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Textbooks to stores: Union says school authorities in confusion
View(s):The Education Ministry has failed to issue a clear directive with regard to the distribution of school textbooks for next year and as a result the books are being kept in stores, a teacher union has charged.
The Ceylon Teachers Union said the school authorities had held back the distribution of the books as it was not clear to them whether the students would be promoted to the next grade from January next year or they would continue in the same grade for three more months next year to complete the syllabus. In most schools, teachers could not complete the syllabuses due to school closures during the first and second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The school authorities are confused and holding back the textbooks,” CTU general secretary Joseph Stalin said.
He also said the distribution of uniforms had also been delayed.
Early this year, the Government said it would distribute uniform material directly to the students instead of giving them vouchers to collect it from shops.
Schools were closed on December 23 for third-term holidays and will be reopened on January 11 for grades one to five, except for schools in the Western Province and locked down areas.