By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana  

Literacy among grade three children in Sri Lanka has dropped alarmingly due to the COVID pandemic, Minister of Education Susil Premajayantha told Parliament yesterday. 
 “ The Literacy rate of grade three children has been found to be as low as 14 percent as per a survey conducted recently,  the minister said.  
He said the main reason for this is the crash of the education system during the pandemic.  

The minister said numeracy knowledge of children had also gone alarmingly low.   

He also said the country’s education system is going into a crisis as there are no principals for nearly 4000 schools. “ I got a phone call from the education director of the South who told me that there are protests in schools in the Southern province due to the shortage of teachers and school principals. We cannot appoint principals and teachers until cases are over. Some MPs who are lawyers by profession are appearing for petitioners, “ the minister said.  

MP Dayasiri Jayasekara who responded said MPs have the right to appear on behalf of anyone if they practice as legal officers.