Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that the Government does not act to protect anyone based on their status, and that it is clearly evident through the ongoing judicial processes.

The Prime Minister made these remarks in response to a question raised by MP Ajith P. Perera in Samagi Jana Balawegaya.

The Prime Minister stated,

A system governed by the rule of law and an independent judiciary mentioned under the policy framework “A Thriving Nation, A Beautiful Life” presented by the President as the National People’s Power presidential candidate at the 2024 Presidential Election, action is being taken to review cases that were withdrawn by the Bribery Commission and the Attorney General’s Department, and to re-file appropriate cases. From the period of 2019 to 2024, a total of 102 cases were withdrawn and steps have been taken to re-file 65 cases. A decision has been made not to re-file 34 cases, while a further 3 cases are still under consideration with regard to re-filing.

If you look into the judicial process currently in operation, it is clear that the Government is not acting to protect anyone. Legal proceedings are underway against many individuals, both those who are currently in Parliament and those who are not present. In some instances, incidents that occurred 15 to 20 years ago are being re-investigated, and prosecutions are being initiated accordingly. This process requires time.

These decisions have not been made based on status. All possible steps are being taken in accordance with the evidence available in the relevant cases. The Government does not protect anyone under any circumstances. The Prime Minister stated that it is in fact laughable for those who protected one another under previous governments to now question whether the Government is protecting individuals when the judicial process is being carried out properly.

Prime Minister’s Media Division

The Opposition’s Motion of No-Confidence will be taken as an opportunity for Dialogue on Education Reforms

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that a policy is currently being formulated to ensure child protection in the use of technology.

The Prime Minister made this statement today (08) in Kandy while briefing the Most Venerable Mahanayake Theros of the Asgiriya and Malwathu Chapters on the issue that has arisen regarding the Grade 6 English module. Thereafter, printed copies of all modules were also presented to the Mahanayake Theros.

Earlier today (08), the Prime Minister visited the Malwathu Viharaya in Kandy and visited the Most Venerable Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Nayaka Thero, the Mahanayake of the Malwathu Chapter, where she explained the error that had occurred in the first print run of the English module for Grade 6 .

The Mahanayake Theros emphasized that education is a sensitive subject and that such matters should be handled with greater sensitivity and proper oversight. They further advised that a formal investigation should be conducted and that education reforms should be carried forward in a systematic manner.

Subsequently, the Prime Minister visited the Asgiriya Maha Viharaya and visited the Most Venerable Warakagoda Sri Gnanarathana Mahanayaka Thero of the Asgiriya Chapter, where she clarified the error related to the English module.

The Mahanayake Thero noted that education reforms are a timely necessity and should be implemented with due oversight and careful review and also pointed out that there are broader issues in Sri Lanka regarding the use of technology, which are evident in the manner in which modern tools such as AI technologies are being used on social media.

Clarifying the issue Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya further stated,

We have appointed a committee to look into this issue, and based on the recommendations of the National Institute of Education (NIE), steps were taken to remove the relevant lesson. In addition, all printed copies of the relevant module have been stamped, and no module has been distributed to schoolchildren. A formal investigation into this matter has been initiated by the Ministry, and a complaint has also been lodged with the Criminal Investigation Department.

At the same time, we are in the process of formulating a policy on child protection in the use of technology.

Thereafter, addressing the media and responding to the’ questions raised by journalists, the Prime Minister stated:

The Opposition is attempting to use this national task for their own political advantage. However, many in society have expressed their views on the issues that have arisen in a positive manner, with the objective of identifying and correcting mistakes. The government has decided to move forward with education reforms by recognizing the error that have occurred and rectifying them. We will take the no-confidence motion brought by the Opposition as an opportunity to further advance dialogue on education reforms

The occasion was graced by the Most Venerable Anunayaka Thero of the Asgiriya Chapter, Venerable Narampanawe Ananda Nayaka Thero; Deputy Registrar of the Asgiriya Chapter, Venerable Muruddeniye Dhammarakkhita Thero; Deputy Registrar of the Malwathu Chapter, Venerable Mahawela Rathanapala Thero; Members of Parliament Thushari Jayasinghe and Thanura Dissanayake; Mayor of Kandy Chandrasiri Wijenayake; Secretary to the Ministry of Education Nalaka Kaluwewa; and Secretary to the Ceylon Teachers’ Union in Central Province D. D. Wimalaweera.

