WPC program to develop schools marked for closure

By Ranil Wijayapala

The Western Provincial Council (WPC) has initiated a program to protect schools in the province facing imminent closure, due to few students attending it, by allocating human and physical resources to make them popular schools among students, Western Province Chief Minister Prasanna Ranathunga said.

The Chief Minister said that they have identified 91 schools with less than 50 students and added that they are determined not to close any of these schools.

He said parents living around these schools are reluctant to send children to these schools as they are not popular schools. "Therefore, these schools face closure due few children attending it.

But we are determined to improve these schools without allowing them to be closed," the Chief Minister added.

He said the Provincial Education Ministry will start a program to provide principals, teachers and other physical resources such as buildings and computer laboratories to make them more functional and popular among children.

"To develop these schools we will allocate Rs. 500,000 for each school to improve the physical resources in these schools," the Chief Minister said.

Chief Minister Prasanna Ranthunga also said that people living around these schools should help in this endeavour of protecting these schools from closure by sending their children to these schools.

"People should support us to protect the schools in their villages," he said.

The Minister also said that nine schools which had been closed during the past few years due to various reasons have been reopened after providing better facilities.

"Now there are about 100 to 150 students attending these schools," he said.