By Wimal Nanayakkara:
Although Sri Lanka has provided universal free education since 1939, around one-fifth of poor children drop out of school after the age of 14 years and another-two thirds after the age of 16 years. Comparison of estimates based on the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES)-2012/13 and HIES-2016, conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS), show only a marginal improvement.
With
the closure of schools following the COVID-19 outbreak and the sudden shift to
online learning, poor children with no access to e-learning opportunities risk
falling even
further behind. In this context, some proposals made in
Budget 2021 to improve the education system and reduce poverty will benefit
Wed, Dec 23, 2020, 10:15 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka. Dec 23, Colombo: Anusha Palpita, a senior officer in the Sri Lanka Administrative Service, has been appointed as the new Secretary to the Ministry of Industries from January 1, 2021.
Anusha Palpita was the former Director General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) during the presidency of Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Anusha Palpita has also served as the Additional Secretary of Ministry of Home Affairs in the previous government.
Palpita along with Lalith Weeratunga, Senior adviser to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who were convicted in the Sil Redi distribution case and sentenced to three years in prison were acquitted from all charges and released last month by the Court of Appeal.
After requesting govt to scrap Speaker s traditional budget dinner, SJB has grand five-star do same night – The Island island.lk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from island.lk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
State Health Ministry gets Social Services Dept. and Elders Secretariat
Institutes coming under Ministry of Technology headed by President also named
The 1990 Suwaseriya Foundation, Department of Social Services and the National Council and Secretariat for Elders have been placed under the newly-appointed State Minister of Primary Health Care, Epidemics and COVID Disease Control Sudharshini Fernandopulle.
Under the subjects and functions assigned to the State Ministry, it is tasked with assisting in the formulation of policies in relation to the subject of Primary Health Care, Epidemics and COVID Disease Control for the creation of a ‘Healthy Community’ under the direction and guidance of the Minister of Health.
By Norman Palihawadane
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has recorded statements from 255 individuals up to yesterday regarding the recent Mahara Prison riot.
Police Spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana told
The Island that 27 statements had been recorded on Saturday (12) alone. Among them were statements from 11 prison officials and 16 inmates.
The CID launched investigations into the incidents on Dec 1.
The expert committee appointed for the conducting of postmortems of the inmates who died in the Mahara Prison riot had so far completed two examinations, DIG Rohana said, adding that reports in that regard were due to be submitted to the court.
Eleven inmates died in the recent violent events at the Mahara Prison and eight of them were diagnosed with COVID-19 infection posthumously.