The Ministry of Education stated there is no immediate need to issue a fresh circular to prevent schools from collecting money from parents, emphasising that existing regulations already prohibit such practices.
Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (23), Ministry Secretary Nalaka Kaluwewa said that multiple circulars are currently in force governing the collection of funds from parents.
“We are considering whether there is a need to issue another circular. However, there are already circulars that clearly regulate the collection of money from parents. We have advised schools not to collect funds from parents,” Kaluwewa said. He further clarified the Ministry has not instructed schools to raise money to establish digital classrooms.
“The Prime Minister and Minister of Education Dr. Harini Amarasuriya has already announced in Parliament that schools should not collect money from parents for digital classroom projects. That remains our instruction. There is no requirement for digital classrooms in every school, and we have not directed schools to build them,” he said.
Kaluwewa acknowledged the Ministry has received complaints regarding schools seeking financial contributions from parents for digital classroom initiatives.
He added the Ministry plans to provide digital classrooms to more than 6,000 schools by March and stressed that schools should not impose financial burdens on parents for such developments.
“We observed a trend where schools began attempting to create digital classrooms independently. We will inform schools directly of the Ministry’s position, even if not through a new circular,” he said.
The Ministry’s clarification follows calls by the Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) to introduce a new circular explicitly banning schools from charging parents.
CTU Secretary Joseph Stalin claimed that Circular 5/2015 should be suspended to effectively halt fund collections. He alleged that the circular requires schools to apportion expenses among students, resulting in parents being charged amounts ranging from Rs. 8,000 to Rs. 11,000 in secondary schools and approximately Rs. 3,000 in primary schools.
Stalin stated that many parents are struggling to bear such costs and argued that only a new circular, coupled with legal action against violators, would ensure compliance.
In the wake of calls by the Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) to issue a new circular to prevent schools from collecting money from parents, the Education Ministry stated that there is no apparent need to introduce fresh circulars as existing regulations already prohibit such collections.
Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (23), Ministry Secretary, Nalaka Kaluwewa said that several circulars are already in force governing the collection of funds from parents. “We are considering whether there is a need to issue another circular, there are already circulars that clearly regulate the collection of money from parents. We have anyway advised schools not to collect funds from parents."
He also clarified that the Ministry had not instructed schools to raise money to establish digital classrooms. "Prime Minister and Education Minister, Dr. Harini Amarasuriya already announced in the Parliament that schools should not collect money from parents for digital classroom projects. That is our instruction. There is no requirement for digital classrooms in every school, and we have not instructed schools to build them. We have received complaints about schools collecting funds for digital classrooms." Speaking further, Kaluwewa said the Ministry planned to provide digital classrooms to more than 6,000 schools by March and stressed that schools should not impose financial burdens on parents for such developments. “We noticed that a trend emerged where schools started attempting to create digital classrooms on their own. We will inform schools directly about this position, even if not through a new circular,” he said.
The clarification comes after the CTU Secretary Joseph Stalin said that the Government must suspend Circular 5/2015 to effectively stop schools from charging parents. He claimed that the said circular requires schools to divide total expenses among students, resulting in fees ranging from Rs. 11,000 to Rs. 8,000 in secondary schools and about Rs. 3,000 in primary schools being charged from parents. He added that parents are struggling to bear such costs and insisted that only a new circular explicitly banning all collections, along with legal action against violators, would ensure compliance.