Hon. (Dr.) Harini Amarasuriya
Hon. (Dr.) Harini Amarasuriya stated that the Government has begun improving data collection to better target support for schoolchildren, while continuing interventions despite current data gaps. She said ongoing programmes include providing shoes, nutritious meals, uniforms, books, sanitary pads for girls, and stationery allowances for low-income children, including through Aswesuma beneficiary households and small schools. She acknowledged that coverage is not yet fully accurate and said the aim is to obtain reliable data this year to improve delivery.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Mr. Speaker, as a first step, we must obtain proper data. That process is what we have now commenced. However, since we cannot wait until the process is fully complete, we are intervening within an incomplete system.
¶ 02 Though there are data concerns as raised by Hon. Hesha Withanage, we are carrying out programmes to distribute shoes, provide nutritious meals, supply uniforms to all children, provide books to all children, shoes, and sanitary pads to girls. We also provide a stationery allowance to low-income children. Through the Aswesuma Programme, every child in registered beneficiary households receives this, and in addition, all children in small schools are provided for. We accept that the target is not perfectly at 100 per cent. Precisely because of the data issues, this year we are making a major effort to obtain accurate data through the system, so that we can target and deliver more precisely.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 10 June 2026 ·No. 23707 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: Hon. (Dr.) Harini Amarasuriya. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 10 June 2026. No. 23707. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/21479