Countrywide 1,000 school development project soon

Dharma Sri Abeyratne

The countrywide 1,000 school development project will commence in January Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena said yesterday.

The Education Ministry will soon develop 1,000 schools in urban, rural, and remote areas throughout the country to reduce the high demand for National and other privileged schools, Minister Gunawardena noted.

On the advise of the Education Minister the project will probably commence by next January, Education Ministry Secretary H.M. Gunawardena, said.

These schools will be equipped with more facilities especially for advanced levels. The standard of academic activities will also be improved. According to the Education Ministry statistics there are around 9,700 Provincial and National schools in the country. The Total student population is around four million. “These selected schools will be developed to the maximum within the next few months” Minister Gunawardena said. Students can enter these schools especially for Advanced Levels since they will be ideal for higher studies. This will reduce the demand for admission to National and other privileged schools.

There is a false impression among parents that the quality of education in National schools is higher than that of the other schools. This is the main reason for parents to prefer National schools. However the quality of education is the same in most schools as the Education Ministry has improved education standards in both National and other schools.

“The objective of this program is to provide the selected schools with laboratory equipment, Computer Centres, Language Skills Development Centres, Sports equipment etc aiming to assist the schools to improve the overall quality of education” the Minister added.