The Minister of Education Susil Premajayantha has requested teachers to support the continuation of academic activities of the schools in Colombo and other major cities, which remain closed from tomorrow (20), through online teaching.

The minister made these comments at a press conference held through video conference today (19), to brief the media and public on the future of school education in the coming week.

He said that during the Covid-19 epidemic in 2022, out of 194 school days the school children in the Western Province had lost 100 school days. In the other 8 provinces, children lost 77 days of education. 

He said that the previous year, students in the Western Province had missed out on 127 school days out of 229 and that out of Western Province, students had missed some 86 school days. 

It is in this background that this issue has come up, he said referring to the prevailing fuel crisis in the country. “As the Minister of Education, I do not intend to reduce the number of school days or reduce the number of periods for children.”

It was announced yesterday that all schools within the Colombo Zone and suburbs as well as the schools located in the main cities of other provinces will remain closed next week (from June 20 - 24).

However, the ministry had said all provincial education officials are given permission to continue in-person lessons at schools, where the students, teachers, and principals are not affected by transportation issues.

The minister requested all teachers and principals to implement the online education system for the students of the schools that will be closed.