ABSTRACT
Education and social cohesion are intricately connected, and socializing ethnolinguistically diverse children so that they become inclusive and diversity-responsive citizens is a vital aim of education in ethnolinguistically diverse countries. Nevertheless, Sri Lanka’s school system is ethnolinguistically polarized due to its mother-tongue instruction policy. Out of 10,162 public schools in the country, 10,049 offer either Sinhala- or Tamil-medium instruction. In addition, even the sixty-six bi-media schools (Sinhala and Tamil) are ethnically exclusive. This medium division continues to alienate generations of Sinhala- and Tamil-speaking children, fueling interethnic animosity. An exception is bilingual education classrooms in forty-seven bi-media schools where some subjects are delivered through English. This enables Sinhala, Tamil, and Muslim students to study together in a way that promotes inclusivity. However, diversity responsiveness in these schools may shape cohesion unevenly. Drawing on data collected in an ethnographically informed qualitative study in three bi-media schools, this chapter argues that underneath the perceived existence of diversity responsiveness and solidarity among the groups in these ethnically diverse schools, the undercurrents may be quite the opposite. While some schools recognize the ethnolinguistic heterogeneity of their institutions and utilize such spaces toward inclusivity, others seem less willing to take such measures. In the latter contexts, inequalities are misrecognized, leading to a perpetuation of existing distinctions.
