– The Minister of Education Professor G.L. Peiris
The ministry of education is dedicated to provide necessary facilities and the educational environment for the continuation of children’s activities without wasting their valuable time of life. Therefore, all schools are ready to start from next Monday (15.03.2021) and the schools in the western province will be opened after the health recommendations, said The Minister of Education Professor G.L. Peiris. The minister said this while addressing a media discussion held at the Water’s Edge Hotel, Battaramulla on 08.03.2021.
Further expressing his ideas at this occasion the minister said,
The preparations have already been done to start all the schools in the country. But we have requested the recommendations from the ministry of health for starting the schools in the western province. We hope that they will provide those recommendations after their observations within a period of two days. Accordingly, we are ready to open the schools in Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara districts. We have already requested the approval of the director general of health on this regard. We expect that the decision will be given within a two day’s time.
The general certificate of education ordinary level examination is being held at present. It will be over after two days on 10th of March. This time 622000 students are sitting for this exam. We were able to hold and complete the G.C.E. advanced level exam and the grade 5 scholarship exam successfully in this way. We would not able to hold this exam if we listened to the people who express negative and inauspicious ideas. We are dedicated to perform correctly the duties that the people expected and also expect from us. This government took strong decisions at this difficult moment considering the future of our children. We were able to work with the cooperation of our officers and all others during these difficult situations for the future of our country and also ourselves.
During the time of 09 days of conducting the examination, 56 infected children also sat for the exam. We were able to direct them to the special examination centers. There were 40 such exam centers established throughout the country. A special classroom also had been reserved in each exam center. There were 321 students who had been subjected to quarantine and sat for the exam. I would like to say that we as a government as well as a ministry planned all these activities successfully with a far sighted vision. Even now, we are ready to mark the answer scripts of the first three days. All these are done with the intention of releasing the exam results in June and starting the advanced level classes in the month of July, he also said.
