Need to protect artefacts stressed

S.M. Wijayaratne, Kurunegala Cor.

Children in government schools in Kurunegala and Puttalam Districts of the North Western Province are to be educated on the importance of protecting our valuable artefacts and historic places of artefacts and historic places of worship.

This program is to be implemented by the Ministry of National Heritage in collaboration with the Ministry of Education. About 1,500 cases of thefts of our artefacts and 250 plundering of historic Buddhist Shrines have been reported during past four years to the police authorities. Schoolchildren are to be encouraged to inform police authorities if they are aware of any inforamtion with regard to thefts of artefacts and informants will be rewarded.

Accordingly, 125 awareness program on the vital responsibility of protecting our age-old artefacts of great value will be held for school community of the NWP during the next two months, a senior Zonal Director of Education in the Kurunegala District told Sunday Observer at an interview recently.