President never curtailed education

Nimal Wijesinghe Anuradhapura Additional District group corr

President Mahinda Rajapaksa never allowed the country's education system to collapse even during the peak of the war against LTTE terrorism said North Central Province Chief Minister Berty Premalal Dissanayake.

The President despite the colossal sums of money required for keeping the crucial battle going ahead, did not reduce the quota of free school textbooks or the free school uniforms to the student community neither he reduced or limited the annual budgetary allocations reserved for the educational sector, he said.

He was speaking at a book launching ceremony at the Anuradhapura Swarnapali National School's auditorium, in Anuradhapura on March 17.

At the ceremony a collection of short stories created by the students studying at Anuradhapura educational zone titled Katha Karana Bonikka (speaking doll) was launched with Chief Minister Berty Premalal participating as the chief guest.

The Chief Minister emphasised that the student community in the NCP was decending from the generation of our ancient kings and as such endowed with so much of talents, skills and wisdom. The North Central Provincial Council had embarked on an intensive and extensive program to revive the provincial education which was paralysed and stagnated due to 30 years of LTTE terrorism he said. Chief Incumbent of the Anuradhapura Sri Sambuddha Jayanthi temple and also the Asgiriya sects Chief Sanga Nayaka in the North Central Province Ven Nugethenne Pagnananda Nayake Thera in his Anusasana said the criticism that the educational system in the North Central Province had broken down and not up to the standard is not acceptable.

The Nayaka thera pointed out that according to statistics the majority of undergraduates were from the North Central Province. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has endowed the students community a united and peaceful country in which they could concentrate on their higher studies sans terrorism, war and violence.