The Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, met with Mr. Takafumi Kadono, Country Director of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Sri Lanka Resident Mission, at the Prime Minister’s Office today. The discussions underscored ADB’s role as a key development partner and highlighted the importance of collaborative efforts in advancing Sri Lanka’s national development priorities.

During the discussion Prime Minister emphasized the importance of developing school infrastructure, teacher training, and assessment mechanisms. ADB reaffirmed its commitment to addressing challenges in the education sector through ongoing projects, including initiatives to enhance teacher and principal training.

The Sri Lankan delegation at the meeting included Mr. Pradeep Saputhanthri, Secretary to the Prime Minister; Mr. Nalaka Kaluwewe, Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Higher Education, and Vocational Education; Ms. Sagarika Bogahawatta, Additional Secretary to the Prime Minister; Mr. Samantha Bandara, Director General; Mr. Ranjith Garusinghe, Acting Director of the ADB Division; Ms. Dananji Amarasinghe, Assistant Director of the ADB Division at the Department of External Resources, Ministry of Finance; and Ms. Lashinka Dammullage, Director of Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Prime Minister’s Media Division.

The Prime Minister, Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, welcomed H.E.May-Elin Stener, the Ambassador of Norway to Sri Lanka, during a courtesy call at the Prime Minister’s Office today.

The discussion focused on fostering a collaborative partnership between the two nations, with key topics including poverty alleviation, social protection measures, tax reforms, renewable energy, and employment generation. Dr. Amarasuriya emphasized the importance of transforming Sri Lanka’s education system and highlighted ongoing efforts to digitize governance for improved public service delivery.

The meeting was attended by senior officials from both the Norwegian Embassy and the Sri Lankan government, including Mr. Pradeep Saputhanthri, Secretary to the Prime Minister, Ms. Sagarika Bogahawatta, Additional Secretary to the Prime Minister, and Ms. Shobini Gunasekera, Director General of the Europe and North America Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Prime Minister’s Media Division.

Develop a proper system to regulate private degree institutions

The gap between schools should be closed

The people are demanding a comprehensive transformation beyond education reforms, the gap between schools should be closed and a systematic program is needed to regulate private degree institutions, said the Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya.

The Prime Minister said this during discussions with senior officials of institutions affiliated to the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, namely the Asian Teacher Development Center, the National Education Commission, and the Non-Governmental Higher Education Sector.

Pointing out the need to close the gap between schools, the Prime Minister also urged the officials to consider it a national responsibility beyond a job.

The Prime Minister emphasized that a comprehensive educational transformation beyond the educational revolution that took place with the Kannangara education reforms is needed, and that the current government is committed to achieving it.

Pointing out the need for a national education management system, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya recalled the need for a future generation that is compatible with the modern technological world that covers all fields.

Her attention was also drawn to protecting children from fraudulent degree institutions, the legal framework for that, and the quality of non-state higher education institutions.

The event was attended by Secretary to the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education Nalaka Kaluwewa, Director General of the Meepe South Asian Teacher Development Center Kamal Pathmasiri, Additional Secretary of the Non-Governmental Higher Education Division Chandima Janaki, Chairperson of the National Education Commission Padmini Ranaweera and a group of senior officials of those institutions.

Prime Minister’s Media Division

A meeting was held today (18th) at the Prime Minister’s Office between Mr. Pradeep Saputhanthri, Secretary to the Prime Minister and a delegation led by Mr. Yuan Ruidong, Counselor of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

During the meeting the commitment of both countries to strengthen bilateral cooperation in areas of mutual benefit, particularly in enhancing human capital development and economic growth was discussed. Further, exploring potential areas for future collaboration between the Sri Lankan and Chinese governments were discussed under the framework of the Silk Road Village to Village Initiative and the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Connectivity Initiatives.

Key areas of discussion included a potential increase in vocational education and training programs for Sri Lankans, collaboration on developing and improving digital infrastructure in Sri Lanka, and fostering partnerships between Chinese and Sri Lankan Vocational Training Institutes.

Eng. Liu Yang Sloan, representing the Liang Jia He Leadership Institute, along with representatives from the Beijing Industrial Technician College and Chongqing Three Gorges Vocational College also participated in the event.

Prime Minister’s Media Division

The Opposition is Creating Issues That Even the Chinese Government Does Not Have and Spreading False Opinions Through the Media

The Opposition is Focusing on Educational Qualifications Because There is No Theft in the Government

The opposition is engaged in a narrow political agenda by focusing on educational qualifications because there is no theft in the current government, said Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya.

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya made these remarks while participating in the Parliamentary debate on the supplementary estimate to provide an allowance for school children to purchase stationery.

Speaking further, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated:

"According to data from the Department of Census and Statistics, the economic crisis has adversely affected the education of 55% of school children. This has had a greater impact on children living in rural and estate areas. Among the affected children, 53.2% have completely stopped purchasing school stationery, and 62.1% are reusing previously used school supplies.

To minimize the adverse impact on the education of vulnerable school children, the government has decided to provide an allowance to support their studies commencing in 2025. Accordingly, it is planned to provide an allowance of six thousand (6000) rupees per child for children between the ages of five and sixteen from well-off families. In addition, we aim to extend this allowance to children from economically disadvantaged families who are not part of well-off households.

Furthermore, the government is actively working to ensure children remain in school. There have been persistent issues in the past regarding the provision of midday meals. Despite funds being allocated, questions remain as to whether all children have received these meals properly.

We also plan to provide school uniforms to all children by 2025. For this purpose, the Chinese government has generously provided full funding for school uniforms. We express our gratitude to the Chinese government for this support.

However, it is unfortunate that while we, as a government, are working towards solving the country’s problems, certain groups within the opposition are attempting to sabotage our programs using their affiliated media outlets.

The opposition has even tried to create an issue by linking me to an incident related to the distribution of school uniforms—an issue that does not even exist in the Chinese government. Fortunately, both the Chinese ambassador and the Chinese government understood the political motives behind this situation. Although the opposition made significant efforts to spread the view that our government cannot maintain international relations, all such attempts have been unsuccessful.

At present, the opposition has developed an unusual interest in scrutinizing the educational qualifications of the government’s MPs and ministers. Previously, they focused on allegations of theft. Now, since there are no thefts to investigate, they are turning to educational qualifications. If this scrutiny is being done with the genuine intention of exposing falsehoods to the public, we support it. However, it is clear that this is driven by a very narrow political agenda.

From the moment this government was formed, the opposition has been working to discredit us and project a negative image of the government to society. Their current actions clearly indicate that the opposition still does not understand the purpose for which the people appointed this Parliament.

Prime Minister’s Media Division

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated in Parliament today (17) that the injustice done to religious traditions and to the people by cremating those who lost their lives to the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be justified.

The decision made by the previous government is completely unjustifiable. It was an extremely insensitive and cruel decision. The traditions followed after a death allow families to express their grief and alleviate their suffering. This is why such rituals hold religious significance.

These traditions are particularly important in uncertain times like the COVID pandemic. We cannot condone such a cruel decision during such a time. No political or other justification can make it acceptable. It was unfair to make such a decision without any scientific basis. Therefore, our government will never again make any decision that causes such suffering to any group or disrespects religious traditions.

If such an incident occurred, we believe it was a decision made by officials based on the prevailing political culture. We will work to change that culture. We emphasize that we will not allow officials to make decisions that will cause harm to the people again. We acknowledge that justice must be served to those affected by this, and we are ready to discuss how to address this issue.

Prime Minister’s Media Division