9,966 children in Jaffna victimized in 2008, Jaffna tops in school drop-outs

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 April 2009, 04:56 GMT]
Nearly 5% of the children in Jaffna peninsula have either lost one of their parents or separated from, due to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) harassment, killings, arrests and forced disappearances, according to the 2008 statistics report submitted to Jaffna Government Agent (GA) by Jaffna District Children Welfare Centre (JDCWC) in Jaffna Secretariat. A total of 9,666 children in Jaffna peninsula have been victimized by the above humanitarian violations in 2008, the statistics revealed. Meanwhile, Jaffna district tops the list of school children drop outs compared to other districts in the country, according to Jaffna GA who commented on the statistics report.

8,331 children have lost one of the parents while 1,335 have been separated from one of the parents in 2008.

A considerable number of male parents have fled from Jaffna peninsula due to the continuing SLA and SLA-backed paramilitary atrocities, civil society sources said.

1,163 children of the total 1,91,850 school going children in Jaffna peninsula have dropped out of school due to war, poverty and family situation.

The GA said that he has taken steps to enforce compulsory education with the help of the Education Department officials in Jaffna district.