Political problems for English

ENGLISH: As may have been indicated from my account over the last two weeks of the introduction of English medium, I had to face several difficulties almost from the very beginning. These arose from an unexpected source, namely the new government.

I could hardly believe this at first, since one would naturally have assumed that a UNP government would be more keen on English medium than any other, but this was a false assumption.

It turned out that the Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, was fundamentally opposed to the whole project. It was then that I began to delve deeper into the whole question of language policy, to find that there was atleast some historical consistency in his position, for the abolition of English medium had been first mooted by his political mentor, J R Jayewardene. I have pointed this out before, but it bears repeating, for many people still go on about how SWRD was responsible for getting rid of English and for ruining our education system.

This last may not have been J R’s intention initially, for he had first wanted Sinhala to be the sole medium of instruction. However, as expounded in T D S A Dissanayake’s account of that period - the Congress leadership (just mending fences with the Tamils by allowing Arunachalam Mahadeva to become a Minister, to reverse the ill effects of the majoritarian pan-Sinhala Board of Ministers constituted in 1936) reprimanded J R, who promptly added Tamil as an alternative.

The claim then, preposterous on hindsight, was that the country consisted ‘of two different nations; one nation learning Sinhalese and Tamil and speaking in Sinhalese and Tamil and the other speaking and learning English’.

Indeed, the claim was so preposterous that there are those who believe it could not have been made seriously, and that the proposal to get rid of English in schools, to make it just optional as a second language and not even compulsory, was part of Jayewardene’s insidious way of depriving the vast majority of our children of English, so that the domination of his own class could continue.

I have heard it suggested that this was Ranil’s motive too, but as always in his case personal reasons are more likely. Tara de Mel herself put it bluntly when she said, he simply could not bear that she rather than he had introduced the measure, and he was determined to destroy it.

Equally plausible was the claim that he was angry with Karunasena Kodituwakku, whom he had appointed Minister of Education, so he wanted education put on the back burner so that it would seem Kodituwakku had made a mess of it.

This last theory may not have been as absurd as it sounded, given the incredibly difficult time that Kodituwakku had during his tenure at Education. To begin with, he was not appointed to the Cabinet.

However, I was assured by Ranil - in one of the rare face to face conversations I had with him while he was Prime Minister - that that had been an oversight which would soon be remedied. Leaving aside the absurdity of such an oversight, the remedy was forgotten for another couple of months, allowing the two other Ministers Ranil had appointed to Education, very junior figures distinguished only by their total loyalty to him, to establish their own empires.

I was reminded then of what Lalith Athulathmudali told me, when I remarked that Premadasa seemed to have affirmed some confidence in him, in giving him Education and Higher Education when he moved Lokubandara out. Lalith said Premadasa had kept Hameed, who had been Minister of Higher Education before, on as a Project Minister of Higher Education.

Though technically under Lalith in this sphere, as a more Senior Cabinet Minister he could do what he liked, extending to keeping on the Minister’s Office at the Ministry in Ward Place.

Kabir Hashim was to do the same as Minister of Tertiary Education and Training, and in the end Kodituwakku spent most of his time at the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, leaving Education to the Secretary Ranil had imposed on him, V K Nanayakkara, and to Suranimala Rajapakse.

The latter had not even Hashim’s capacity to qualify him for his non-Cabinet post of School Education, but had served Ranil well in the days when labour disputes in the Biyagama Free Trade Zone had required a firm hand.

With all these handicaps, that Kodituwakku kept English medium going is a tribute to his commitment. He told me that Ranil was not keen on it, which initially astonished me, but of course he was right.

As problems mounted, I spoke to Ranil in October 2002, having been urged to do so by his youngest brother, who had earlier been delighted that his son had been admitted to an English medium class at Royal College, but who now realised the programme was under threat.

I told Ranil there were problems. I know, he said bluntly. That’s why I told Karunasena not to start it. Now he’ll have to stop.

This was bizarre, I thought. But you can’t, I said. There are over 5000 children who have started studying in English in Grade 6. You can’t make them change now.

They’ll have to, he said. I’ll introduce it later, when I have time. Now I have to concentrate on the economy.

But can’t you do both?

No, I have to get the economy right first. Other things will have to wait.

There was clearly no point in discussing the matter further. If Gerald Ford was embarrassed at the idea that he could not chew gum and walk straight at the same time, Ranil had learned to make a fetish of his own limitations. But, fortunately, Kodituwakku stayed firm, and managed to keep the programme going, despite the various problems he faced.

That these were perpetrated deliberately seems to me an inescapable conclusion. Initially I thought Ranil’s wish that Kodituwakku should fail was because he had supported Gamini Athukorale’s attempt to get rid of Ranil early in 2001, but I was assured by Ravi Karunanayake that he had stayed loyal to Ranil then.

Ravi’s view was that Ranil thought Kodituwakku had been one of those preparing to cross over in 2000, when Sarath Amunugama had done so - and of course Ranil never forgave.

Kodituwakku’s keenness to keep English medium going then should be remembered, if the programme continues and helps to rescue the national education system from the trough into which it has fallen.

I have no hesitation now, in retirement, of taking credit for the conceptualization of the programme and its practical implementation at first, but obviously nothing would have happened had it not been for Tara de Mel’s imaginative commitment and her administrative genius.

She however, had the full backing of her boss, President Kumaratunga. Kodituwakku’s unstinting support in the face of opposition from above therefore deserves at least commensurate recognition, and I hope he will again have an opportunity to contribute to educational development under someone who will appreciate his integrity and his humanitarian commitment.