• Special focus on implementing a strategy to cover education

By Sarah Hannan [caption id="attachment_98876" align="alignleft" width="300"] Colombo, 21 September 2020; President Gotabaya Rajapaksa advises to establish a National Committee on Women through a Parliament Act and focus on issues in the education sector. (Photo PMD)[/caption] The Presidential Task Force on Economic Revival and Poverty Alleviation highlighted the importance of formulating and implementing a strategy that would cover the education process from early childhood to tertiary level studies, and the need to pass the necessary legislations by an Act of Parliament to establish a National Committee on Women for the benefit of desperate and victimised females. During the meeting, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had advised Minister of Education Prof. G.L. Peiris and State Minister of Women and Child Development, Preschool and Primary Education, School Infrastructure, and Education Services Piyal Nishantha de Silva that special focus was to be turned towards the monitoring of pre-school education and instructed the Ministry of Education officials to draw up a plan with the assistance of specialists in children’s education to ensure that future generations will choose the right path for them and their future. “It is the responsibility of the parents and teachers to create an environment where the child will be able to receive education with a free mind as well as to constantly appreciate the child. Attention has been paid to grant an allowance to teachers of preschools which do not charge fees. “Another objective is to regulate and train them in a way that does not discomfit them. We also plan to provide preschool children with a locally manufactured kit with the aim of developing their early skills. The primary responsibility of the officers and authorities is to identify and properly manage the resources of all schools in the island,” President Rajapaksa had emphasised. The President pointed out the need to introduce a system where officers visit schools to provide appropriate solutions for the issues of the teachers, rather than teachers travelling to education offices. Even the responsible officers of national and provincial schools should not be confined to their respective offices. Instead, they should go to schools to identify and solve problems on the spot, the President noted. Presidential Task Force on Economic Revival and Poverty Alleviation Head Basil Rajapaksa emphasised the need to provide safe drinking water and improved sanitation facilities to all schools within a short period of time. The Government is also focusing on setting up special education units at the district level to develop the skills of children with special needs in order to socialise them. Rajapaksa said that families with such children should be supported with financial assistance to protect them from being victims of psychological and economic collapse. Further, attention was drawn to expedite the adjudication of child abuse cases and to provide closed court facilities to take testimonies in a manner which will not disrupt a child’s wellbeing. Prof. Ven. Medagoda Abhayatissa Thera, Secretary to the President P.B. Jayasundera, secretaries to cabinet and state ministries, and officials of line institutions were present at the discussion.