Ministry of Education has taken steps to provide free pairs of shoes to low-income government school students in remote and isolated schools countrywide.
For this purpose, the Ministry has allocated a sum of Rs. 808.27 million this year.
Government spent about Rs. 592 million for supplying of free shoes to students last year (2016) and about 621,941 students were thus benefitted accordingly last year.
Last year, shoes were provided to deserving students at their own schools by incurring heavy transport and other expenses and it was proved to be a somewhat complex and time-consuming procedure.
Hence, the students are to be awarded with cash vouchers this year instead, to purchase their own shoes.
These vouchers are priced between Rs. 1200 and Rs.1,500 in their face values, said Education Minister and Kurunegala District UNP Parliamentarian Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, when he was contacted by Daily News on November 27 from Kurunegala.