According to the education policies of the present government, it is to increase the number of students who study science for Advanced Level (A/L) from 35% to 60% and expect to reduce the number of students in the arts section to 25%, Education Ministry Secretary Prof. Kapila Perera said.

He said the joint project was planned to experiment at the Wijeyarama Vidyalaya and Devi Balika Vidyalaya in Nugegoda, will now be cancelled and converted to English medium schools

"There are plenty of state schools with English medium. Those schools teach only 'core' subjects. Therefore we thought of providing a permanent solution," he said.

Accordingly, the Ministry had appointed a committee comprising of educational experts to recommend solutions for this problem, he said.

Accordingly, attention has been paid to the possibility of starting such schools as a pilot project in Colombo and in other provinces, he said.

If the project is successful, it would be possible to provide such English medium schools in all parts of the country, Prof. Perera added. (Chaturanga Samaraickrama)