By IANS
Colombo : Sri Lanka has banned the participation of the public in school functions in view of the current threat to school children from terrorists.
The move, announced by the secretary to the department of education M.M.N.D. Bandara Saturday, followed a series of bomb blasts on the island in which many school-going children were killed, The Sunday Times reported.
Bandara said the measure was meant to prevent unknown persons from entering schools with bombs.
However, school managements could invite parents and politicians to prize giving ceremonies at their own risk, he said.
In a survey of the new security measures in schools, the newspaper said that in Galle, in south Sri Lanka, all school functions involving the presence of outsiders, including parents, were cancelled.
In the north-western province, outsiders were barred from entering schools after school hours.
Every morning on school days, a team of select parents, teachers and prefects would check the school’s premises thoroughly, before letting students in.
The government was planning to ply special buses for schools, to prevent students from boarding public buses, Asoka Jayasinghe, director of education in the north western province said.
The central government said recently that public transport buses would be armour-plated to withstand blasts.
The Sri Lanka police have, for some time, been warning that terrorists are planning to approach schools pretending to be ice cream vendors, and have asked people to be wary of such people.
A few days ago, the Sri Lankan government had barred the public from taking heavy bags with them when travelling by public buses. Only handbags were allowed. Newspapers had published pictures of buses with empty overhead racks.
The ban on carrying heavy luggage followed the discovery that the bomb which shattered a bus in Dambulla earlier this month had been kept in a bag in the luggage hold.
Meanwhile, in Colombo, the much-awaited mega exhibition named ‘Deyata Kirula’ (Crown of the Country) was held amid very tight security. Stalls exhibiting weapons used by the security forces and those captured from the Tamil Tiger guerillas, proved to be big draws.
But all roads leading to the venue of the exhibition, Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall, were closed to vehicles. Only those vehicles which belonged to residents of the area were allowed. The government had banned schools from bringing their students in busloads to see the exhibition.