The safety of children in educational institutions has once again reached public fora with the cracks in the system put in place to ensure the well-being of children resulting in the death of a young girl. 

When children in the care of schools and other educational institutions are physically and sexually abused as minors, institutions committed to protecting children are notified. Despite this, the perpetrators continue to remain in association with minors. 

Being the key body in charge of protecting children in Sri Lanka, the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) is currently in discussions with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs to address this gap. 

However, according to sources from the NCPA who are involved in these discussions, no conclusive decisions have been arrived at so far. 

The Constitution of Sri Lanka assures that anyone accused of a crime is innocent until proven guilty. There are no special provisions to prevent those accused of child abuse from coming into contact with the children in cases. 

“However, everyone has a responsibility to protect the child’s best interest,” said the NCPA source. 

Making schools safe for child victims of abuse

In cases where a Government employee becomes a suspect of a crime, the Establishments Code allows for an inquiry to be launched where, if the accusations are proved, the accused can be interdicted. 

However, when 16-year-old Dilshi Amshika was allegedly sexually abused by her Maths teacher at Ramanathan Hindu Ladies’ College last October, this process did not take place in a way that ensured Amshika’s safety within the school. This led to her mother removing her child from this school and admitting her to a new one. 

“She was never mentally ill. She was not mentally down. She was a talented and enthusiastic child. The school made her mentally ill. Because of this I took my child out of that school,” the mother told the media regarding the treatment she had to undergo at the hands of school authorities following her complaint. 

The NCPA source told The Sunday Morning that should a criminal case arise, disciplinary action should be taken immediately. She said that in Amshika’s incident, the issue was also one of disciplinary action not being followed fast enough. 

“That is what we are pushing for. But sometimes, this procedure gets delayed. What we said was that these processes should be expedited,” she said. 

However, this leaves the question of what would be done to those who are working with children in private schools and other institutions that are not covered by the Establishments Code.

Unfortunately, six months after her abuse, Amshika took her own life. According to the mother, her immediate cause of distress was an incident that took place at a tuition class where the owner allegedly made comments referring to her case. 

Protesters gathered at the gates of the Ramanathan Hindu Ladies’ College on 8 May demanding the immediate suspension and arrest of the teacher who had allegedly sexually abused Amshika in October 2024. They alleged that the School Principal was shielding the accused. 

According to the Police, the suspected teacher from the Ramanathan Hindu Ladies’ College was arrested on 8 January and released on bail two days later. 

However, the teacher had continued to work at this school. Following public outrage, the media unit of the Ministry of Education, Higher Education, and Vocational Education announced that the teacher was to be immediately transferred. 

Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) General Secretary Joseph Stalin pointed out the lack of mechanisms in place to ensure the safety of children in schools. 

“The Minister of Education and Minister of Women and Child Affairs are preparing mechanisms only now. This goes to show that no mechanisms existed until now,” he observed. 

On 9 May, the NCPA sent out directives to education authorities on procedures to be followed when dealing with child abuse. 

1. Mandatory reporting: Principals and school officials must immediately report any case of child abuse to the NCPA using the 24-hour Child Support Service (1929), via email (nepa@childprotection.gov.lk), or by contacting the NCPA Headquarters in Sri Jayewardenepura.
2. Disciplinary action: Teachers or principals suspected of abuse must be relieved of duties involving children pending the outcome of investigations.
3. Victim protection: Internal investigations must be conducted in a manner that prevents re-traumatising the child victims.
4. Anti-retaliation measures: Schools are strictly prohibited from removing complainant children, pressuring them, or engaging in actions that marginalise or label them.

While stressing the need for impartial inquiries in the education sector and protecting the confidentiality of those reporting, Stalin said that principals should be trained on handling such incidents. 

“The principal is the key person. They should be trained on how to act independently. If something wrong happens at their hands, it is serious,” he said. 

While the NCPA has explicitly called for accused persons to be relieved of duties involving children, World Vision Advocacy Coordinator Anuradhani Yasarathna told The Sunday Morning that transferring teachers to other schools during inquiries such as this had been happening “abundantly”.  