Prime Minister’s Media Division

Steps will be taken to remove the controversial lesson in the Grade 6 English module

These modules have not been distributed to students

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that they are open to engage in discussions on the Education Reform Concept Paper emphasizing that such dialogue should not be used to unnecessarily promote websites. She further noted that approval has been granted by the National Institute of Education (NIE) to remove the controversial lesson included in the Grade 6 English module.

The Prime Minister made these remarks while responding to a question raised by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa in Parliament today (07th of January).

Addressing further, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated:

The concept paper was taken up for discussion at the Education Advisory Council. Action has been taken to distribute the concept paper to all Members of Parliament and uploaded to the website. It was discussed in Parliament. Members were invited to participate in these discussions, and several MPs did take part. We remain open to holding further discussions. We are ready to further develop or deliberate on the concept paper, and we have no objection in regard to that.

The inclusion of these modules are not mentioned in the concept paper. The concept paper outlines the proposed structural changes of the framework of the reforms. As soon as this incident was reported, we initiated an inquiry. The NIE follows a specific process and methodology for preparing modules. We have begun an investigation to determine how that process changed, how such content was included, and who is responsible.

The governing council of the NIE is responsible for disciplinary matters of the institution. Accordingly, the NIE appointed former Secretary Mr. Ranjith Ariyaratne yesterday to conduct a preliminary investigation. Based on the findings of this initial inquiry, a broader investigation will be carried out to determine how procedural changes led to this incident.

Immediately after the incident was reported, we sealed the book as previously stated. The book has not been distributed to students. Approval has been granted by the Education Advisory Board of the NIE to remove the relevant lesson, and we will proceed with removing it.

I request that, when engaging in this dialogue, we refrain from unnecessarily promoting websites on this matter. The distribution of the lesson to students has already been stopped. Since the error was identified, we are taking investigative and corrective action. Let us discuss this matter constructively. If there are proposals on how to further strengthen this process, we are ready to welcome them. We are also open to further discussions on the concept paper if required. However, I propose that we conduct these discussions without using them as a means to promote unnecessary websites.

Prime Minister’s Media Division

​"ආපදාවට ලක්වූ ජනතාවගේ ජනජීවිතය යථා තත්ත්වයට පත් කිරීමට රජය උපරිම අවධානය යොමු කර තිබෙනවා"

​හදිසි නීතිය ක්‍රියාත්මක කරනු ලබන්නේ පවත්නා ආපදා තත්ත්වය කළමනාකරණය කිරීමට මිස වෙනත් කිසිදු හේතුවකට නොවන බවත්, ආපදාවට ලක්වූ ජනතාවගේ ජනජීවිතය කඩිනමින් යථා තත්ත්වයට පත් කිරීම සඳහා රජය පූර්ණ අවධානය යොමු කර ඇති බවත් අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ආචාර්ය හරිනි අමරසූරිය පැවසුවාය.

​මහජන ආරක්ෂක පනත යටතේ වූ යෝජනා පාර්ලිමේන්තු අනුමැතිය සඳහා ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමෙන් අනතුරුව, ජනවාරි 06 වන දින පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ පැවැති විවාදය ආරම්භ කරමින් අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරිය මේ බව සඳහන් කළාය.

