EC halts admission of 48,000 students claiming Election Law violation
View(s):The Election Commission (EC) has intervened to halt the admission of 48,000 students into National and Provincial schools, claiming it would amount to an Election Law violation.
Except for Grades 1, 5, 6 and 11, the Ministry of Education (MoE) had approved the admission of the students to all other Grades, with the schools on the verge of accommodating the students, when the directive was made. The decision was made following complaints from some of the Principals that the admission could amount to a violation of Election Laws. They said the admission letters reaching them were backdated to September 16, a day before the elections were announced.
A senior official of the NEC said they have written to the MoE Secretary and complained about the conduct of 2 senior MoE officials who had signed the letters to admit the students.
“We believe it is a ‘political bribe’, as some of the principals have complained that some of the students included in the lists are not eligible for admission,” he said.
A spokesman for the Education Minister told the Sunday Times that a gazette notification in relation to the admission, had been issued much prior to the announcement of the elections and therefore, it was not illegal to grant the appointments.
He said they were hoping to write back to the NEC and get approval for the admissions.
He said that, former Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena had made a false claim that the Education Minister was taking political advantage, but he was not correct, as proper procedures were followed in selecting the students.
He said the Education Minister had not influenced the Principals regarding the admissions.
- Damith wickremasekara