University entrance:

More qualify from IDP centres

Suraj A. Bandara

Nearly 51 students who sat the Advanced Level examination last year while they were in the welfare centres in the North, have qualified for University entrance. Out of them nine students have succeeded in entering Medical Faculties which could be very encouraging for the efforts that the Government took to uplift the standard of the welfare camps, Education Minister Susil Premajayantha said.

The Minister added that the Government made a significant contribution to enhance the education system in Sri Lanka and uplift it to accepted international standards over the past five years under the guidance of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

"We were lucky to achieve such kind of growth as a result of policy decisions we adopted for the betterment of the education in the island," he said.

The students in the North and East who were deprived of their basic rights to get a good education because of LTTE terrorism are benefited now with the prevailing environment which is conducive for any student to learn up to their limits freely, the Minister said. The President has directed us to serve not only the students in the North and East but also Sri Lankan students who live as refugees in India will also be benefitted under this scheme.

The education sector of Sri Lanka has developed tremendously in the last five years. Over 35,700 teaching appointments have been given and around 5,800 principals have been promoted.

The dispute of principals' grade also resolved which lasted for over 13 years, he said.