CPS provides loving care to children

Sarath Malalasekera

The Government has declared 2009 as the year for English as a life skill and promotion of Information Technology. The two Child Protection Society development Centres inaugurated recently are fully equipped with modern computer laboratories. Forcible conscription of child fighters was the main challenge of child protection in this country last year, said Child Protection Society of Ceylon (CPS) President S. S. Wijeratne.

The CPS President Wijeratne addressing the 80th AGM of the Society in Colombo recently said the Child Protection Society of Ceylon founded in 1928 became exceedingly relevant at a time when children in the North and East of Sri Lanka had become innocent victims of a protracted civil war.

The CPS Executive Committee unanimously decided to invite British High Commissioner Dr. Richard Hayes and Mrs. Hayes as the Chief Guests at the 80th CPS AGM to remind ourselves from a sense of positive history which contributed immensely to increase the degree of civility of this nation, he said.

Over the last 81 years CPS had nurtured thousand of girls and boys who were referred to CPS by the Judiciary for want of parental care. The thrust of the current CPS program is to upgrade further the high standards of the two Child Development Centres in Maharagama and Rukmale in order to make them centres of excellence. The British High Commissioner visited the Rukmale Girls Development Centre to inaugurate a tree planting program and saw for himself the high standards maintained and the residential facilities.

The CPS President Wijertne thanked the Virtusa Computer Company for donating the computers to the centres, The CPS team was led by Matron Vitarana, Warden Shirani Jayasekera, Sub Warden Ramona Omar, Anoja Fernando, Sujeewa Heenpella, Ananda Dikkumbura.