News

Indian External Affairs Minister meets President ; 3 bilateral agreements inked

Published

2 months ago

October 11, 2023

editor

India’s Minister of External Affairs, Dr. S. Jaishankar met with President Ranil Wickremesinghe today (11) at the Presidential Secretariat.

Extensive discussions were held to further strengthen Indo-Sri Lankan relations, resulting in the signing of three new bilateral agreements aimed at enhancing cooperation between the two countries.

Furthermore, the inauguration of the third phase of the housing project, supported by Indian loan assistance, was conducted during the meeting. While an initial allocation of Rs. 1.026 million had been allocated per unit for the fourth phase, it was necessary to revise the budget to Rs. 2.8 million per unit due to increased housing unit costs.

To uplift the lives of Sri Lankan citizens, the Government of India has committed to providing additional funds for the speedy completion of nine development projects in the country, which are currently supported by the Government of India. The relevant agreement for this initiative was also signed today.

These projects include the modernization of 27 schools in the Northern Province, housing initiatives in Mannar and Anuradhapura, improvements to the Hatton Thondaman Vocational Training Centre and Pussellawa Saraswati Central College, the construction of a multi-ethnic trilingual school in Polonnaruwa, the establishment of 2889 rainwater harvesting projects in the Jaffna area, the promotion of vegetable cultivation in the Dambulla area and the construction of greenhouse facilities with a capacity of 5000 metric tons for fruit preservation. Additionally, a new surgical unit for the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital will be promptly built as part of these efforts.

An agreement concerning a joint project involving the Indian National Dairy Development Board, the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation of India (Amul), and the Cargills Group of Sri Lanka was signed with the aim of elevating Sri Lanka’s local dairy industry. This agreement emerged as a result of President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s official visit to India and allocation of funding for the modernization of Sri Lanka’s livestock sector.

The primary objective of this new project is to increase milk production by 53% within the first five years and achieve self-sufficiency in milk production for Sri Lanka within 15 years. As part of this endeavour, it is anticipated that approximately 200,000 local farmers will be empowered through the provision of facilities such as high-quality medicines, animal nutrition and technical support.

Furthermore, this initiative encompasses digitalization of the livestock sector, investments in new technologies to enhance the quality of milk-related by-products and ensuring access to milk-related products at affordable prices.

In addition to this significant agreement, a special commemorative logo was unveiled today to celebrate the 75 years of Indo-Sri Lankan relations.

Present at the signing ceremony were Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Mr. Gopal Baglay, Union Secretaries of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs Mr. Puneeth Agrawal and Mr. J. P. Singh, Indian Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Dr Satyanjal Pandey and Indian Ministry of External Affairs Deputy Secretary Mr. Raghu Puri.

From the Sri Lankan side, notable attendees included Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Ali Sabri PC, Minister Jeevan Thondaman, State Minister Tenuka Widanagamage, Member of Parliament M. Rameswaran, Senior Advisor to the President on National Security and Chief of Staff to the President Mr. Sagala Ratnayaka, Senior Advisor to the President on Economic Affairs Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga, President’s Secretary Mr. Saman Ekanayake, Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ms. Aruni Wijewardena, Director of Presidential International Affairs Mr. Dinuk Colombage and other dignitaries.

(PMD)

News

Proposals to reduce school grades from 13 to 12

Published

17 mins ago

December 4, 2023

editor

The Ministry of Education disclosing the proposed new educational reforms stated that it is intended to reduce school grades from 13 to 12.

This was disclosed on 01.12.2023 at the time of presenting the progress of the year 2023 and plans for the year 2024 for the budget of the Ministry of Education by Dr. Susil Premajayantha for the Ministers and Members of Parliament.

Accordingly, the educational authorities stated that through the proposed new education reforms, every child will be given the opportunity to finish school in 17 years. Accordingly, pre-school education is classified as 4 years old, primary section 1-5, junior section 6-8 and senior section 9 to 12.

