Parents dismayed over uncertainty of admitting their child to school

Perturbed parents of a number of children recently staged a protest outside Wijeyagosa Vidyalaya in Malapalla, Kottawa, demanding the admission of their child to the school.

While stating that their wait for four months seemed futile as they had not received admissions yet, they said children from distant places had been admitted to school with no consideration given to the area they live in.

Sumith Fernando, a father of one, said even though he lived a stone’s throw away from the school, his child was not given admission. “I was forced to admit my son to a distant school as he is unable to receive the education he deserves from closer to home,” he said.

L. A Wijeratne, another parent, stated that despite numerous discussions with the principal of the school, his child was not granted admission. “I wrote to the Zonal Education Director, the Provincial Education Minister and the Chief Minister about my situation and forwarded the letters I had, but to no avail,” he said.

However, the protest was called off following the Zonal Education Director’s promise of addressing the issue within a week.

Meanwhile, former JVP Urban Councillor Devananda Suraweera who was at the scene, said if children could not get an education at the village school, they were unable to get an education elsewhere. “The parents have been here for a number of months, striving hard to get their children admitted to school,” he said.

In the interim, Jayewardenepura Zonal Education Director Nirmala Ekanayake said according to a circular, only thirty five students could be admitted to a class. However, she agreed to look into the situation.