British Tamil school children are outperforming their peers who have registered English as their first language in reading, writing and mathematics, reports The Express.
Looking at exam results from the previous year for children aged 10 and 11, the Express reported that children who reported Chinese and Tamil as their mother tongue outperformed children whose first language is English in all tests.
Statistics showed that 69 per cent of Tamil children achieved a grade five or above in mathematics, compared to 41 per cent of English first language pupils. The number of Tamil speaking children with top marks in English reading was 53 per cent, compared to 50 per cent of children who have English as their first language.
The statistics released by the UK’s Department for Education recorded 2,800 children as having Tamil as their first language. However, the data also excludes large numbers of Tamil children who have entered selective independent schools after passing entrance exams and do not undertake the same national level assessments.
While Tamil children in the UK continue to excel, in the North-East, hundreds of Tamil pre-schools continue to remain under the administration of Sri Lanka's Civil Security Department. With the Sri Lankan continuing to be a looming presence across the Tamil homeland, the militarised climate has also filtered into schools, with the Sri Lankan military a regular presence.
Several high profile incidents of rapes, murders and abductions of Tamil school children have also taken place over the last year.
See our earlier posts:
Hundreds of Tamil schools under Sri Lankan military administration (27 Apr 2016)
Sri Lankan soldier arrested for kidnap and sexual abuse of Tamil schoolgirl (31 Mar 2016)
Sri Lankan military organises football tournament for Tamil schoolchildren (25 Mar 2016)
Resolution passed demanding Sri Lankan military leaves Kilinochchi (28 Feb 2016)
Northern Province administers hartal in protest of rape and murder of school girl (24 Feb 2016)
Sri Lanka Navy hands out books to Tamil school children (15 Jan 2016)
Tamil girl hit by military vehicle dies (04 Dec 2015)
Tamil school girl found dead in Amparai (18 July 2015)
Tamil schoolgirl reported missing in Killinochchi (01 Jun 2015)
7 year old school girl gang raped in Kilinochchi (29 May 2015)
Protests continue in North-East calling for justice over murdered Tamil schoolgirl (19 May 2015)
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
