“WE CAN’T BAN BIG MATCHES”

In response to the exhortation by a group of Buddhist monks to ban school big matches, Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said on Tuesday that it can’t be done.

The minister said the call was not new and there had been requests in the past, too, to ban big matches.

“We can’t ban school big matches. It is not a practical move to deal with students’ undisciplined actions,” he told Daily Mirror.

However, he said there was a discussion held recently by the ministry with school principals on measures to preclude violent incidents involving schoolboys during the coming school cricket season.

He said the ministry had also requested the law enforcement authorities, including the IGP, to take action to minimise incidents -- which are a public nuisance -- during the big matches.

At a meeting held with several Colombo school principals on Thursday, the minister had instructed them to put in place a strong mechanism to uphold discipline among the students.

At the meeting the recent clashes between groups of students from Ananda College and Nalanda College and another incident at D. S. Senanayake College had been discussed. Measures that could be taken during the big match season to prevent such clashes had also been discussed.

On Monday, a group of leading Buddhist monks, including the Ven. Omalpe Sobitha Thera and the Ven. Iththapane Dhammalankara Mahanayake Thera, requested the government to ban school big matches saying many students fall prey to drugs and alcohol during these matches.