​එහිදී වැඩිදුරටත් අදහස් දැක්වූ අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරිය මෙසේ ද පැවසුවාය:

​"ඉතිහාසයේ කිසිදු අවස්ථාවක අත්නොවූ අන්දමේ බරපතළ ස්වභාවික ආපදාවකට ​’දිට්වා​’ සුළි කුණාටුව හේතුවෙන් අපට මුහුණ දීමට සිදු වුණා. මුළු රටේම ජනතාවට එම පීඩාව දරා ගැනීමට සිදු වූ අතර දිස්ත්‍රික්ක 25 ටම ඉන් හානි සිදු වුණා. දැනටත් දිස්ත්‍රික්ක කිහිපයක පවුල් විශාල ප්‍රමාණයක් අවතැන්ව සිටිනවා. මෙම ස්වභාවික ව්‍යසනය හමුවේ විශේෂයෙන්ම මධ්‍යම කඳුකරයට දැඩි හානි සිදු වුණා. රජය එම අවස්ථාවේ සිටම ක්ෂණික ප්‍රතිචාර දක්වමින් හානිය අවම කිරීමට කටයුතු කළ අතර, ආපදාවේ බරපතළකම හඳුනා ගනිමින් පුළුල් වැඩපිළිවෙළක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කරමින් සිටිනවා.

​මෙහි පවත්නා බරපතළ තත්ත්වය සැලකිල්ලට ගෙන, ජනාධිපතිතුමා විසින් මහජන ආරක්ෂක පනතේ විධිවිධාන යටතේ 2025.11.28 දිනැති අති විශේෂ ගැසට් පත්‍රයක් මගින් හදිසි තත්ත්වයක් ප්‍රකාශයට පත් කළා. විපක්ෂයේ මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් කළ යෝජනා ද සැලකිල්ලට ගනිමිනුයි ජනාධිපතිතුමා එම තීරණය ගත්තේ. එම හදිසි තත්ත්වය තවත් මාසයකින් දීර්ඝ කිරීමට අපට සිදුව ඇති අතර මෙම යෝජනාව ඉදිරිපත් කරන්නේ ඒ වෙනුවෙනුයි.

​තවමත් සුරක්ෂිතතා මධ්‍යස්ථාන 225 ක පවුල් 6,592 ක් රැඳී සිටිනවා. දැනට ලැබී ඇති වාර්තා අනුව පූර්ණ නිවාස හානි 6,037 ක් සහ අර්ධ නිවාස හානි 108,476 ක් වාර්තා වී තිබෙනවා. මෙම දත්ත අප දිනෙන් දින යාවත්කාලීන කරනවා. සුරක්ෂිතතා මධ්‍යස්ථානවල නොසිටියත්, තමන්ගේ නිවෙස්වලට යාමට නොහැකිව වෙනත් ස්ථානවල රැඳී සිටින පිරිස මීටත් වඩා වැඩි බව ගණනය කර තිබෙනවා. ඒ අනුව පෙනී යන්නේ රටේ තත්ත්වය තවමත් සාමාන්‍ය අතට පත්ව නොමැති බවයි. පීඩාවට පත් ජනතාවට අවශ්‍ය සේවාවන් අඛණ්ඩව පවත්වාගෙන යාම සඳහා මෙම හදිසි තත්ත්වය දීර්ඝ කිරීම අත්‍යවශ්‍ය වෙනවා.

​මෙම පනත යටතේ අත්‍යවශ්‍ය සේවා කොමසාරිස් ජනරාල් කාර්යාලය පවත්වාගෙන යාමටත්, අදාළ සේවාවන් බාධාවකින් තොරව පවත්වාගෙන යාමටත් අපට අවස්ථාව ලැබී තිබෙනවා. හදිසි නීතිය අප භාවිතා කරන්නේ ආපදා කළමනාකරණයට මිස වෙනත් කිසිදු පටු අරමුණකට නොවන බව මම වගකීමෙන් ප්‍රකාශ කරනවා. මෙම සංකීර්ණ තත්ත්වය තුළ රජයේ නිලධාරීන්ට ක්ෂණිකව තීරණ ගැනීමටත්, ජනතාවට අවශ්‍ය සහන කඩිනමින් සැපයීමටත් අවශ්‍ය නීතිමය පසුබිම සකස් කිරීම මෙහි එකම අරමුණයි.

