A consignment of 19,892 Tamil-language activity books and textbooks for Grade 1 pupils, worth about Rs. 800,000, never reached its intended schools in the Eastern Province, and Thalangama Police have opened an investigation.
The complaint was lodged by the Department of Educational Publications, based at the Ministry of Education in Isurupaya, and was received by Thalangama Police on August 12, Ada Derana reported. Hiru News named the complainant as N. W. D. Hiroshi Gunawardena, the department’s Commissioner (Production and Distribution), and said the complaint concerns criminal breach of trust.
Books cleared for transport in May
Permission was granted on May 4 to move the stock from Isurupaya to a company contracted by the department for distribution, according to the complaint. Hiru News reported that the books were loaded into a lorry bearing registration number 43-9874.
The consignment was scheduled for delivery to 12 distribution centres in the Eastern Province but was never handed over, the complaint states. The books were intended for the third term of Grade 1.
NewsFirst reported that the transport company failed to deliver the books to their intended destinations, and that one suspect has been arrested in connection with the case. The accounts published by Ada Derana and Hiru News did not refer to an arrest.
Thalangama Police are continuing investigations.
The Department of Educational Publications produces and distributes free textbooks to state schools across Sri Lanka, a scheme that reaches millions of pupils each year. Term-three materials for the Eastern Province were due with schools well before the complaint was filed.
