The Hon. Dilip Wedaarachchi

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the Clean Sri Lanka programme. Yesterday, the Hon. Prime Minister made a statement on Clean Sri Lanka, but we received no real clarity — no programme details.

¶ 02 I did not know about the Prime Minister’s speech yesterday; that is why I raised it. The Prime Minister said the era of kneeling teachers has ended under Clean Sri Lanka. Then I ask: when will we end the era of principals and teachers engaging in politics in schools? In Hambantota District, nine principals engaged in political activity during the last Presidential Election. The Elections Commissioner suspended their duties and notified the Ministry Secretary for inquiry and action. To date, no action has been taken.

¶ 03 At Ambalangoda Theraputta National School, on 24.06.2024, the principal, Nishantha Liyanage, called A/L teachers and instructed that each A/L student should contribute around Rs. 10,000, saying the Government does not provide funds and that the burden must be on parents — and that to change this system they should vote for the JVP. This was recorded. That principal is still there — doing politics. I raised this in the previous sitting to the Education Minister. Bring them in, take legal action if necessary, and do what is required. I ask the Hon. Speaker to ensure an inquiry and to inform us of the report.

¶ 04 On Clean Sri Lanka, I propose we operationalize it via the 339 Divisional Secretariat divisions and 14,022 Grama Niladhari divisions, each with about five state officers, to structure delivery.