Increase in school dropouts

by Ananda KANNANGARA

The Probation and Childcare Services Department (PCSD) says that nearly 180,000 school dropouts are reported annually from our country and this situation will in future lead to the increase in child labour, child trafficking and other child abuse cases.

According to PCSD, the majority of school dropouts are reported from the plantation sector and from low income families.

Quoting recent statistics, PCSD Commissioner Sarath Abeygunawardena told the Junior Observer that many children between 11 and 16 years interrupt their educational activities due to poverty.

He said many parents not having fixed employment due to their low educational backgrounds, mothers leaving for foreign jobs and the closure of some schools are the main reasons children give up attending school at an early age and find temporary jobs or otherwise indulge in various unlawful activities.

"We have to take precautionary measures at this crucial moment to arrest this situation, taking into consideration the future prospects of our country, he said.

Abeygunawardena also said that a workshop was conducted at Palindanuwara, Agalawatta to create an awareness among parents about the importance of sending their children to schools. Meanwhile, over 300 children who gave up their school education due to various reasons were re-admitted to schools.

He said more workshops of this nature will be conducted in other districts in the near future.

A day to focus on bio-diversity

Today the world is faced with many challenges due a lack of awareness of the biological diversity of different countries and and it's impact on human life and the world in general .

As biological diversity is a complex concept which means different things to different people many are unaware of the adverse effects their careless actions have in this area.

Explained in the simplest of terms, biological diversity is the variety of life and its processes; and it includes the variety of living organisms, the genetic differences among them, and the communities and ecosystems in which they occur.

It is with with the objective of creating an awareness of the impact of biological diversity on the environment and the life of the people that a special day was designated by the United Nations as Internationa Biological Diversity Day on May 22, which is today.

The text of the Convention on Biological Diversity was adopted by the United Nations at a conference in Nairobi, Kenya on May 1992. Since 2001, the International Day for Biological Diversity is celebrated each year on the anniversary of this date.

Each year, the International Day for Biodiversity focuses on a particular theme and this year's theme is on the diversity of forestry. One of the most biologically diverse forests in the world, the Sinharaja Forest which is also a World Heritage site is in our country. We should make use of this day to focus our attention on the present state of this valuable forest as well as other forests in the country.

Many environmentalists are of the view that the Sinharaja forest which has a rich bio- diversity is being slowly but surely destroyed due to the lack of stringent laws to protect the fauna and the flora of this forest. Forests are an intregal part of the environment and need to be protected and preserved. So, if and when you do visit any of the country's forests, especially the great Sinharaja forest make sure you leave the place as it was, without polluting the place or causing damage to even the smallest of plants there.