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%.
