380,000 children from govt. schools not received school uniforms

6 February 2012 04:53 pm

Some 380,000 school children attending government schools in the country had still not received their school uniforms and would have to spend their own money on school uniforms if the government fails to provide them, the Ceylon Teachers Union said.

The government had allocated Rs.1,660 million for school uniforms in the 2012 budget but had still not provided the uniforms, the union’s General Secretary Joseph Stalin said. “We made a complaint to the education ministry but have still not received an adequate response,” Stalin said.

He said the government should have provided the school uniforms in December or January but that there were still no signs of receiving them. “Many of the children who attend government schools in the country are underprivileged and do not have the money needed to purchase their uniforms. The authorities will create great difficulties for these children and their families if they do not receive their uniforms,” he said.

He said there was a grave difficulty especially for boy who did not wear school shorts any longer and were expected to wear white trousers instead. Last year school uniforms were provided in October, ten months after the school year began. Stalin said it was only after the matter was addressed in Parliament that school children received their uniforms. (Olindhi Jayasundere)