About 43% of the world’s 7,000 languages are threatened with extinction today. Bangladesh High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Tareq Md Ariful Islam said that 43% more people who speak different languages are not able to get education in their mother tongue.
He said this at an event organized by the Bangladesh High Commission, the Ministry of Education and the National Scout Association of Sri Lanka to celebrate the International Mother Language Day.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabri, who attended the event, also emphasized the importance of languages, which he emphasized would create unity despite linguistic diversity.
“Sri Lanka is a nation that uses two official languages, Sinhala and Tamil, and uses English as a link language,” he said.
Education Minister Susil Premajayantha also stated that Sri Lanka is a nation that uses three languages.
“Sinhala and Tamil are two national languages. Both these languages were used as mediums of education especially after the 13th amendment. We are now providing education in English medium from grade six onwards. We have also allowed higher education institutions to conduct their academic courses in any language they wish,” he said.