Govt allocates Rs 600 m for Northern academic development

Chamikara Weerasinghe

The Government has allocated Rs 600 million to support academic development of students in the North as all out efforts are made to uplift students’ education in the Northern Province under Uthuru Vasanthaya, said Education Minister Susil Premajayanth.

He said steps will be taken to build schools for every Divisional Secretariat in the Jaffna district and of them, 13 Isuru schools have already been built at a cost of Rs 325 million under Uthuru Vasanthaya.

Minister Premajayanth was speaking as chief guest at a ceremony held at the Education Ministry in Colombo, to distribute school uniform material to schools in Jaffna.

He said Rs 70 million has been allocated to reconstruct schools in a dilapidated condition in the North.

The Minister said the Ministry has set-aside Rs.1.26 billion on the direction of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to provide school children with text books and uniform material.

There are about 40 million school children in the country. Of them, 110,000 children are from the Jaffna peninsula.

Minister Premjayanth said the ministry has got the approval to effect 10,000 promotions and transfers, which have hitherto not been given to workers attached to national schools, teachers’ training schools, Examinations Department and other departments and institutions under the Education Ministry.

“We presented a Cabinet paper regarding these much requested transfers and promotions and got the approval ,” he said.

Steps will be taken to give clothes for robes for 3,500 bhikkhus receiving Pirivena education. Arrangements have also been made to distribute head covers for Muslim girl students throughout the island .

Deputy Education Minister M.Sachchithanandan, Ministry Secretary W.M.N.D.Bandara , Additional Secretary Mohommed Thambi and Book Publication Commissioner W.M.N.J.Pushpa Kumara were present.