Prime Minister and Education Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya said 309 primary schools have been selected for development under a national modernisation project, with financial allocations and development plans so far prepared for 31 schools in the first phase, the Daily Mirror reported.

She was speaking on Thursday at the handover of a newly built block at Mahakumbukkadawala Junior School in Puttalam.

The two figures describe different scopes: 309 is the full programme, 31 is the funded first tranche.

What the new building contains

The Mahakumbukkadawala block was built at a cost of approximately Rs. 35 million and includes smart boards, activity rooms, reading rooms and sanitary facilities intended to support activity-based learning. It has been designed to be accessible to students with disabilities.

A further Rs. 11 million was spent on other infrastructure in the school’s primary section.

Amarasuriya said the project is being implemented in line with the government’s policy manifesto, A Prosperous Country, A Beautiful Life, and is aimed at reducing disparities in facilities between urban and rural schools.

She said every child should have access to a primary school with adequate facilities “regardless of their geographical location,” and that engineering divisions and expert committees had been appointed to ensure buildings, furniture and other physical resources are specified to appropriate standards, taking account of what students and teachers actually need.

Once work at the selected primary schools is complete, she said, attention would need to turn to secondary school development.

The Prime Minister stressed that meeting the government’s education objectives would require cooperation across the Education Ministry, provincial councils, education divisions and individual schools.

This is the second government building handover at a Puttalam school reported this month, following the Gammadda-built block at Lokananda Vidyalaya on 7 October.

Not reported

The filing does not give a total budget for the 309-school programme, a completion timetable, or the criteria by which schools were selected. It does not list which 31 schools make up the first phase. The Daily Mirror’s attendee list renders the name of the Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government only as initials, so the minister is identified here by office. Deputy Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr. Madhura Seneviratne and Ministry Secretary Nalaka Kaluwewa also attended.