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| Friday, 10 September 2004 |
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Total literacy throughout country The Government's fervent hope is to achieve total literacy throughout the country within the next few years, President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga said addressing the National Literacy Day ceremony to coincide with International Literacy Day at President's House on Wednesday. Street children numbering 162 selected from Kataragama, Ratnapura, Bandarawela and Kollupitiya, who were rehabilitated, received school text books and study kits from the President enabling them to start schooling. President Kumaratunga said when she came to power in 1994, the standard of literacy in the country was satisfactory but the students' morals had declined hopelessly. She said therefore she immediately introduced the new Educational Reforms Program and provided material resources, treating it as a Government responsibility to ensure a cultured future generation. President Kumaratunga said with this sublime motive in view, she intends to inaugurate the "Nena Sarana Scholarship Fund" out of funds from the President's Fund and aid from international agencies such as UNICEF and other non-governmental organisations. She said this is to pursue activities of the Education Ministry's Informal Education Unit to impart formal education among 60,000 street children throughout the island. Education Deputy Ministers Mangala Samaraweera and Dinesh Gunawardena and UNICEF Representative in Sri Lanka Ted Wai Khan also spoke. Provincial Chief Ministers Reginald Cooray, Sarath Ekanayake, Mahipala Herath, Athula Wijesinghe and Vijithamuni Soysa, President's Secretary W.J.S. Karunaratne, Informal Education Unit Director H. Dharmasena and President's Senior Assistant Secretary Sarath Chandrasiri Vithana also participated. |
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