Cabinet green lights to 2027 student shoe programme

Colombo, July 1 (Daily Mirror) - The Cabinet has approved the implementation of a programme to provide a pair of footwear each to selected school students, as well as to lay and monastic students of Pirivenas and Seelamathas for the year 2027.

The decision was taken based on a proposal submitted by the Prime Minister in his capacity as the Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education.

Under the proposed programme, eligible students will be provided with a gift voucher valued at Rs. 3,000 each for the purchase of footwear. The initiative will follow a distribution model similar to the programme implemented in 2026.

In the previous year, the shoe assistance programme covered 836,571 school and Pirivena students and was implemented under two separate schemes.

For the 2027 programme, footwear will be supplied through school-level distribution in the Western, Southern, Sabaragamuwa, Eastern and North Western provinces, while in the Central, Northern, North Central and Uva provinces, students will be able to purchase footwear directly from the market, depending on the progress of the 2026 implementation methodology.

The programme is scheduled to be completed by the end of the third school term of 2026.