All schools across Sri Lanka will remain closed on Tuesday, 27 October, as a precaution against the spell of adverse weather affecting much of the country, the Ministry of Education announced on Monday afternoon.

Deputy Minister of Education Dr. Madhura Seneviratne said the decision was taken in view of the prevailing heavy rainfall, and followed discussions with the Department of Meteorology. Hiru News, reporting the ministry’s written statement, said the closure applies to Tuesday only.

There is one exception. Both the Daily Mirror and Hiru News report that practical examinations for aesthetic subjects under the G.C.E. Ordinary Level examination will be held as originally scheduled. The NewsFirst account of the announcement does not mention the examinations.

A decision that changed within hours

The blanket closure overturns a narrower position the ministry had taken only hours earlier. Early on Monday afternoon — Hiru News reported it at 1.22 p.m., the Daily Mirror at 2.01 p.m. — the Ministry of Education had handed the decision down to Provincial Directors of Education and Provincial Secretaries of Education, giving them full authority to decide whether schools in their own areas should open or close after weighing local flood risk and road blockages.

That was a delegation of authority rather than a closure, and this desk reported it as such. About three hours later it was overtaken by a single national instruction covering every school on the island.

Context

The closure follows days of sustained wet weather. The Disaster Management Centre’s running tally, reported on Sunday, put 10,311 people in 21 districts as affected by the current spell, with 28 houses destroyed and 1,807 damaged. Seven reservoirs — among them Polgolla, Rajanganaya, Thabbowa, Deduru Oya and Kala Wewa — are discharging, with Victoria near capacity, and the Irrigation Department has issued minor flood warnings for low-lying parts of the Kalu Ganga basin, naming six divisional secretariat divisions in Ratnapura and seven in Kalutara.

Not reported

None of the three filings states whether the closure extends to private schools, international schools or pirivenas, or whether it covers state universities and other institutions. No filing says whether the authority granted to provincial education officials earlier on Monday remains in force for days after Tuesday, or what would trigger a further extension. No rainfall threshold or district-level criterion is given for the decision, and none of the reports says when schools are expected to reopen beyond the single day named.

Sources