Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission:
Public servants should have knowledge of Sinhala, Tamil -NIBM
Chairman
National Institute of Business Management (NIBM) Chairman Professor
Lakshman Jayathilake yesterday said public servants including policemen
should have an in depth knowledge of the Sinhala and Tamil languages.
He was of the view that IT based translation is eminently feasible
and this system is commonly used in European countries. "We can
down-load at no cost programs that translate a text typed-in one
language to another with a simple command. Prof Jayathilake opined that
this system can be used for translating Tamil and Sinhala vice-versa.
The NIBM Chairman was giving evidence before the Lessons Learnt and
Reconciliation Commission which met at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute
yesterday. He said that the necessary ground work is in progress for
developing of this system by which Sinhalese language can be translated
into Tamil and vice versa. "The software should now be developed as a
matter of high national priority. The two languages are very similar in
so that it would be simpler to develop the necessary algorithms as
compared to that for English-German translation," he added.
Professor Jayathilake said that language departments and IT should be
brought together and given the mandate to engage in the necessary R and
D work as a matter of high national priority. "They should be engaged in
concerted actions that cut across university and departmental boundaries
so that convenient, comprehensive and user friendly translations systems
are developed as components of their normal duties," he added.
The NIBM Chairman stressed that the University Grants Commission
should be mandated to establish, with the cooperation of ICTA staff
development performance evaluation and promotion schemes based on their
direct contributions to the creation and implementation of these systems
and their ongoing refinement, capacity enhancement and improvement.
Professor Jayathilake opined that equity in education is a basic need
that can be ensured by supplying qualified teachers in keeping with
national norms and of materials and equipment to support the
teaching-learning in conformity with curriculum standards that are
essential. |