Primary school system on the verge of collapse

COLOMBO (News 1st) - The education sector of this country faces a number of issues at present. Reports indicate that 433 schools have not received a single application for Grade one students. According to the statistics issued by the Ministry of Education for the year 2017, a total of 10,194 government schools are currently in operation. 353 of them function as national schools. 4,165,964 students study at these schools with 241,591 teachers conducting classes. According to a census of the schools in 2017, 1100 government schools had only received less than 5 Grade 01 applications while 2330 schools had only received less than 10 applications. The Ratnapura district is reported as the district with the highest number of schools that have not even received a single application. The number stands at 49. The census also revealed that 19 schools in the Western Province did not receive a single grade one application. Expressing his views on the matter, General Secretary of the Ceylon Teacher's Association, Joseph Stalin stated that the Education Ministry of the country is planning to allow the schools to eventually shut down. He also continued to say that although the government conducts various programs such as one known as the closest school is the best school (Langama Pasala, Hondama Pasala) they continue to allow schools to shut down. Stalin says that although there are 353 National schools that there prevail only 16 popular schools resulting in the students enrolling in these schools due to the high facilities and adequate teachers provided to them by the government. " 4 years ago in 2011, the court issued an order that the number of students per classroom should be 35 from the year 2016... The facilities that are being given to these popular schools should also be given to other schools. It's only then that parents will look to these schools" added Joseph Stalin. Furthermore, the census also revealed that a total of 165 government schools continue its operations in a backdrop where the students do not even have access to water. The census also identified 4,551 schools that are not equipped with computer facilities. General secretary of the Ceylon Teachers Union Mahinda Jayasinghe believes that both the Government and current education minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam have failed to identify the big issues that the education system is facing. Jayasinghe questioned whether this was a ploy by the Government itself to force these schools to close their doors.