Education Minister: 74 school buildings are not safe
Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday (15 Nov.), Minister of Education Susil Premajayantha warned that 74 school buildings across the island have been identified as unsafe buildings, posing potential threats to the safety of students.
Minister Premajayantha stated that all principals too, have been informed to be alert of the conditions of the buildings constructed within their school premises, and in the event any building is found unsafe, that measures be taken to evacuate schoolchildren out of the said building, so as to ensure their safety.
“new constructions are set to be erected in Thurstan College, Colombo, and the Tangalle Balika Vidyalaya, after dilapidated buildings were identified within their premises,” said the Minister.
Commenting further in this regard, Minister Premajayantha said that the reason behind there being so many dilapidated buildings in schools was that the government stopped funding the construction of new school buildings and the maintenance of those already existing in 2019.
The Minister made these comments under an incident reported from a school in Wellampitiya, where a 6-year-old child was killed and several others were left injured after a school wall collapsed on Wednesday (15).
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