The Education Ministry said yesterday (14) that there was no need for an island-wide preparedness programme for schools to deal with the effects of El Niño at this stage, as the expected impact was likely to be concentrated in three Districts, with measures being planned for schools in those areas.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, Ministry Secretary Nalaka Kaluwewa said the information available to the Ministry indicated that El Niño would not affect the entire country in the same way, and that preparations would focus on the Districts expected to experience the strongest effects.

“At present, we have been told that El Niño is likely to have a major impact mainly on three Districts. We have identified those Districts and are implementing the necessary measures for the schools in those areas,” he said.

The Ministry’s comments follow a recent claim by the Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) that schools had not received preparedness measures or instructions to deal with possible disruptions linked to changing weather conditions in the coming months.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, CTU President Priyantha Fernando said El Niño-related weather changes could disrupt school activities and that preparations should be made in advance.

“There definitely needs to be preparedness. Otherwise, school activities could face major disruptions like they did during Cyclone Ditwah,” he said.

Warnings have indicated that Sri Lanka could experience above-normal rainfall this month (October) and next month (November), followed by drier conditions in the early months of next year (2027) as El Niño strengthens.

Meteorology Department Director General Ajith Wijemannage previously said that El Niño conditions in the Pacific Ocean had strengthened further during August, with global forecasts showing unusually high sea-surface temperatures across key monitoring regions.

He said Sri Lanka could experience relatively low rainfall during the last two weeks of September, followed by a gradual increase towards October and November.