[Original]Adopt Japanese for compulsory education in Sri Lanka… Deputy Minister says in this magazine | Smart FLASH[光文社週刊誌]

The economic crisis deepened and was plagued by fuel shortages and high prices.Sri Lanka. In July, the country virtually went bankrupt and the president fled the country.

The new government has taken a big decision in the reconstruction of the country. In order to deepen relations with Japan,compulsory educationandJapaneseallowed to select

In addition to English, Tamil and Sinhalese, Japanese will be newly added to the “language” options from the upper grades of primary school. It is said to be the first country in the world to introduce compulsory education. It was decided at the ministerial meeting on August 8, and work will begin with the aim of putting it into practice as soon as possible.

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We spoke with Perera Luang, the country’s Deputy Minister of Labor and Deputy Minister of Tourism, who is currently preparing in Japan for the new president to attend the state funeral of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Mr. Ruwan responded to an interview with this magazine, saying it was an individual’s point of view, not the government’s point of view.

――Why did Japanese become a compulsory education option?

“Thanks to the support of Japan’s ODA for many years, Japan has a very important presence for us. At school, Japanese culture and judo are taught, and people have a sense of affinity with the Japan That’s why adopting the Japanese language itself is a policy that doesn’t feel particularly uncomfortable.

The introduction of Japanese in compulsory education has already been decided, but what the Minister of Labor is now considering is to teach Japanese in local temples and other places for people who cannot learn Japanese at school. It is a project.

–Under the previous government,Chinaseemed closely related to

“Sri Lanka had a civil war until 2009. Until then, most of the support came from Japan, but when the civil war ended, Chinese capital suddenly flowed in and Chinese companies and projects increased by As more and more products were distributed in Japan and made in China, the number of people hearing Japanese names gradually decreased.

However, for Chinese projects, workers will also be brought from China, so there will be no more jobs in Sri Lanka. In addition, there are many rough people, and one day, roads were suddenly built in the city, and a large Chinese sign was built.

As the number of Chinese grew, so did the number of problems. The symbol is the capture of the port of Hambantota.

――How would it be if the port was taken?

“Construction of Hambantota Port began in 2008 as one of the three major international ports in Sri Lanka. 85% of the construction cost was borrowed from China, but due to the economic crisis in Sri Lanka , it became impossible to repay.He leased the exploitation rights for the next 99 years to a Chinese company.

China said ‘new ships are coming more and more’, but when you open the lid, the port is completely undeveloped, and they even try to intercept ships from a port other than Japan manages.

Sri Lanka is a country that has an important position for India and the United States, so I don’t think the port will be converted into a Chinese military port, but from a commercial point of view, it will cause big problems to other countries such as Japan is the reality.

――I was surprised to learn that Sri Lanka went bankrupt in July. What was going on there?

“The people finally raised their voices saying that the reason the country was in economic crisis was because it had continued to adopt pro-China policies. The movement to put the country back in the right direction became active .

In the capital, there was even an area called “Godago Village” (“President, go home” village) to expel the president, and various news was broadcast there every day. Thus, former President Rajapaksa and other senior officials of the former government resigned one after another.

Currently, President Wickremesinghe is asking for help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Asian Development Bank to restore the domestic situation. Among them, we particularly look forward to Japan’s support. Sri Lanka recently formally requested state-to-state assistance from Japan for the first time. I am very happy that our relationship with Japan is back to what it was before.

――The official Sri Lankan government news site reported in August that one of the purposes of introducing Japanese language education was to recruit “specified skilled workers.” Japan plans to attract 350,000 workers from seven countries in 14 fields, including nursing, agriculture, catering and aviation. Does this mean that joining this plan will help revitalize Sri Lanka?

“Yes. Sri Lanka has always been a very pro-Japanese nation, but if more people start learning Japanese in elementary school, I expect trade and cultural exchanges to deepen even more in the future.

Sri Lanka and Japan have in common that they are Buddhist nations, and they also share similar serious morals and ways of thinking, such as ‘valuing superiors’. I believe there are many Sri Lankans who can work in Japan if they speak Japanese.

However, the problem is that there are few teachers capable of teaching Japanese. I have textbooks since I took Japanese classes in college. However, there are few teachers. I would be happy if there were more people teaching Japanese in Sri Lanka in the future.

A new era is about to begin for Sri Lanka and Japan.

( SmartFLASH
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