School uniform fabric distributed among Provincial, Zonal schools

The distribution of school uniform fabric for Provincial and Zonal schools was launched by the Education Ministry today.

The first consignment of the uniform materials required for 2023 was officially sent to provincial and Zonal schools. 1/3 of the fabric has been cut, packed, and labeled so that it could be given directly to the schoolchildren.

"The rest of the fabric will be received shortly. We began distributing uniform materials to remote areas today, including the Northern Province (Jaffna, Vavuniya, Mannar, Kilinochchi, and Mullaithivu), Eastern Province (Trincomalee, Batticaloa, and Ampara), Uva Province (Badulla and Moneragala), and North Central Province (Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa).

“By March 3rd or 4th, we will receive the next fabric consignment as the final segment of the 70%. The Treasury has allocated funds for the remaining 75%, and it is in the process," Education Minister Susil Premajayantha said at the launch.

“We received a total of 8.86 million metres of school uniform fabric, with 70% as donation. The remaining 30% will be received from the Government's Treasury as a total of 3.831 million meters,” he said.

“It will be distributed among schoolchildren at provincial and zonal levels in the Northwestern, Central, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, and Western Provinces before the start of the new school term. 

“Our target is to complete the distribution of all school uniform fabric with a variety of 23 cloth types among 4.1 million schoolchildren, including those in Pirivenas and Muslim schools, before the end of March. The distribution of uniforms is done by the cooperative sector.
He said that among all these challenges, the Government has taken steps to provide uniform materials and textbooks by the end of the third term.

The Government has also allocated Rs. 19.1 billion from the 2023 budget for a free midday meal. Earlier, the State provided meals for about 1.1 million students. But this time the State will provide over 2.1 million, which is 50% of the total number of students.

The total cost for this process was Rs. 7.8 billion, including the Chinese donation and local donors he said.
The Minister said that the ministry had also made arrangements, such as providing free exercise books and other materials to students who could not afford them due to the higher prices of those.

State Minister Vijitha Berugoda, Ministry Secretary M.N. Ranasinghe and Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong were also present at the occasion. (Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)