News
Schools to remain open till end December
By Rathindra Kuruwita
Minister of Education, Susil Premajayantha said that plans were undersay to keep schools open until 22 or 23 December 2022.The minister said that he had spoken to all stakeholders in the education sector and everyone had agreed the need to keep schools open.
“We have to cover the 2022 syllabus. We have also taken steps to prepare text books, and obtain the inputs needed such as paper and equipment for education institutions to function. We have spoken to the Treasury to see if we can get necessary funding from credit lines extended to us. We have also taken steps to provide school uniform matieral for 2023. We have prepared the necessary estimates and soon they will be given to the treasury,” the Minister said.Minister Premajayantha said they were also concerned about the nutrition of students. The government already provided a mid-day meal to 1.1 pre school and primary school students in selected areas.
However, the daily allocation for each child was not adequate given the recent price hikes and the allocation has to be doubled at least, he said.
“We have prepared a Cabinet paper. I have also held meetings with the World Food Programme, the United National Development Fund and United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund. I have also held discussions with ambassadors of friendly nations. I am sure we will be able to secure the necessary funds and develop programmes,” he said.
The Minister said that many countries across the world provided free midday meals to students. Given the rising economic difficulties, expansion of the midday meal programme becomes doubly important, he said, adding that they were trying to minimise the corruption and irregularities in enrolling students to tier one schools. He said there were 393 national schools, but the real competition was to enter one of 34 tier one schools in major cities in the country.
“There is too much competition and too little space in these schools. There are a lot of irregularities when entering students in the classes. There is a circular specifying how many students can be in one class, bit this is blatantly violated in many tier one schools,” he said.
“We have released cutoff marks for Grade Five scholarship examination. We need to enroll these students in national schools. We need to minimise irregularities at school level,” he said.
The situation report issued by the Disaster Management Centre at 1800hrs today (5th December) confirms that 607 persons have died due to the adverse weather conditions while the number of missing persons has reduced to 214.
The number of persons affected topped the 2 million mark (2,082,195).
The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) formally took delivery of the EX- United States Coast Guard Cutter, USCGC DECISIVE, provided by the United States to SLN, at a ceremony held at the United
States Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore on 02 Dec 25. The event was also attended by the Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Kanchana Banagoda.
The ship formally joined the SLN fleet on 02 December under the pennant number P 628 and the main mast of the ship will fly the National Flag effective from that date.
Aiming to strengthen and develop partnerships to overcome common challenges in the maritime domain, the U.S. Coast Guard has previously provided 03 ships to SLN and they are currently patrolling island waters under the names of ‘Samudura’ (P 621), ‘Gajabahu’(P 626), and ‘Vijayabahu’ (P 627).
As an extension of partnership ties that bring value to each other’s services, Ex-USCGC DECISIVE was transferred as the fourth ship to be handed to SLN.
Ex-USCGC DECISIVE, a ‘B-Type Reliance Class 210-foot Cutter’, measures 64m in length, and having endurance of 6000 NM at cruising speed. Further, she has been designed for a
crew of 100 and is equipped with weapons and machinery.
The ship which was used by the U.S. Coast Guard has rendered exceptional service during her tenure by curbing illegal activities, including smuggling of narcotics in U.S. waters.
Sri Lanka inherits an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) that is seven times larger than the landmass. In such a backdrop, the Navy is determined to deploy this vessel in wide-ranging
operations that include the conservation of marine resources in the region and the search and rescue of naval and fishing communities in distress. Thereby, the Navy will be able to utilize
this vessel efficiently in the future to achieve the national aspiration, while ensuring safe and secure seas for all economic affairs.
The formal handing over – taking over ceremony was also distinguished by the presence of the Deputy Chief Acquisition Officer and Director of Domain & Integration Services U.S. Coast
Guard, James L. Knight, Deputy Assistant Secretary of War for South and Southeast Asia, Dr. Andrew Byers, the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the United States, Mahinda Samarasinghe, Commanding Officer designate of P 628, Captain Gayan Wickramasuriya as well as a group of officials from the Embassy of Sri Lanka in United States and the State Department
of the United State
The situation report issued by the Disaster Management Center at 0600hrs today [5th December] confirms that 486 persons have died and another 341 persons are missing after the devastating weather conditions in the past week.
171,778 persons have been displaced and have taken refuge at 1,231 safety centers established by the government.
Death toll rises to 607, missing persons reduce to 214 at 1800hrs today (5)
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486 dead, 341 missing, 171,778 displaced as at 0600hrs today [05]
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