11th International Tamil Research Conference took place at University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur from 21st July 2023 to 23rd July 2023. There were thousands of Tamil writers, poets, professors and Tamil enthusiasts from various countries all around the world attended the conference. Many scholars presented their works in the conference. The theme of the conference was “Challenges faced by Tamil language in this advanced internet world”. The presentations were mainly based on this key point. This is a much needed topic during this period of time. The current situation of the language and the importance of the language should be highlighted to the Indian community. Many doesn’t know how to type in Tamil in laptop or computer. They are not aware of the Tamil applications. There were also Tamil books for sale. Human Resources minister YB Tuan V. Sivakumar was the Chairman and Datuk Seri M. Saravanan was the co-chairman of the event. It was presented by OMS Foundation along with Department of Indian Studies of University Malaya.
Datuk Seri M. Saravanan requested the government to continue supporting the Tamil education in Malaysia which will cultivate the interest and enthusiasm of our students in Tamil and secondary schools in his speech . He officially welcomed and thanked the participants and scholars who came from different countries worldwide. He highlighted the power of the “Tamil’ language which is capable of bringing this huge crowd at one place to share the pride and embrace the significance of the language. Followed by that, Human Resource Minister V. Sivakumar delivered his speech. He mentioned that there are 501 research papers have been submitted in the conference. He also suggested that all those research papers should be published in hard copies so that it would be a reference for the future generation.
Our honourable prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim officially inaugurated the 11th International Research Conference. The prime minister mentioned that he is glad to witness the spirit and enthusiasm of the worldwide Indians in embracing their mother language. The huge crowd which gathered from all over the places and the love for their language stunned the prime minister. In conjunction with the mega event taking place here, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim made few intriguing announcement during his opening speech at the conference.
Prime minister mentioned that Tamil language also should be given importance in learning institutions which would encourage and give opportunity to the students to learn their mother language. However, Tamil subject is not provided in all secondary schools. It would be offered only if there are a minimum of 15 students who wish to take the subject. He announced that he will meet the education minister Fadhlina Sidek to advise on bringing down the minimal requirement for the number of students to from 15 students 10 students. He stated that actions will be taken to introduce the new set of requirements.
The national education policy stipulates that Bahasa Malaysia has to be the main medium of instruction, and to promote English. However, the issue is the condition imposed by the education ministry. If you have a few students, you’ll have a problem finding teachers. To have a minimum of 15 students may be too tough a condition. I will speak to the education minister after this conference. We will try to reduce the minimum number to 10 students.
said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Additionally, he also mentioned that there will be an additional of RM 2 million fund given to the Department of Indian studies of University Malaya to assist them in enhancing the facilities and initiatives taken towards the development of the language.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
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