An Investigation on the Constraints Encountered by Lower Secondary Learners with Reference to the Bilingual Education Policy in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The Bilingual Education Policy was implemented in Sri Lanka in 2001 through Amity School Programmes in which English is the medium of instruction in selected subjects from grade 6 to grade 11. This study aims to investigate the constraints encountered by lower secondary learners with reference to the Bilingual Education Policy in Sri Lanka. The secondary objective of the study is to identify the attitudes and perceptions of Sri Lankan lower secondary learners towards the Bilingual Education Programme in Sri Lanka. Thus, a group of fifty grade eight students of two local schools were selected as the sample of the study based on the purposive sampling method. The data collection was done by integrating a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The study was conducted using a mixed approach where the quantitative data were analysed using Microsoft Excel while the qualitative data were analysed using content analysis. The analysed data of the study elucidate three significant constraints encountered by the learners such as primary education being conducted in the learners’ first language, extensive subject contents and terminologies as well as the unsatisfactory exam results and teaching methods. The majority of the selected sample appeared to possess positive attitudes and perceptions towards the Bilingual Education Programme in Sri Lanka.