NIE discriminates Tamil medium education -CTTU

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 March 2003, 18:59 GMT]
The Ceylon Tamil Teachers' Union (CTTU) has requested the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to take up the problems confronting Tamil medium education in the Northeast province at the next round of peace talks which is scheduled to begin Tuesday in Japan this week.

The General Secretary of the CTTU, Mr.T.Mahasivam met the LTTE theoretician Mr.Anton Balasingham in Killinochchi during the weekend and brought to his notice the discriminatory actions shown towards the development of Tamil medium education by the National Institute of Education (NIE), which is established with the financial assistance of Japan, sources said.

NIE is engaged in writing Tamil medium textbooks distorting the history of Tamils in the island. NIE has not appointed Tamil scholars to write textbooks to Tamil medium education. Instead the NIE authorities have recruited persons to translate Sinhalese textbooks into Tamil to teach Tamil medium students, Mr.Mahasivam told LTTE theoretician Mr.Anton Balasingham.

The NIE has not ensured equal opportunity in education to Tamil medium students. Instead NIE administration is implementing several projects undermining the development of Tamil medium education, Mr.Mahasivam has reiterated.