Econ. Ministry to develop 6,000 primary and secondary schools
Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa has announced the
launch of child-friendly schools programme to minimise the competition
to admit children to popular schools and also to provide them with a
quality education after developing material resources and other
facilities in schools.
This is a further step in improving Sri Lanka’s education the level
of which the UN’s Human Resources Report has recognized as being among
the highest in Asia.
Minister Rajapaksa said this when he addressed the inaugural meeting
marking the final stage of developing child-friendly schools under the
government’s combined national campaign to develop 5,000 elementary
schools and 1,000 secondary schools in accordance with the Mahinda
Chinthana Vision Punarjeewana programme. The meeting was held at the
Molligoda Primary School, Panadura on April 5.
For developing 5,000 elementary schools into child-friendly schools
3,322 schools representing the 25 districts have been selected. The
funds allocated for this is Rs. 1,661 million. Already 1,678 schools
selected under the first stage have been completed at a cost of Rs. 839
million. But its total value is twice the amount allocated.
The Economic Development Ministry is directing the programme to
develop the 5,000 primary schools and 1,000 secondary schools with the
assistance of the Education Ministry and Provincial Education
Ministries. The maximum amount allocated under this programme for
projects begun by school development societies is Rs.500,000. All the
work is expected to be completed during the April vacation with parents
contributing the manpower.
The first stage was successfully launched in August last year. Steps
are being taken for the supply of power and water, developing toilet and
health facilities, building fences and providing schools with gates,
repairing and painting existing school buildings, distribution of
perennial economic crop seedlings to parents under the Divi Neguma
National Programme, making the school ground a model home garden,
preparing the school’s name board, arranging rooms for grade 1 students
to do handwork, building children’s playgrounds and doing only essential
repairs to teachers’ hostels.
Minister Rajapaksa said that development programmes such as Divi
Neguma have been launched focusing on the individual and family in
addition to launching projects to supply electricity for all citizens
and develop villages and roadways under Gama Neguma and Maga Negum a
covering 14,000 grama seva divisions. Improving education to develop
human resources is also among the government’s goals. These, he
stressed, are in addition to mega development projects. Last year
toilets were built in 8,680 schools in response to an appeal school
children had made to the President. The construction of toilets in the
remaining schools would be completed this year, the minister added.
Parallel to these programmes perennial economic crop seedlings have
already been distributed among parents under the Divi Negum a National
Programme. The Minister himself symbolically distributed a crop seedling
at this event.
Small Export Crops Promotion Minister Reginald Cooray, Education
Monitoring MP Mohan Lal Grero, MP Janaka Priyantha and Western
Provincial Minister Jagath Angage were also present. |