- Secretary of Education
The secretary of education Professor Kapila Perera said that all parties including the principals, teachers and the parents must work with great responsibility for taking children to schools protecting their health for the first school term. The secretary of education expressed these ideas while participating in a special media discussion held in the ministry of education with the transport and health authorities about the opening of the schools.
The decision taken by the ministry of education for opening schools for the new school term in 2021 is to open all schools except the schools in the western province and locked down areas, from 11th of January for the grades 2 to 13. And also the arrangements have been made taking the recommendations from the health sector to open the grade 11 in the schools in the western province except the locked down areas from 25th of January.
The ministry of education has sensitized through its official website and the media the ways of implementing these guidelines taking the full assistance of health sector and the support of all provincial, zonal and divisional education sectors and also the principals, teachers, parents and students, school health promotion committees and the school development societies.
When the schools were opened in the third term last year except in the western province and the locked down areas, 98% of the teachers and the non-academic staff reported for the work and the attendance of the students also gradually increased, the secretary of education pointed out. It is expected that at the beginning of the new school term the parents will take actions to send their children to schools having full faith of the health protection, he said.
The secretary of education further emphasized that the decision taken by the ministry of education to open the schools understanding the legislative responsibility of safeguarding the right to education of the children and also considering the new normal situation in the face of covid pandemic, will be implemented with a complete design obtaining the support of all sections including health, transport, security and the media.
A gathering including the Additional Secretary of Education L.M.D. Dharmasena, the chairperson of the Sri Lanka Transport Board Kinsley Ranawaka, expert in community medicine Dr. Apeksha Balasuriya of Sri Lanka Family Health Bureau, the Deputy General Manager of Sri Lanka Railway Department (commercial) V.S. Polwattage and the secretary of All Ceylon School Transportation Society Lalith Chandrasena had joined in this occasion.
