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30,000 School dropouts in 2013: BG
View(s):Education Minister Bandula Gunewardena said that 29,878 schoolchildren between Grade 1 and Grade 10 (aged 5-14 years) dropped out of school in 2013.
Minister Gunewardena said this includes those who left school after the GCE Ordinary Level and GCE Advanced Level exams.
According to him, 39,087 school dropouts were reported in 1997, 45,247 reported in 2005 and 29,878 in 2013.
The Minister told Parliament recently that majority of the students were from the estate sector and from remote schools, and the main reason being poverty, compelling children to assist their families economically, or unable to afford school material, meals, fees, transport etc.
The Minister said this was revealed in a study conducted by a team led by Prof Swarna Jayaweera with the assistance of UNICEF.
The case study, ‘Out of School Children of Sri Lanka’ stated that uneven distribution of schools, inadequate school infrastructure facilities, problems with teacher deployment and training, deficiencies in the teaching–learning process, corporal punishment, poor teacher conduct and lack of facilities for disabled children were some of the reasons for students dropping out of school.
The report also suggested extending the school meals programme to Secondary schools in disadvantaged locations.
The Minister said his Ministry is presently providing school uniforms, a pair of shoes and extra uniform material to students in remote areas, afternoon meals for primary students, literacy and counseling classes, medical camps, sisu-seriya transport facility, providing special needs equipment and a 10% allowance for special education teachers.
He said the Ministry also introduced child-friendly school concept toreduce school dropouts. (NF)