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Over 200 schools to receive Australian funding via FAO

Published

3 years ago

2023/01/28

Over 200 schools will receive funding from Australia, via the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), to build entrepreneurial school gardens in, to support nutritional security among children.

The entrepreneurial school gardens programme, implemented as part of a project, funded by the Australian governmen,t totalling over USD 2.3 million, is aimed at improving the food and nutritional security of groups most affected by the ongoing economic crisis, particularly women and children.

The programme features a discovery-based learning approach for over 100,000 secondary school, students from grades 8 – 12, where they will be educated on the capacity to transform their school gardens into sources of nutritious produce that will facilitate diverse and healthy eating habits and encourage students to apply entrepreneurial thinking into agriculture. Teachers, from 505 schools, from the three provinces, were also trained on the discovery-based learning methodology, as part of the programme, to improve skills in food security, nutrition, agriculture and entrepreneurship.

The Agriculture club, in each school, will be empowered to operate as a core programme partner that will oversee the coordination and navigation of the programme, alongside school officials. It will also oversee the sale of harvests from the gardens, and will be linked to sales points, including private sector organisations, parents of students, local markets, or the national school meal programme, via FAO, to ensure the harvests of the gardens generate an income – thereby ensuring the sustainability of the gardens beyond the project period.

Australia’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Paul Stephens said, “School gardening has the potential to both improve children’s health and support learning. Involving students in school gardening and teaching them about the benefits of nutrition can have a lasting impact. This programme is helping to highlight the value of growing food for household food security.”

“We are appreciative of this generous assistance from the people of Australia, which has enabled this sustainable school-to-home knowledge transfer approach to strengthen food security among school children,” said FAO Representative in Sri Lanka, Vimlendra Sharan, adding, “School gardens offer rich environments for children to engage in active learning. The knowledge will be transferred through students to their family members and by extension, to the communities, prompting an attitudinal change on food consumption habits and new agricultural concepts.”

FAO will work closely with the Ministry of Education, Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Health and the Chief Secretariat of the Uva, Central and Northern provinces, to educate children and faculty on eco-friendly agricultural practices and nutrition.

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Govt. extends ban on LTTE

Published

2 hours ago

2026/01/13

Sahan Weerasooriya

The NPP government has issued a new extraordinary gazette renewing and extending Sri Lanka’s long-standing ban on the LTTE and several Tamil diaspora organisations and individuals, continuing to designate them as “terrorists”.

The gazette, published recently, replaces a previous gazette issued in May 2025 and reaffirmed the proscription of a wide range of Tamil political and advocacy bodies operating around the world, alongside dozens of named individuals. The government alleged both the organisations and individuals listed are involved in “terrorism-related activities”.

The organisations blacklisted by the Sri Lankan government include:

• Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)

• Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO)

• Tamil Coordinating Committee (TCC)

• World Tamil Movement (WTM)

• Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE)

• World Tamil Relief Fund (WTRF)

• National Council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT)

• Tamil Youth Organisation (TYO)

While the majority of the designations mirror those contained in the May 2025 gazette, the latest document updates identification details and addresses for a number of individuals and introduces at least one additional organisation to the list. All entries have been reissued under new reference numbers for 2026, though the underlying allegations and framing remain unchanged.

Successive governemnts have maintained a sweeping proscription regime against Tamil diaspora groups and individuals. A ban can make it a criminal offence for Sri Lankan citizens to maintain contact with these organisations or their members, severely restricting political engagement and stifling links between the diaspora and the Tamil homeland.

The original mass listings were introduced in 2014 under the administration of Mahinda Rajapaksa. Despite repeated outcry, subsequent governments have continued to uphold and renew the proscription regime, even after the Rajapaksas were voted out of power.

News

Police obtain court order banning Wimal’s protest

Published

2 hours ago

2026/01/13

Sahan Weerasooriya

National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Wimal Weerawansa addresses a gathering outside the Education Ministry on Monday before launching a protest demanding the immediate resignation of Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya as Education Minister over the inclusion of a link to an adult content website in the Grade 06 English module. (Pic by Thushara Atapattu)

Police yesterday (12) obtained an injunction order from the Kaduwela Magistrate’s court against the protest launched by National Freedom Front (NFF) leader and former Minister Wimal Weerawansa opposite the Education Ministry, Isurupaya, at Battaramulla.

Police informed Weerawansa of the court order. In line with the court order, the police informed Weerawansa that the road near the Ministry should not be obstructed and that no sound amplification equipment be used while the GCE Advanced Level (A/L) examination is in progress. The examination, put off due to Cyclone Ditwah, recommenced yesterday.

News

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expresses optimism that Sri Lanka is on the right path to progres

Published

2 hours ago

2026/01/13

Sahan Weerasooriya

FM Herath with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Vijitha Herath held productive discussions with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi today (12/01), during the latter’s brief visit to Sri Lanka.

The meeting aimed at further strengthening bilateral engagement and advancing the Strategic Cooperative Partnership between the two countries. Both Ministers reaffirmed the longstanding friendship and time-tested cooperation between Sri Lanka and China rooted in centuries of exchanges and consolidated since the establishment of diplomatic relations seven decades ago. The discussion also focused on enhancing partnership in the areas of trade, investment, development cooperation and tourism.

Minister Herath extended deep appreciation to the Government and the people of China for the steadfast support extended to Sri Lanka following cyclone Ditwah and requested further support for the second phase of resettlement, relocation and rebuilding, particularly for the restoration of affected infrastructure including identified roads, railways and bridges that are vital to connectivity, economic recovery and daily lives of people. Minister Wang assured China’s fullest support for this initiative and expressed confidence that Sri Lanka will continue its rapid recovery under the leadership of President Anura Kumara Disanayaka. He also welcomed the people-centric policies of the Government and expressed optimism that Sri Lanka is on the right path toward fulfilling aspirations of its people.

Minister Herath expressed appreciation for China’s constructive role in international fora and reiterated Sri Lanka’s firm commitment to the One China Policy and China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Both Ministers also recalled the successful high level exchanges in the recent past, including visits of the President and the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka to China in 2025.