other". The subject as a second language itself is given very little importance within the school system. Tamil is not "cool" enough and there are no material benefits to be gained form learning it. As Muslims within a Sinhala medium in Sinhala schools you become a minority again. You automatically identify with Sinhala and Tamil becomes something to be ashamed of. As a child, when I was studying in an international school, I never spoke to anyone in Tamil, I never even admitted to knowing Tamil. If someone came up to me and spoke to me in Tamil, I would become intensely embarrassed.

If you study in the Sinhala medium, you become comfortable with Sinhala in a way that you never will be with Tamil or any other language. Your reality is shaped by the language you are comfortable with. There is then an automatic distancing from the mainstream Muslim society. It is not just the language that differs, but what you study and how you study it, the people you interact with and the way you look at the world also changes.

In conclusion, urban Muslims have the tendency to perceive Sinhala medium education as more advantageous in terms of upward social mobility. There is an increasing demand among Muslims for admission into Sinhala medium classes in schools as well as admission into prestigious Sinhala schools. However intake of Muslim students into Sinhala schools is limited thus limiting their access to jobs and higher education opportunities. Sinhala medium education does not cut off Muslims educated in Sinhala from the mainstream Tamil speaking society in a direct way, although it may change the way they perceive their reality.
