The main Parliamentary Opposition Party, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), urged the Government to pay immediate attention to supporting schoolchildren, since the economic situation has had severe impacts on the children’s ability to obtain an education while the Government’s response to it has purportedly not been adequate.

During a press briefing held yesterday (2), SJB Parliamentarian Gayantha Karunathilleka directed the Government’s attention to lifting the Value Added Tax (VAT) imposed on stationery, alleging that the Government has not made enough efforts to even consider such relief for schoolchildren. With regard to the Government’s recent decision to provide a Rs. 6,000 allowance for schoolchildren of families receiving the Aswesuma welfare scheme benefits, he requested the Government to revisit this programme in order to expand it, because this relief is available only for a limited number of children. “When the Government came to power, it promised that the VAT imposed on stationery will be removed. But still, no step has been taken to do it,” he added, opining that the proposed allowance is a selective one.

In addition, speaking of the Rs. 4,000 loan provided to public sector employees to purchase stationery for their schoolchildren, Karunathilleka opined that the provided amount is not sufficient. As requests have been made to increase that amount, he said that this issue should also receive the Government’s attention.