​මෙය ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදය හෝ භාෂණයේ නිදහස සීමා කිරීමක් ලෙස නඟන චෝදනා මම ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කරනවා. ආපදා කළමනාකරණය සඳහා මිස වෙනත් කිසිදු කටයුත්තකට මෙය භාවිතා නොකරන බව ජනාධිපතිතුමා පැහැදිලිව ප්‍රකාශ කර තිබෙනවා. රජය ක්‍රියා කරන්නේ එම ස්ථාවරයේ සිටයි.

​’දිට්වා​’ සුළි කුණාටුව හේතුවෙන් ඇති වූ භූගෝලීය වෙනස්කම් පිළිබඳව අප තවමත් අධ්‍යයනය කරමින් සිටිනවා. එය ඉතා සංකීර්ණ (Dynamic) තත්ත්වයක්. ජනතාව නැවත පදිංචි කිරීමේදී එම භූමියේ සුරක්ෂිතතාව තහවුරු කිරීම අත්‍යවශ්‍යයි. දැනට පවතින වර්ෂාපතනය සාමාන්‍යයෙන් ආපදා ඇති කරන්නක් නොවූවත්, පෙර පැවති අස්ථාවර භූමිකම්පා සහ නායයෑම් අවදානම නිසා අප ඉතා කල්පනාකාරී විය යුතුයි. හදිසි තත්ත්වය පවත්වාගෙන යාමට එය ද හේතුවක්.

​අපේ සම්පූර්ණ උත්සාහය ජනජීවිතය යථා තත්ත්වයට පත් කිරීමයි. රජයේ නිලධාරීන්, ව්‍යාපාරික ප්‍රජාව, පොලිසිය, ත්‍රිවිධ හමුදාව සහ සියලු දේශපාලන පක්ෂවල සහයෝගය මත යටිතල පහසුකම්, මාර්ග, විදුලිය සහ සන්නිවේදන සේවා බොහොමයක් කඩිනමින් යථා තත්ත්වයට පත් කිරීමට අපට හැකි වුණා.

​එමෙන්ම ජාත්‍යන්තර සහයෝගය ද ඇතිව කෙටි කාලයකින් ව්‍යසනයේ බරපතළ බලපෑමෙන් මිදීමට අපට හැකි වුණා. වෙනස් වන තත්ත්වයන් පිළිබඳව අවධානයෙන් සිටින ලෙසත්, තමන්ගේ ආරක්ෂාව පිළිබඳව සැලකිලිමත් වන ලෙසත් මම ජනතාවගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටිනවා."

​අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

A discussion was held on the 06th of January at Temple Trees under the patronage of Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya with the Working Group on Online Safety, Digital Wellbeing, and Cyber Security of the Task Force on the Digitalisation of Education for Grades 6–13.

During the discussion, the Prime Minister instructed officials to develop a comprehensive code of guideline on Online Safety, Digital Wellbeing, and Cyber Security for officers involved in the preparation and review of curricula and school textbooks for students.

The meeting was attended by Secretary to the Prime Minister Pradeep Saputhanthri, Additional Secretary A.B.M. Ashraf, Chairman of the National Education Commission Professor Sarath Ananda, along with members of the Task Force.

Prime Minister’s Media Division

The auspicious foundation stone laying ceremony for the proposed seven-storey Sadaham Mandiraya at the historic Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte Rajamaha Viharaya was held on 03rd of January with the participation of Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya.

The religious programme, organised to coincide with the Duruthu Full Moon Poya Day, commenced with the chanting of Seth Pirith by the Maha Sangha.

Subsequently, the Prime Minister participated in the laying of the foundation stone, formally marking the commencement of construction of the seven-storey Sadaham Mandiraya.

The Sadaham Mandiraya will be constructed as a centre dedicated to the preservation of Buddhist heritage while providing Dhamma education and spiritual guidance for future generations.

The event was graced by the presence of Chief Incumbent of the Kotte Rajamaha Viharaya, Venerable Aluth Nuwara Anuruddha Thero, together with members of the Maha Sangha; and attended by the Deputy Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development, Chathuranga Abeysinghe, local political representatives, state officials, and a large gathering of devotees.

Prime Minister’s Media Division