About 50 per cent of children studying at the primary section of Colombo District do not attend schools, Head of the School Health Division at the Family Health Bureau Dr. Ayesha Lokubalasuriya said.
She pointed out that the reason for this is lack of food, parents going to work, not being able to cover transportation fees and the price of school equipment.
She said that this situation may arise in other schools as well, and it will adversely affect the future of the country.
Dr. Lokubalasuriya said that inspections are being carried out by the Education Ministry not only among the schools in Colombo but also across the country.
Experts in the education sector are of the opinion that if this situation continues, it may affect the literacy rate of adults in Sri Lanka in the future.
The adult literacy rate is the percentage of people aged 15 and over who can read, write and understand short simple statements about everyday life.
In Sri Lanka, literacy rate has been increasing over the years and the experts said that the average rate of 92.25% in 2019 has increased by 0.13% in 2020 to 92.34%.
Sri Lanka Police have launched an investigation into a video going viral on social media, which depicts a female tuition teacher being escorted by police motorcycles and vehicles to an event organized by her.
Police Media Spokesperson SSP Buddhika Manathunga confirmed that the individual in question is a private tuition teacher who conducts classes for students preparing for the Grade 5 Scholarship Examination.
Addressing the controversy, SSP Manathunga explained that the Sri Lanka Police may provide officers and vehicles for specific public affairs — such as for filming a movie — but only after a thorough intelligence review of the request and its context, including the script.
He further clarified that police officers may also be deployed for public events such as musical shows or ticketed functions, but this is permitted only upon payment of a required fee.
In this particular case, the teacher is reported to have requested police support, claiming it was needed for a ceremony honoring students who had successfully passed the Grade 5 Scholarship Examination. The event was said to involve nearly 8,000 students and 35,000 parents.
However, preliminary investigations have revealed that the teacher may have used the police escort to boost her personal image, raising serious concerns about the misuse of state resources.
Police have since launched an inquiry into how the vehicles and officers were allocated for the event, and whether any police personnel were complicit in the unauthorized use of official resources, SSP Manathunga said.
According to reports, the SriLankan Airlines’ management has decided to immediately call up retired cabin crew members to service, following the ‘work to rule’ campaign launched by the Cabin Crew Members Association.
The SriLankan Airlines Cabin Crew Members Association launched a ‘work to rule’ campaign in April, citing several demands, including the reallocation of their onboard meal allowance.
In this backdrop, the national carrier is said to be operating with a reduced number of cabin crew which was further affected by the recent retirement of a significant number of experienced senior staff.
The staff were retired stating that individuals over the age of 60 would no longer be retained.
Efforts to extend the retirement age had been unsuccessful.
Even though they had directed a formal request to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Dec. 12, 2024, no response was received, reports add.
