Mullaitivu schools :

Governor lashes out at critics

by P. Krishnaswamy

Northern Province Governor Maj.Gen. G.A. Chandrasiri reacted strongly to allegations that school-going children of Mullaitivu district have been deprived of their education because 17 schools remain closed in the district for more than three years.

He said that certain political parties, NGOs and organisations representing teachers remain blind to the fact that the Government has, since May 2009, re-opened 990 out of 1189 schools, that remained non-functional or partly functional, after renovating or rebuilding many of them.

They only point an accusing finger at the Government for not opening some schools in the Mullaitivu district which was the last bastion of the LTTE and experienced pitched battles in the days prior to the elimination of the LTTE. Many areas of the district are heavily mined. Schools are being re-opened in pace with the demining and resettlement process, he said.

The Government has spent several billions of rupees to provide maximum educational facilities for the Northern children who had unfortunately been deprived of it during the LTTE terror. The Government's successful efforts to restore educational facilities to the Northern children have been praised from even many world educational organisations.

But these political parties and NGOs, who pretend not to understand the realities on the ground, are only bent upon accusing the Government, the Governor said. The Government has allocated Rs. 61,000 million to accelerate many development projects in the Jaffna district in an effort to offset the disparity suffered by the people during the three-decade-long LTTE terrorism, Another of Rs. 5,000 million has been allocated to the Northern Provincial Council under the budget for development activities in the province, the Governor said. Rs. 1,600 million has been earmarked for resettlement of displaced families in the High Security Zones (HSZs), he said.