By Kanchana Kumara Ariyadasa  

The tragic story of a family of five children who were forced to stop schooling due to extreme poverty, has caught the attention of the President. Officials of the Presidential Secretariat said a team was deployed to Yatawatta, Matale under instructions of the President to investigate the issue and had confirmed the dire circumstances of the family. 

On Thursday, the Daily Mirror reported on this family struggling to survive on just one meal a day, with the income of two women who depend on odd jobs. The five children between the ages of five and fifteen who are being taken care of by their 73-year-old grandmother, W. G. Premawathi, were found to be extremely vulnerable with no fathers to care for the family.    Following the report the Presidential Secretariat has intervened in the matter, and assured that arrangements will be made for the children to continue their education with the involvement of the Department of Probation and Child Care Services.