In a significant move to promote bilingualism and national unity, the Sri Lankan government has announced that Sinhala and Tamil will be compulsory second languages for all students from Grade 6 to 9 in government schools.
Prime Minister and Education Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya revealed the plan in Parliament yesterday, stating that Tamil medium students will be required to learn Sinhala, while Sinhala medium students must study Tamil as part of the revised curriculum. For Grades 10 and 11, students will have the option to choose either language as a category subject.
The curriculum reform for Grade 6 is set to begin in 2026, with subsequent grades following the same framework in the coming years. However, the initiative faces challenges due to a shortage of language teachers. As of December 31, 2024, there are 820 vacancies for Sinhala second language teachers and 2,089 for Tamil second language teachers in national and provincial schools.
To address the gap, the Education Ministry has recruited 95 Sinhala and 69 Tamil second language teachers. Additionally, the government plans to leverage technology and blended learning as interim solutions until more teachers are trained, a process expected to take at least three years. A pilot project will be launched to test these measures.
This policy aims to foster linguistic harmony and improve communication across communities, aligning with broader efforts to strengthen social cohesion in Sri Lanka.
