Flood-affected schools:

Education activities to resume soon

by Ananda KANNANGARA

Schools which were damaged by floods in the Eastern, Central and North Central Provinces would be re-constructed soon for the benefit of over 200,000 children who missed their educational activities due to the closing down of schools during the past two weeks, according to the Ministry of Education.

Ministry sources said nearly 50 national and provincial schools in the three provinces were badly damaged and a few other schools partly damaged following the rains.

Education Minister Bandula Gunawardana told the Sunday Observer that steps would be taken to conduct additional classes for the affected children to cover their syllabus.

Minister Gunawardana said several national schools and provincial schools in the rain-affected areas were instructed to close down during the rainy season to save children from various dangers.

"I have already directed officials in national schools and provincial education ministers to submit reports on schools that were closed down during this period," he said.

He said as soon as he received details of such schools, a program would be initiated to re-construct damaged school buildings and help students to carry out their educational activities under a better environment.

He said in addition to school buildings that were damaged in the three provinces during the period, several other schools also need furniture and other valuable educational equipment which were destroyed in the rains followed by heavy floods.

According to Disaster Management Centre statistics, the recent rains had affected nearly 13 districts including Ampara, Batticaloa, Anuradhapura, Moneragala, Trincomalee and Polonnaruwa inthe Eastern, Central and North Central Provinces.

The statistics also revealed that over one million people had sought refuge in temples and Government-provided welfare centres temporarily established in the areas.