Fire kills three female Sri Lankan students in Azerbaijan

COLOMBO (News 1st) - Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the Sri Lanka Mission in Tehran is presently coordinating with the relevant authorities in Azerbaijan, to repatriate the remains of the three students, who were killed in a fire. Three Sri Lankan university students, aged 21,23 and 25, studying at Western Caspian University in Baku, Azerbaijan died at their apartment as a result of suffocation from smoke inhalation due to a fire that had occurred on January 9th. The three Sri Lankan students, had left to Azerbaijan in August last year. Foreign media reported, that the three students had died due to inhaling poisonous gas that was released from a fire, that had erupted in the basement of the two-story house they occupied in the area of Beyil in Baku. Foreign media added, the reason for the fire was a default in an electronic equipment, and the police and fire brigade of Azerbaijan are conducting further investigations into the incident. The deceased, have been identified as residents of Kaduwela and Piliyandala. Two of the victims, one named Malsha Sandeepani and the other, Tharuki Amaya, aged 23 and 21 respectively, are members of the same family, and residents of Bokundara, Piliyandala. It has been reported that the sister of the father of the two victims, has also passed away due to a heart condition. 24-year-old Amodya Madu Hansi Jayakody, another student who fell victim to Azerbaijan, is a resident of Pahatha Bomiriya, Kaduwela. Meanwhile, during a media briefing today, Minister of Higher Education, Dr Bandula Gunewardena conveyed his deepest condolences to the bereaved families. He added that due to obstacles in the local education system students have to go abroad to read for a degree. He further added that he expects to design a system to monitor the institutions that send students overseas for higher education. He stated that as a long term resolution he expects to provide all the students degrees by establishing foreign universities in the country. He shared that only a mere amount such as 30,000 students are provided access to enter universities annually and the parents have to pay a fortune to send their children abroad for their education. Minister further added that he has proposed to the government for a plot of land to construct recognized foreign universities and let the local students graduate with a recognized degree at a cheaper price. The unfortunate state of the school education and university education system at present is one of the many examples that prove the government's failure to develop the education system in Sri Lanka. While parents spend their entire fortune on national schools with the intention of providing proper education to their children, the rural school system in Sri Lanka has weakened due to the government's failure to allocate sufficient funds for their development. Though Sri Lanka prides itself over the concept of free education, at present students are compelled to fulfil their educational needs through tuition. However, the standard of Sri Lanka's education system remains very low compared to global educational standards. Dilapidated schools and dilapidated sports equipment is no surprise to many children in Sri Lanka. Parents who fail to admit their children to a national school, resort to admitting them to international schools. Students deprived of opportunities in local universities, leaving for privately funded overseas education is common at present. While the future generation of our motherland continues to struggle with their future, the politicians in our country continue their struggle to achieve their narrow political objectives. It has now come to a point where people are defrauded and lured into sending their children for substandard overseas educational institutions.