The Hon. Namal Sudarshana - Deputy Minister of Women and Child Affairs
The Deputy Minister stated that the Government treats education as a right and outlined existing divisional-level mechanisms involving ECD Officers, Child Rights Promotion Officers and public health officials to address issues such as non-attendance and irregular attendance among children. He noted that Child Development Committees are not meeting regularly in some areas and said steps are being taken to systematize the process, including possible intervention through Divisional Coordinating Committees. He also said the Ministry expects to introduce a regulatory mechanism for fees charged by preschools.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 As a Government, we believe education is not a privilege but a right for all children. We have identified problematic areas. Regarding ECD, our Ministry has ECD Officers and Child Rights Promotion Officers. Every three months, there is a Child Development Committee convened at the Divisional Secretariat level, with field officers including the Public Health Officer participating. They collectively discuss issues such as non-attendance, irregular attendance, etc. We have this mechanism to intervene for children’s rights, including education rights.
¶ 02 However, we have observed that in many places, this committee does not convene regularly every three months. As Members, we can also intervene via the Divisional Coordinating Committee. We have now set a process to systematize this. Furthermore, we expect to introduce a regulatory mechanism regarding fees charged by preschools.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 4 June 2025 ·No. 1750240054043973 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Namal Sudarshana - Deputy Minister of Women and Child Affairs. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 4 June 2025. No. 1750240054043973. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/7753