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Sinhala and Tamil compulsory for new public service recruits The government in its efforts to implement a dual language policy, has made Sinhala and Tamil compulsory for new recruits to the public service. “This measure should have been implemented long ago. The dual language policy could resolve 50 per cent of the problems facing the nation and create an atmosphere conducive for dialogue on political issues," National Integration Minister, D.E.W. Gunasekara, said. Under the new policy, recruits to higher grades of public service would be required to have O’level proficiency in the languages. A Sinhala officer at the entry level should have passed Tamil at the O/level and vice-versa. A working knowledge of Tamil and Sinhala is compulsory for the third tier of recruitments and the ability to read and write in the other language would be a minimum qualification for the second tier of public service. “It will take some time to implement this new method, its only a decision, there are so many posts and all the schemes will have to be formulated, schools will also have to change their curriculum to teach a second language in order for the policy to be a success in the long run,” Mr. Gunesekera said. He further said public servants would be offered "attractive incentives," to learn the second language, and their proficiency tested through periodic exams, which would count for promotions. However, he pointed out that current employees had not be subjected to learning a second language as it would be a violation of human rights if they were to do so.
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