Policy of Standardization - The Reasoning For The Law

The Reasoning For The Law

In 1946 minister C. W. W. Kannangara introduced free education in all the government institutions (Schools, government universities) in Sri Lanka. Government funded all the money by bearing the expenses.

Under the British, English was the state language and consequently greatly benefited English speakers. However the majority of Sri Lankan populace lived outside urban areas and did not belong to the social elite, and therefore did not enjoy the benefits of English-medium education. The issue was compounded further by the fact that in Northern and Eastern regions of the island, where a largely Tamil populace resided, students had access to English-medium education through missionary schools regardless of their socio-economy strata. This created a situation where a large proportion of students enrolled in universities throughout the country were English speaking Tamils and Sinhalese from urban centers like Colombo, particularly in professional courses such as medicine and engineering.