"Sri Lanka’s education was never ever degraded"

(July 21, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) UNP M.P. Lakshman Kiriella addressing the media at the UNP media unit today ( 21 Jul), dropped a bombshell to the shock and dismay of all when he exposed that the students were forced to pay the cost of printing of their question papers for their term exams by all Schools of the Central province. Through this , a sum of Rs. 32million has been illegally collected by the Provincial Councils of the Govt., he noted.

When other countries were backward in providing free education , there was a time when Sri Lankans could proudly say that there was free education in SL. But, now those countries have developed in the education sphere doing its utmost for the children , while in the case of SL however , the education sector has been so cruelly bungled by this Govt. and its Minister that children and parents are being extorted illegally even for the children’s basic educational needs such as exams . The worst part of it is , even after collecting monies illegally , these Schools under this province had not been able to set a proper question paper . In the Buddha Dharma question paper, the children had been asked to answer four questions while it contained only three .On the day of the aesthetics question paper , the students were given the mathematics question paper to answer. It is only in SL , and with a Govt. like this ,and a downright inefficient Minister such grave blunders can be committed devastating the students’ future so recklessly and irresponsibly , he asserted.

It is high time the Govt. realizes that education is the future investment in the life of a child . Hence, if the Mahinda Chintana has no concern for a child’s education , of what avail is all its grandiose promises it had given before elections ? Kiriella asked.

-Sri Lanka Guardian