Schools had been closed for last two weeks in urban areas due to fuel crisis
Sri Lanka’s existing stock of petrol, diesel expected to run out in days
MOHAMMED RASOOLDEEN
COLOMBO: Schools across Sri Lanka will be closed for one week starting Monday, the education ministry has announced, as the island nation struggles to find enough money to replenish its supply while it is fast running out of fuel.
Sri Lanka is grappling with its worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948, and has for months lacked the foreign currency to finance the import of essential goods, including fuel, food, and medicines.
The country’s existing stock of petrol and diesel is only sufficient for a few more days, and is now limited to only provide essential services, such as health, public transport, and food distribution. Long queues of up to five meters have been sighted in the capital Colombo, as people waited for more than 48 hours to fill up their vehicles.
With the worsening economic turmoil, the Ministry of Education has announced an early “holiday week” for all schools across the island, following an official review of the “notifications about the distribution of fuel” in the country.
“The week from 4 July 2022 to 8 July 2022 will be declared as a holiday week for all government schools and government-approved private schools across the island,” a circular issued by the ministry on Sunday reads.
The latest announcement comes after schools in Colombo and other urban areas were closed for two weeks in a row and lessons were replaced with online classes, with officials previously citing transportation difficulties caused by the current fuel crisis.
The extended closures have raised concerns among Sri Lankans, as some are worried about how the crisis would affect the future of the younger generation.
“Simply closing schools will damage the future of the next generation,” Prof. Chandima Wijegunawardena, leader of the Sri Lanka Humanity Party, told Arab News.
“It’s sad that the political blunder of the parliamentarians is affecting the children’s education.”
As the economic meltdown triggered a political crisis, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has faced accusations of corruption and economic mismanagement, with anti-government protesters taking to the streets for months to demand his resignation.
Wijegunawardena said the government should implement a system that allows students to attend schools closest to their homes.
“It’s a scheme that allows children to walk to schools nearby their homes, so the rule can apply to teachers and other staff too,” he said. “Policies and principles can be changed with the changing times.”
Ismeth Fatima, principal of Zahira College in Colombo, said students shouldn’t be deprived from attending schools in person.
“Let them go to the nearby school and teachers transferred to their respective places of origin so they can cut down on the travel,” Fatima told Arab News.
“It is sad the country has to undergo this ordeal,” she said. “A school is a school, we cannot expect the children to learn properly in their own respective home environment.”
Online learning as an alternative has also worried educators, with MRM Rifky, principal of Al-Humaisara National School located in Beruwala, a town 60 kilometers south of Colombo, saying that the students at his school have not been attending these virtual classes.
“Online education is an utter failure,” he told Arab News.
The two years of the COVID-19 pandemic have already deprived children in Sri Lanka of their education experience, said women’s rights activist Shreen Saroor.
“Now with this ad-hoc management of the education system, Sri Lanka will lose out our history and pride.” (Arab News)
