News
No child should be deprived of vocational or higher education due to poverty – PM
Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that all government strategic plans must be formulated in a manner that ensures no child in the country is deprived of vocational education or any other educational opportunity due to economic hardship.
The Prime Minister made these remarks while addressing a workshop on budget formulation and strategic planning of institutions affiliated with the vocational education sector, held on 29th and 30th of January 2026 at the Grand Monarch.
The workshop was organized with the participation of heads and senior officials of nine institutions, including two universities affiliated with the vocational education sector.
The Prime Minister pointed out that it is essential to align the development plans of key institutions and the affiliated institutions with the National Economic Development Plan.
The Prime Minister stated that while educational institutions produce individuals with vocational knowledge, reforms must also nurture compassion, empathy, care for others, and ethical values. The Prime Minister noted that the objective of this initiative is to nurture professionals enriched by humanity.
She further emphasized that it is the responsibility of the government to further expand pathways for children who are experiencing economical disadvantages to access vocational education and secure their future.
Attention was also drawn to the sectors of AI revolution and the future of vocational education. The Prime Minister observed that there is still no comprehensive global understanding of the changes taking place in the world of work and vocational fields due to artificial intelligence (AI). She stressed that integrating vocational education into the mainstream education process through educational reforms is an urgent necessity at this time.
The revolution brought about by AI technology is often driven by profit. Just as we were exploited during past industrial revolutions, we must ensure that we are not left behind or marginalized in this revolution. We must not merely confine ourselves to a data center.
The Prime Minister highlighted that while teaching and learning activities can be carried out online, the impact of technology is limited in professions involving human care and compassion, such as childcare and caregiving services underscoring the importance of developing soft skills and adopting a human-centered approach.
It was discussed that the flexible pathways should be created to enable a student to progress continuously through vocational education up to doctoral level, as well as to re-enter education while being employed (lateral entry). While ensuring such flexibility in the system, maintaining high standards and quality in education was highlighted as essential to ensuring credibility.
The event was attended by the Deputy Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr. Madhura Senevirathna, Deputy Minister of Vocational Education Nalin Hewage, Secretary to the Ministry of Education Nalaka Kaluwewa, Vice Chancellor of the University of Vocational Technology Professor Prasanna Premadasa, Vice Chancellor of the Ocean University Professor Nalin Rathnayake, Chairman of NIBM Dr. G. Thantirigama, Director General D.M.A. Kulasooriya, and several other officials.
(Prime Minister’s Media Division)
During an operation conducted in the dark hours of 22 Feb 26, the Sri Lanka Navy seized an Indian fishing boat and apprehended twelve (12) Indian fishermen while they were poaching in Sri Lankan waters, in the sea area south of Mannar.
The seized boat and the Indian fishermen were handed over to the Fisheries Inspector of Dikovita for onward legal proceedings.
FSL assures legal backing for them
Families of those sentenced to death by the Three-member Gampaha High Trial-at-Bar, over the killing of SLPP MP Amarakeerthi Atukorale, and his police bodyguard, met a senior official of the Presidential Secretariat, yesterday (23), to seek backing for their move to appeal against the verdict.
Having made representations, they addressed the media, outside the Presidential Secretariat, where they declared their intention to move the higher court against the decision.
The SLPP MP and his security officer were killed by an Aragalaya mob on 09 May, 2022, at Nittambuwa. The same day Aragalaya mobs unleashed violence against the then government MPs across the country, torching dozens of their properties.
The Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) yesterday said that they would help the families of those sentenced to death to move court against the Gampaha High Court Trial-at-Bar decision. Responding to The Island queries, FSP spokesman Pubudu Jayagoda said that their representatives had already met the families and necessary work was being done to move the Supreme Court. Twenty three persons were acquitted and four handed six-month prison terms, suspended for five years
Jayagoda said that one of the HC judges differed in the ruling. Asked whether they received backing from any other political party and groups that had been involved in the 2022 protest campaign to defend those who had been found guilty, Jayagoda said such support was lacking.
The JVP/NPP played a significant role in the violent protest campaign that forced President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down. Pointing out that the Attorney General, too, was appealing against the court decision on the basis that the number of persons sentenced to death should be much higher, Jayagoda said that the Nittambuwa incident couldn’t be examined in isolation without taking into consideration the SLPP goon attack on Galle Face protesters on 09 May, 2022. (SF)
Offshore Patrol Vessel P 628 of the Sri Lanka Navy departed Baltimore, USA, for Colombo, on 20 February.
The ex-United States Coast Guard Cutter, USCGC Decisive was officially handed over to the SLN on 02 December, 2025, as the latest addition to the SLN fleet, under the Pennant Number P 628.
Measuring 64 metres in length, this ‘B-Type Reliance Class 210-foot Cutter’ is equipped with advanced technological systems and facilities, capable of conducting extensive surveillance operations spanning up to 6,000 nautical miles per patrol.
The vessel’s voyage to Colombo is historic, possibly marking the longest-ever passage undertaken by a Sri Lanka Navy ship. Covering approximately 14,775 nautical miles, the journey will see the P 628 navigate from Baltimore through the Atlantic Ocean, the Panama Canal (a first for a Sri Lankan naval vessel), the Pacific Ocean, and into the Indian Ocean, via the Straits of Malacca. The ship is expected to arrive in Sri Lanka during the first week of May, 2026.
Navy seize an Indian fishing boat poaching in Mannar seas
Fair weather will prevail except for showers in the Southern province and in Rathnapura, Monaragala and Kaluthara districts after 2.00 p.m
Families of those sentenced to death for killing MP Atukorale seek AKD’s intervention
OPV leaves Baltimore, expected in Colombo in May
Unions sound alarm over coal procurement and power sector restructuring
MAS Group moving to India: CP asks NPP govt. to act
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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