Engage primary kids more in extra-curricular activities than academics: Minister

Colombo, May 30 (Daily Mirror) - Children in primary grades should be engaged in more extracurricular and co-curricular activities than academic activities, Education Minister Susil Premajayantha said.

While participating as the chief guest at the award ceremony of the under-15 and under-17 cricket tournament organized by the Sri Lanka School Cricket Association at the Nelum Pokuna Theater with the support of the Sri Lanka Cricket Institute, he said that by engaging in extra-curricular activities like cricket, a balanced personality can be formed in the children, and thus a child with balanced abilities can be created.

Due to hard work, the school sports tournaments that were missed during the Covid-19 period were able to be properly conducted and completed.

"For the promotion of cricket, which has become very popular among school students, Rs. 1,000 million was allocated from the budget, and these funds will be used in the next few months to develop the stadiums and playgrounds of the schools and provide sports equipment," the Minister said.

He also stated that in the future, the number of examinations conducted in the primary grades will be reduced, and attention will be paid to increasing the study activities related to practical activities in the classroom.

"School cricket, which was an extra-curricular activity, is being promoted with the support and provision of the Sri Lanka Cricket Institute, and the school is the hotbed for producing talented cricketers for the country. Our education system should also be updated by taking care of international trends in the background of current topics such as new technology, climate change, and raising children with good personalities," the Minister said.