SLA blocks Education officials from visiting FDL schools

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 March 2007, 12:24 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) command in Jaffna has blocked from Jaffna district Education Department officials from visiting schools inside the High Security Zones (HSZs) to attend to routine educational matters and to inspect progress in building construction, Valigamam Education officials said. Tellipallai Union College, inside Valigamam North HSZ, and Hartley College and Methodist Girls College, inside Point Pedro HSZ, are the worst affected schools with the new SLA restrictions, Education officials said.

Although SLA has been arbitrarily allowed Education officials to enter the HSZ to visit schools in the past, in the last several weeks SLA has completely barred the visits.

SLA had barred, for several months, construction workers from entering HSZs, affecting rehabilitation work of school buildings.

The new restrictions on Education officials have also brought into jeopardy the arrangements being made to supplement school children with nutritional lunch program, officials added.