News
CIABOC moved against ‘questionable’ scholarship scheme for teachers
Project rejected by Dullas and GL receives approval
By Saman Indrajith
JVP-led Ceylon Teacher Services Union (CTSU) on Wednesday (29) lodged a complaint with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) over alleged irregularities in awarding foreign postgraduate scholarships to those in the education administrative service.
CTSU General Secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe said that they had requested the CIABOC to investigate the selection process followed by the Education Ministry in awarding full scholarships to 54 officers of the Sri Lanka Education Administration Service (SLEAS) to study in the UK.
Speaking to journalists outside the Bribery Commission Jasyasinghe said: “The World Bank is funding the scholarship scheme and about eight million rupees is to be spent on each beneficiary. The selection process lacks transparency. Therefore we urge the Bribery Commission to look into this.”
Jayasinghe said that each recipient of scholarship would be given eight million rupees as course fee and the ministry was planning to spend Rs 432 million for that purpose alone. “The 54 SLEAS officers is only the first batch. The entire project will benefit 300 SLEAS officers and the total cost will be 2,400 million rupees. We suspect that there is corruption in the selection process and other financial transactions with regard to this first batch, because we know that monies have been paid out of the ministry funds for visas of four selected officers without following due process,” Jayasinghe said.
He said the entire project was questionable and former education ministers Prof. G.L. Peiris and Dullas Alahapperuma had rejected it. “If the government wants to send SLEAS officers overseas for higher education there is a procedure and it can find qualified personnel in a transparent manner.”
Based on the prevailing disaster situation and the upcoming festive season, arrangements have been made to provide a nutrition allowance worth Rs. 5,000 to pregnant mothers.
This allowance, which will be provided only once, will be given to pregnant mothers who were registered at maternal clinics on or before 30 November 2025.
The distribution will take place through the Divisional Secretariat offices from 16 December, as a program of the National Secretariat for Early Childhood Development, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs.
The Situation Report released by the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) at 6:00 AM today (13th December 2025) confirms that 640 persons have died and another 211 persons are missing due to flooding and landslides that took place in Sri Lanka within the past two weeks.
A meeting between representatives of UNICEF and Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya was held on the 10th of December at the Prime Minister’s Office.
During the discussion, an initial review of the new digitalization policy draft was conducted, and it was emphasized that the new digital policy must be formulated to align with the ongoing education reforms.
The Prime Minister highlighted that the digital policy should be developed in a way that supports all five core pillars of the current education reforms, including curriculum reform, infrastructure development, and administrative restructuring.
It was further noted that the current draft is primarily focused on curriculum-related matters, and the digital policy should be structured to influence the overall education reform process.
Extensive discussions were also held on the importance of digital literacy, NEMIS, the provision of digital infrastructure, and minimizing the existing digital divide.
Attention was also drawn to the gaps in the current teacher training mechanisms , and the Prime Minister stressed the need to reduce paper usage.
The meeting was attended by the UNICEF representatives Dr. Emma Brigham and Deborah Wyburn, Secretary to the Prime Minister Pradeep Saputhanthri, Additional Secretary A.B.M. Ashraff, and several other officials.
[Prime Minister’s Media Division]
Pregnant Mothers to receive Rs 5000 Nutrition Allowance in December
640 deaths, 211 missing as at 6:00AM today (13)
New Digitalization Policy draft reviewed
The government is taking steps to streamline trade facilitation, customs processes, investment approvals, and improving export facilities – Prime Minister
Showers will occur in the Northern, North-Central, Eastern, Uva, Central and North-Western provinces.
Big fossil fuel companies are responsible for climate crisis but poor countries like Sri Lanka are battered by it – Greenpeace South Asia
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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