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The vice-president of the Ceylon Teachers Union has accused the Northern Province of misleading the education administration into corruption and bribery for years. Governors had been informed on several occasions about malpractices and abuses that took place in primary schools and notorious girls’ schools in Jaffna without any action being taken.

A qualitative study of twelve Sri Lankan secondary school teachers has found that compared to 10-15 years ago students, current secondary school students are more self-centred and adopt more problematic behaviours in school that are harmful to themselves and others. Student misbehaviour in the classroom includes disrespect for teachers, performing irrelevant classroom tasks and verbal aggression, while school-based misbehaviour reflects disrespect for school authorities, unnecessary use of dangerous drugs and the development and support of inappropriate and harmful relationships.

Many instances were witnessed across the country, where parents arrived at schools to return free uniform material vouchers which were invalid. There were also instances where parents complained of the insufficient value attached to these vouchers, and where parents were unable to purchase quality material for a specified price. Against this backdrop, several teachers and principals’ associations staged a joint media briefing in Colombo, highlighting the fact that teachers, students and parents, have been inconvenienced by the new voucher system.

The Minister of Education stated that it is important to formulate a teachers' code of conduct which paves the way for teachers to behave in a respective manner and to create a good teacher role in schools where they are committed to and love the children. The measure was introduced to the national school principals and the zonal directors of education.

Two student unions in Sri Lanka have published a report claiming an increase in rights violations against university students. It stated that students have suffered more than 1,000 human rights abuses since 2009. Abuses include hundreds of class cancellations, unlawful imprisonment of students, and unwarranted disciplinary hearings by the universities.