More than a hundred students of Vigneswara Viththiyaalayam in Poonakari in Jaffna have to walk nearly ten km to attend schools as their school is occupied by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) which had converted the school as its base, Ki’linochchi Education officials said. The same situation prevails in Vanni too where many schools are occupied by SLA and the related authorities had done nothing to enable the schools to function, they added. Namal Rajapaksa, the son of Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa and parliamentarian had been recently visiting schools in Vanni laying foundation stones and planting trees in the schools but nothing had followed his campaign to restore the schools to normalcy, parents in Vanni said.
Vigneswara Viththiyaalayam is located on the 4th Mile Post in Poonakari and around 600 to 800 students attended it before the SLA offensives on Poonakari.
The children from the villages of Arasapuram, Chema’nkunt’ru, Naalaangkaddai, Ka’l’likkudaa and Thillaiyadi had been attending the school before.
Now, due to the school being occupied by SLA the students have to daily walk ten miles up and down to attend schools that are functioning now.
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