News
Changed school name boards spring up with VIP names
The Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU) claims politicians are changing the name boards of schools in the Western Province to include their own names, in alleged gratitude for the work they do for the schools.
It is claimed Madiwela Sri Rahula Vidyalaya has been renamed Isuru Maha Vidyalaya after Western Province Chief Minister Isuru Devapriya.
In a similar move, Provincial Council Chairman Sunil Wijeratne has proposed that Bulugahagoda Maha Vidyalaya in the Gampaha district change its name to Sunil Wijeratne Maha Vidyalaya.
Another school, Kiridiwela Sangamitha Balika Vidyalaya, also in the Gampaha district, has a three-storey building named after Provincial Council member Upali Wijeratne.
Chief Minister Devapriya told the Sunday Times he had no hand in the change of name of Madiwela Sri Rahula Vidyalaya to Isuru Maha Vidyalaya and that it was the parents of the school’s pupils who had decided on the move.
He said this had been done as a token of appreciation for the work he had done for the school. “The school was in a bad state, almost on the verge of closure, and I took it upon me to reconstruct and rejuvenate it,” he said.
Meanwhile, he noted, this issue was nothing new as a playground in Mirihana had been named Isuru Devapriya Sports Pavilion.
Western Province Education Minister Ranjith Somawansa said protocol should be followed in changing names of schools. There was no provision to change the name boards and if at all there were to be a change a school could not be named after a living person, he said.