The Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education Dr. Harini Amarasooriya 

The Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education Dr. Harini Amarasooriya said to take necessary recommendations and actions to prevent all kinds of ragging, harassments and violence prevailing in the university system and other higher educational institutions. She mentioned this at the discussion held today (02) at the Ministry of Education with the National Task Force for the prevention of all kinds of ragging, harassments and violence in the higher educational institutions.    

The Minister said at this occasion that the necessary power and assistance of the state will be provided to this task force that has been appointed for 3 years to investigate and to take necessary actions in relation to all kinds of ragging, harassments and violence happening from the students, academic and non-academic staffs in the university system and other higher educational institutions.

The representatives of the task force pointed out at this occasion that there are personal as well as social reasons affecting for these violent actions and several other matters such as not having proper relationship between students and educational administration, academic and non-academic staff, wrong attitudes of the students about the ragging and using violence for gaining submission and respect, were also explained by the representatives. The attention was drawn at this occasion to the matters such as the influences made by the management and the teachers in the university system when offering marks and classes to the students making them depressed.   

The Minister of Education Dr. Harini Amarasooriya said at this occasion that the necessary shot-term and long-term measures must be taken to prevent all kinds of harassments and to prepare necessary methods and mechanisms for this purpose and as this cannot be ended only through legal procedures, while updating the present laws the programs such as attitude development must be organized. 

The Deputy Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr. Madhura Senevirathna stated at this occasion that the attention must be drawn to the students becoming victims of various harassments and the actions must be taken assuring the safety of them.

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A meeting between the South Korean Ambassador in Sri Lanka Madam Miyon Lee and the Deputy Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr. Madhura Senevirathna was held on 24^th of June at Isurupaya the Ministry of Education premises. The Deputy Minister welcomed the ambassador there and the attention was drawn at strengthening the bilateral relationships between Sri Lanka and South Korea.  

The attention was drawn here at the building up of the vocational education sector to suit the labor force in the country, the exchange programs for technical education between Sri Lanka and South Korea and the expanding the higher educational opportunities in the universities. And also, a special attention was drawn at widening the opportunities of learning Korean language within Sri Lankan school system and for establishing a Korean Cultural center in Sri Lanka.

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It has been planned to implement the program “Labored Movement” under the “Clean Sri Lanka” for the purpose of creating an attractive learning environment to the students studying in vocational education institutions maintained under the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education.

This program will be commenced at 8.00 am on 04th of July covering all 311 vocational training centers operating under the Ministry of Vocational Training, with the full assistance from the three armed forces.

These matters were revealed at the discussion held today (17) at the Presidential Secretariat with the leadership of the Deputy Minister of Vocational Education Nalin Hewage.

Nearly three hundred thousand students sit for General Certificate of Education Advanced Level Examination annually but nearly 240,000 students do not get the chance for entering the universities. Out of that amount about 125,000 students enter the vocational training institutions operating under the Ministry of Vocational Education and about 50,000 students are directed to other affiliated higher education institutions.

Accordingly, it has been planned to implement this program by the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education together with the Secretariat of Clean Sri Lanka in order to direct nearly 175,000 students towards vocational education, who miss the university admissions annually and to provide them with a conducive educational environment and necessary facilities.

It is scheduled to involve in this program about 160,000 people including 125,000 students learning in the vocational training centers, about 10,000 non-academic staff together with the people residing in the area.

A group of people including the officers from Clean Sri Lanka Secretariat together with Senior Additional Presidential Secretary Mr. G.M.R.D. Aponsu and Additional Presidential Secretary Mr. A.P.C. Sugeeshwara, the officers from the Ministry of Defense and the senior officers representing the three armed forces participated in this discussion.

The Minister expressed this at a program held today (17) at the Ministry of Education regarding the sensitization of school children about the adolescent sanitation. 

At this occasion community specialist Doctor Mrs. Asanthi Fernando Balapitiya of Health Promotion Bureau delivered the special lecture on adolescent sanitation.

Further expressing her ideas, The Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasooriya stated like this.

We believe that the sanitation is directly connected with education. Some people may think what is the connection between education and sanitation. Sanitation is a right of all and everybody needs it and according to the data it shows because of the lack of sanitary facilities in school properly specially the girl children in school with less facilities miss their education at least once a month. In the same way their right to move freely in the society is also limited. That is because of the lack of proper sanitary facilities. 

Not only you the girl students, all of us have suffered with these experiences to the maximum. Not only within the school, women face these difficulties even in common society due to lack of common facilities. 

Sanitation is very important. You may ask, as males what are the things we have to know here. This is a problem of females, so let them solve it themselves. But you also have sanitary problems. In the same way, if female children face some difficulty, the male faction also must have an understanding and empathy to be sensitive about it. 

Being a successful citizen does not mean only to do a better job. If somebody in the society remains with a difficulty, it is necessary to be sensitive about it. There must be an empathy in the sensitive matters of women. And also, if you have an understanding to live in the society as a citizen, then only you are successful.

Starting from this point, we do the sensitizing of sanitation at school level. Education means a very broad concept. The education must be able to create a next generation with the ability to heel everybody in the society and to provide a leadership which is beneficial for the community and the society. The education must contain mutual respect, help each other and all such things. Therefore, the sanitation is not a thing that can be limited to the health. Sanitation is not only just talking about menstruation circle. The government concerns the availability of sanitary facilities within the schools and in the common society as a fundamental right. Sanitation is not a thing necessary to hide.

For that purpose, The Minister said that the society must be upgraded to a position where there is mutual respect, social justice, equality, protection of each other, taking care of others and giving priority to the humanity more than this.

A gathering including the Additional Secretaries of the Ministry of Education, the officers of Family Health Bureau and Health Promotion Bureau, school children and teachers participated in this occasion.

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