Govt’s priority is to revive lost aspirations of the nation’s children in a secure manner: President

The school classroom and the playground are still at a distance from our children. It has become a priority of the government to revive all those lost aspirations of the nation's children in a secure manner, said President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in his World Children’s Day message.

“In the face of the current global pandemic, the restrictions imposed on the imagination of the entire generation of children and their world are many. All our plans are being implemented to bring the children's world closer to them expeditiously,” the President said.

The theme of this year's World Children's Day is "Children before Everything", which is the eternal thought of parents. As a progressive government, I would like to recall that providing the requisite services, facilities as well as creating opportunities for your child within a secure environment, is becoming a reality as pledged in the National Policy Framework ‘Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour’, President Rajapaksa said.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa issuing a World Children’s Day message said Sri Lanka in the recent past has amended several laws to make schooling compulsory and to eliminate child slavery from society.

“As in other parts of the world, the childhood of children in our country has become extremely frustrating due to the Covid-19 epidemic. It is no secret that children are deprived of the freedom to run around and are trapped in homes,” said the Prime Minister urging parents and adults to take care of their children at home so that they do not suffer mental distress at a time when there is a global pandemic.

“Covid-19 vaccination for children has already commenced under our government giving the precedence to children with special needs,” he said.

“Today's children are facing a peculiar situation that is unprecedented in history. The corona disaster has restricted children's world to a limited extent and for two years children have been experiencing many problems in their education as well,” said Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa in his World Children’s Day message.

“The current challenges need to be identified and a national policy for education and children must be formulated and drastic measures must be adopted to end all forms of violence against children. Child abuse, child marriage and child slavery have become a serious threat and the pure dreams of a generation of children who have survived them have to be realised,” Mr. Premadasa said.