The Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) has called for the Government to suspend Circular 5/2015 to effectively stop schools from collecting money from parents. 

Speaking to The Daily Morning, CTU President Priyantha Fernando said while suspending the said circular, the Government must also provide adequate facilities and financial allocations to ensure that schools do not require student contributions for maintenance. “Well-reputed major schools in Colombo hold events and raise funds, yet, the rural schools have no such facilities. Hence, it is the Government’s responsibility to provide facilities for these schools; otherwise, merely asking the schools to stop collecting money is not effective at all,” he added.

According to the Union, Circular 5/2015 instructs that a school’s total expenses be divided by its number of students for collection. They claim this is why secondary schools collect between Rs. 8,000 to Rs. 11,000, while primary schools collect amounts from Rs. 3,000. He argued that parents cannot bear such costs under the current economic circumstances.

The CTU’s call for long-term solutions comes as the Prime Minister and Education Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya reiterated in Parliament that schools have been issued strict instructions not to collect money from parents to buy smart boards. The Education Ministry had announced a ban on soliciting funds for school celebrations in 2025.