Low student turnout at schools in and around Colombo as second term begins- Education Ministry

The Education Ministry today (May 06) said that a poor turnout of students had been recorded at schools in and around Colombo.

Issuing a press release, the Ministry noted that the attendance of students in village schools had however shown remarkable figures. "Some schools had an attendance of more than 80 percent," the press release read adding that the attendance of teachers too was satisfactory.

Meanwhile, Principals in Puttalam too observed a poor turnout of students recorded upon re-opening of schools for the second term today.

As such, a very few number of students attended the 205 schools and primary schools in the Puttalam Education Zone with as few as 10 students attending certain schools. Some students had not attended school sessions since the school services buses had not been in operation today, school officials said.

However, security arrangements had been tightened as police, army and civil security forces personnel were deployed for security. The Police Officer-in-Charge of Puttalam, Superintendent J.A. Chandrasena was also involved in creating awareness on the security measures among teachers and students.

(Reporting and pics by Hiran Priyankara Jayasinghe)