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School attendance drops due to fuel crisis  

04 May 2022

  • Teachers’ union cites reduced buses, increased fares
BY Buddhika Samaraweera The Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) has pointed out that school attendance of students has dropped significantly due to the current fuel crisis, which has caused reduced bus services and also increased bus fares. Speaking to the media, CTU President Priyantha Fernando said: “Due to the recent increase in fuel prices, bus services are not running properly and bus fares have also gone up. As a result, student attendance at schools has dropped significantly. There are certain students who come to school for just a day or two.” Taking this situation into consideration, he said that the Ministries of Education and Transport should work together to provide the necessary facilities for students to come to school without inconvenience. He also said that in the current situation, students studying in schools far away from home have a tendency to enrol in schools closer to home. “In this situation, we have received information that many students are interested in going to the school nearest to their homes. There is nothing wrong with going to the nearest school, but the Education Ministry should take steps to provide equal facilities to all schools,” he added. Both the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and the Lanka Indian Oil Corporation have increased fuel prices on a number of occasions in the recent past. The fuel imports have also been disrupted due to the prevailing US dollar shortage in the country, which has caused a fuel shortage. Following the fuel prices, bus fares have been hiked in larger rates and buses are not in operation as usual due to the shortage of fuel.


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