Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that in addition to English, children in the island nation will also have to learn Hindi and Chinese in the future to fit into the changing world.

“We will have to introduce new subjects. Our children will have to learn Chinese and Hindi in addition to English in order to fit into the changing world,” the President said, while addressing an event at a school in Colombo.

Wickremesinghe added that the education structure in Sri Lanka will have to change drastically to be future-ready.

A former British colony, Sri Lankan children learn English as the second language in schools.

However, with the changing of higher education streams, there are many children who are already learning Hindi and Chinese for university entrance examinations.

Sri Lanka is currently battling one of the worst economic crises in its independent history.

India has been continuously providing assistance to Sri Lanka, since it defaulted last year. New Delhi has also provided support in the form of food and medicines to Colombo since the start of the unprecedented economic crisis.

Besides, India, Japan and France are co-chairing a 17 countries’ committee which has taken up the responsibility to resurrect Sri Lanka. China which accounts for about 20 per cent of Sri Lanka’s total debt, has so far refused to join the committee of the beleaguered nation’s official bilateral creditors

India’s assistance to Sri Lanka has further boosted New Delhi’s position as a credible and reliable partner upstaging China, which enjoyed significant control in the island nation.

Also read: India, France and Japan chip in big time to help Sri Lanka in hour of crisis