While condemning the education policies in Gotabaya Rajapaksa's election manifesto, Education Minister and United National Party General Secretary Akila Viraj Kariyawasam today said, the measures the Yahapalana Government had taken to improve education had become a challenge to Mr. Rajapaksa.

Speaking at a media briefing at the Ministry, the Minister said the education section under the election manifesto proposed by Gotabaya Rajapaksa may have been done without the support of any educationalist or any such person.

"I was astonished when reading the section on education in the manifesto because that had been written for Gota by persons with no understanding about the country's education," he exclaimed.

While describing the selection of students to state universities according to the manifesto, Minister Kariyawasam said, Mr Rajapaksa is trying to stop the grading system done by the Z-score method which allows more students from rural schools to enter universities.

“According to the national concept which we introduced, named 'Nearest School is the Best School', that would help to convert the rural schools into developed schools as in cities. I think Mr. Rajapaksa wants to keep the rural schools forever in the same situation and we vehemently condemned this education manifesto," the Minister said.

"By implementing this, the education of the country would once again a fall back to feudalism. I am very glad to say that Mr. Rajapaksa won't be able to come to power again. If they come to power, the whole education in the country will collapse," the Minister commented. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)