Tabs: Prez not agreeable

• Insists on a pilot project to begin with

By Kelum Bandara 
President Maithripala Sirisena has once again registered his protest to Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam over the plan to distribute free electronic tablets among schoolchildren.  

The government has decided to spend Rs.2,275 million for this project but however, the President was of the view that a pilot project should be carried out first.   At yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, he had asked why the minister was going ahead with the project despite his call to first carry out a pilot project and requested for more time to give his observation on this project.   
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne had expressed support of the project mooted by the Education Minister, who hopes to distribute nearly 189,000 tablets.