The New Sama Samaja Party convened a media briefing in Colombo on Thursday.

At the briefing, Leader of NSSP, Dr. Wickramabahu Karunaratne expressed the following views:

“Has the government cut back on the free education provided by the state? Yes, because the IMF has told them to reduce the budget deficit. So, in order to reduce government expenses they are cutting down on the social services that are a burden on them. They have been forced into a position where they have to cut back on education and health services, as well as concessions given to farmers and fishermen.”

“Every year they cutback on education. However, they say they are not doing it. Expenses of influential families sending their children to receive education also fall into the category of national education expenses. We are not asking about these expenses, we are talking about the allocations for free education…”

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