“When abuse takes place – any kind of abuse including corporal punishment – the teacher is transferred to another school.” 

Boundaries in the involvement of law enforcement 

The Sri Lanka Police’s mandate in ensuring the safety of a child inside a school is limited to informing the institution that an employee is a suspect in a case of abuse, The Sunday Morning learns from Bureau for the Prevention of Abuse of Children and Women Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Renuka Jayasundara. 

When a child is abused in a school, the law enforcement agency’s responsibility is to undertake immediate investigations and enforce the law. She said that the Police would initiate an inquiry as soon as an incident was reported and that a formal complaint was not necessary. 

During school hours, a child is under the guardianship of the school. If Police inquiries showed that the guardians were negligent, then the school environment was deemed unsuitable for the child, said DIG Jayasundara. 

“We have to inform the school that such a thing has happened. As the decision-maker, the principal should act to ensure that the environment is suitable for the child,” she added. 

Responding to questions about the teacher suspected of abusing Amshika, DIG Jayasundara said that the Police was unable to prevent the teacher from returning to the school and that such action fell under the scope of the Ministry of Education. 

“As a law enforcement body, we have to enforce the existing law. What is the law we can enforce to prevent the teacher from returning to the school?” she questioned. 

Since the teacher is only a suspect in a case so far, she said that rights of suspects should also be ensured during the process while protecting the rights of the child. 

“We can present him before courts citing our case and we can object to granting bail. If bail was granted after consideration of facts, we can’t control where the suspect goes,” she pointed out. 

She added that many such suspects were currently employed in the school system. 

Barriers to combatting child sexual abuse in schools

Yasarathna was formerly attached to the NCPA, where she worked for 14 years. During her role as the Officer-in-Charge of the 24-hour hotline, she observed that parents often chose to report incidents anonymously in fear of the climate it would create at school. 

“When they call, parents ask not to reveal their names because the child might not be able to return to school,” she said. 

She alleged that many schools did not take the child victim’s side when abuse took place. 

“Even when there is evidence that abuse has taken place, the principal and teachers try to discredit the child’s claims, accusing them of fabricating incidents,” she added.  

However, she noted that she had also had experiences with school authorities who took such matters seriously and took all steps to ensure the safety of the child. 

Schools, especially those that are considered to be reputed, do not report such incidents because they feel it will tarnish the reputation of the institution, according to Yasarathna. This results in the under-reporting of child abuse that takes place within school walls. 

Laws against corporal punishment

Beating a child as punishment or for any other motive too is child abuse. However, the proposed laws in this regard have not come into action yet. 

It was reported in 2024 that they were to be gazetted in September. However, this has not happened yet. 

It is learnt that an NCPA specialist committee had provided the amendments to be made to the Penal Code. However, in order to enact them, the Code of Criminal Procedure should also be amended accordingly. 

“The Ministry of Justice is waiting to make both these changes together. This is the reason for the delay,” said the NCPA official. 

Instead of using physical punishment, educators are being advised to use positive disciplinary methods. However, educators required training and awareness in using such methods, said Yasarathna. 

The CTU rejects corporal punishment. However, the union’s General Secretary Stalin also pointed out how teachers sometimes questioned the methods available to combat child drug use in schools if they are not given physical punishment. 

“Some ask what punishments can then be used to stop children from using drugs,” he said. 

Positive disciplinary methods had been requested to be used, and many INGOs and NGOs had conducted sessions in relation to this, noted Yasarathna. She added that the NCPA too had conducted such programmes at the district level. 

Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Commissioner Prof. Farzana Haniffa told The Sunday Morning that investigations into the matter were currently being conducted by the commission, adding that recommendations to strengthen child protection in schools may follow. 

“If our investigations show that recommendations are needed, they will be made,” she said. 

Multiple attempts to contact Ministry of Education Secretary Nalaka Kaluwewa on the ministry’s course of action to prevent child abuse in the school system proved futile.