According to the Health Guidelines, the first phase of starting schools will begin in August, said the Minister of Education, Prof. GL Peiris.
Prof. GL Peiris stated that the government intends to start schools step by step as soon as possible.
The Minister made this observation while inaugurating the ‘Island wide injection program for all school teachers and non-academic staff’ at the Army Hospital, Narahenpita today (12).
Distance / online education can never be considered a satisfying alternative to the classroom education with the teacher and there are some drawbacks. Therefore, the main objective of the vaccination program for teachers to be launched today is to open the school system as soon as possible, the Minister said.
It is hoped that this program, which will begin today with teachers in the Colombo region, will be able to complete the vaccination for teachers in the entire Colombo District by tomorrow.
The total number of teachers in the country is about 242,000 and the number of non-academic staff is 279,000.
The Minister thanked the Hon. President, the Health Services and the Commander of the Army and the Armed Forces for their direct interest in making this program a success.
State Ministers Susil Premajayantha, Piyal Nishantha, Dr. Sita Arambepola, MP Pradeep Undugoda, Army Commander General Shavendra Silva and other hospital staff were present on the occasion.