Simplify Grade 5 scholarship

While it has been proposed to give a certain percentage of marks from school-based evaluations and a certain percentage from exams for the Grade 5 scholarship exam, the Ministry of Education has also proposed to simplify the Grade 5 scholarship exam and eliminate competition.

O/Ls in Grade 10, A/Ls in Grade 12

Furthermore, through the proposed new education reforms, the Ministry of Education has proposed to conduct the Ordinary Level examination in Grade 10 and the Advanced Level examination is scheduled for grade 12. It has also been decided to reduce the number of subjects for O/L’s from 9 to 7. Officials representing the Ministry of Education stated that among those 7 subjects, it has been proposed to make it mandatory to study three new subjects; Information and Communication Technology (ICT), technical and professional skills and religious and values.

The officials of the Ministry of Education, who pointed out that more than eighty thousand (80,000) students fail in the ordinary level examination in a year, have suggested that no child will fail through the new education reforms and that all children who passed the ordinary level examination should be given the opportunity to study vocational training courses.

For that, A-level subjects have been classified into two categories as academic education and vocational education and a path has been prepared for every child to obtain a degree. The Ministry of Education also pointed out that two new subjects have been added under academic studies by increasing the current subjects from 6 to 8. Furthermore, the officials of the Ministry stated that the children will receive the opportunity to obtain education through 10 subject areas under practical studies and through that, the children will get the opportunity to obtain degrees by going through vocational fields.

The Ministry pointed out that administrative restructuring is also taking place in the education service. The number of existing educational zones will increase from 100 to 122 and the total number of ten thousand one hundred and twenty-six (10,126) schools will be classified as cluster schools of one thousand two hundred and twenty (1220). All the existing national schools will be a flagship school in a cluster of schools as flagship schools at the provincial level.

Officials of the Ministry said that 517.05 billion rupees have been allocated for the Ministry of Education in this year’s budget for the year 2024. Of this, two thousand million rupees have been allocated for providing school textbooks, six million rupees for school uniforms, and two thousand five hundred million rupees for providing school shoes to seven hundred twenty-eight thousand four hundred and eighty (728,480) children. About 1.07 million school children are currently being given lunch and the same number is ready to be given to 1.5 million children in the year 2024, the Ministry of Education officials said.

News

Upul Tharanga to chair cricket selection committee

Published

34 mins ago

December 4, 2023

editor

Sports Minister Harin Fernando today (04) announced that Upul Tharanga will replace Pramodya Wickramasinghe as Chairman of the Cricket Selection Committee.

The minister added that 10 names have already been recommended as selectors and that a new selection committee would be appointed soon.

News

SLC complains to CIABOC over ex-sports minister

Published

40 mins ago

December 4, 2023

editor

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) says that they have formally lodged a complaint with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption in Sri Lanka against Mr. Roshan Ranasinghe MP over the alleged misuse of funds provided by SLC to the National Sports Fund for the development of various other sports in Sri Lanka.

A statement issued by the SLC states :

The decision to file this complaint stems from the concern that Mr. Roshan Ranasinghe MP has not appropriately disclosed the utilization of funds allocated by SLC for the intended purposes.

This move comes in the wake of a discernible disparity between the information disclosed to the media by Mr. Ranasinghe MP and the response received by SLC under a Right to Information (RTI) application, outlining the specifics of the expenditures made.

SLC wishes to emphasize the importance of maintaining the integrity of financial transactions and ensuring that funds are utilized for their designated purposes and the said formal complaint filed with the Bribery Commission underscores SLC’s dedication to upholding the highest standards of governance and ethics within the realm of sports administration.

SLC trusts that the Bribery Commission will conduct a thorough investigation into the matter to ascertain the facts and take appropriate action as necessary and Sri Lanka Cricket will continue to collaborate with relevant authorities to ensure a fair and just resolution to this issue, as part of its ongoing commitment to the promotion and advancement of sports in Sri Lanka.