- CTU claims NPP Govt introduced closures in structural committee circulars
Amid reports that the number of schools has fallen by about 200 since the National People’s Power (NPP) Government came to power, the Education Ministry stated that school closures are part of a general process carried out under Provincial structural circulars and are not being implemented under any special programme.
When contacted by The Daily Morning, Ministry Secretary Nalaka Kaluwewa said that there are provisions in the structural circulars for schools to be closed for various reasons, including a decline in student numbers and the failure to enroll new students. “Generally, school closures happen every year. This happens in different Provinces under their structural circulars due to reasons such as a reduction in the number of students and children not entering the school,” he said. He also said that the circular sets out the procedure to be followed when a school has to be closed. “The circular states how a school should be closed if it is necessary to close one. If any school closure has happened, they must have happened under the prescribed procedure. However, this is not something new. It happened throughout the past,” he said.
His comments came after the Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) claimed that the number of schools had fallen from 10,290 when the NPP Government came to power to around 10,050 at present. On an earlier occasion, CTU President Priyantha Fernando said: “This included both national and Provincial schools. By now, that number has gone down by 240.”
When queried about Kaluwewa's response, Fernando said that school closures had not previously been included in the structural committee circulars and that the provision was introduced last year (in 2025) under the current Government. “Before that, schools were not closed based on policy decisions. Schools were closed based on essential reasons. Before 2024, schools were very rarely closed. The issue is that school closures are now taking place at a faster rate."