Under the program of running schools five days a week, nearly 80% of school students attended school yesterday (15th).

The Teacher-Principal Trade Union Alliance states that necessary measures should be taken to improve this situation.

Mr Joseph Stalin, the convenor of the union, said that school students as well as teachers and principals are facing difficulties due to the increase in transportation costs, and the increase in transportation costs has resulted in reduced attendance of students in schools.

He said that some teachers have to spend about 1/3 of their monthly salary on transportation expenses, and some parents have to spend more than 600 rupees daily to send their children to school.

Mr. Joseph Stalin mentioned that the educational authorities and the government have been requested on several occasions to reduce the fee charged to school children by giving concessions to school vans and to prepare a program to transport school children at a low cost by using Langama buses.

 He said that although the authorities have announced that they will prepare programs for the transportation of school children at a low cost, such a program has not been permanently implemented so far.