NE Education officials meet LTTE in Vakarai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 March 2003, 01:10 GMT]
Officials from the NorthEast Provincial Education Department met with members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam political division, Friday morning, in Pannichangkerni School, Vakarai, Batticaloa district for detailed discussions related to educational development in the Vakarai region, sources said.

Part of Vakarai region is under LTTE's control and the rest is under the control of the security forces. The region is underdeveloped and lacks basic amneties. The educational standards are low compared to rest of the NorthEast. The discussion was organized to explore ways to improve conditions in the Vakari region.

Provincial Education Commissioner, S. Mahalingam, Representative of the Secretary of Education, S. Krishnakumar, Official from the Administrative section, M. Murugupillai and from the LTTE, Batticaloa-Amparai Head of the political section, E. Kausalyan, Comander of Aandan Kulakottam region, V. Regi, and Kalkuda region Director of Education, Aruna, participated in the discussions.

Education commissioner of Kalkuda region, V. Kanapathipillai, president of the committee on Educational development, M. Mohanasundaram and other members joined the discussions.

Kausalyan pointed out that more than 60% of teaching positions are not filled and there is severe shortage of school buildings, furniture, school supplies and housing for teachers. Teachers proficient in important subjects are lacking, he added. Kausalyan further requested the education officials to urgently attend to these matters to bring normalcy in the sphere of education to Vakarai children.

Provincial education officials gave assurances that they will focus immediate attention on these matters, sources who attended the meeting said.