Documents only in Sinhala, charges CTU

By Aisha Nazim   Tamil teachers across the country face language barriers in the administrative sector as the Education Zonal Offices provide documents to teachers only in the Sinhala Language, the Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU), charged today. Speaking to Ceylon Today Online, CTU General Secretary, Joseph Stalin, said Tamil teachers face numerous difficulties as they do not receive forms or any other document in the Tamil language although the Ministry of National Languages and Social Integration has explicitly stated that all official documents will be trilingual. Citing Hatton as an example, Stalin said that the area has 34 Sinhala schools and 114 Tamil schools. Of the 2,509 teachers employed in these schools, the majority are Tamil-speaking. However, though the majority are Tamil-speaking, the documents at the Education Zonal Office are only for those who know Sinhala, he said. “Most of the teachers are employed in Tamil schools and there isn’t a single form in the Tamil language. All documents and circulars in the Provincial Education Zone are in Sinhala, and this is extremely unfair on the Tamil teachers. Nothing is done to rectify this despite National Languages Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara’s claims that every document will be trilingual,” Stalin added. Despite many attempts by Ceylon Today Online to contact officials at the Ministry of National Languages and Social Integration and the Ministry of Education, no officer was available for comment. (Ceylon Today Online)