The Sri Lankan Prime Minister has said reviving “fallen” education in the North would take at least another ten years.
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said this at Temple Trees on Wednesday at a ceremony to hand out permanent appointment letters for around 400 teachers to the Northern Province.
“The whole system of education in the North had fallen today. What have to do is to lay the foundation stone to revive this system in the province. It will take time,” he said.
“I cannot say we can do this in one year as it will take at least ten years. We have to introduce a new education system within the next ten years. There should be a familiar system for the North. We need the support of retired principals and teachers to do it. I have requested the Minister of Education to get the support of the Provincial Council to set up a new education programme for the province. However, one cannot give a dead line for it,” the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister and the Governor of the Northern Province said that the Northern Province and Jaffna in particular had once held the highest standings in education but that standards had fallen during and after the war.
Meanwhile a State Minister of Education blamed “people in the North” for holding the province back.
