For Atawala Primary School ‘Nearest is NOT the Best’
View(s):“The Primary School at Atawala, situated in a picturesque village close to the Dumbara Ranges or, the Knuckles Forest, has been closed down by the authorities” villagers said. There are a little over 60 families living in this village with children mostly of school-going age who eagerly look forward to attending school.
Arrangements have been made for the children to go to Mahala Kotuwa Vidyalaya which is quite a long distance away. Villagers complained that the former principal, saying there weren’t enough students, forced the parents to remove their children from this school, which made teachers reluctant to come to school, resulting in this unfortunate situation.
Atawala Primary School has all the necessary infrastructure and facilities on a 2-acre plot of land, which is now becoming an eye sore by the day. Villagers say that, with tourism flourishing, male teachers are engaged in various business activities. Female teachers should be appointed to this school and they are prepared to provide everything they need.
A villager said, “We see on TV daily that the nearest school is the best school, but our closest school is now closed. If this school is open, we are ready to do everything to send our children to this school.” “Atawala Meda Ela in the Laggala Udasiya Paththuwa is a generations-old village and we condemn depriving them of their basic rights by certain officials” said former chairman of the Rattota Local Council, Athula Wickremanayaike.”
Laggala Local Councillor (UNP) Anusha Kumari Ratnaike said “We kept every one informed of this and asked them to restart the school for our children, but there is no positive response so far. To take children to Mahala Kotuwa we have to pay the three-wheelers Rs 12,000 a month. There are no government servants here. Most of the villagers depend on agriculture. So we urgently ask the authorities to re-start our school from this year.”
On making inquiries, Central Province Secretary Sisira Ratnaike said, “We will try to find the reasons for closing it down and take necessary action.” - Mahesh Keerthiratne