Colombo

There is a delay in printing school textbooks due to the shortage of paper and other related accessories, Sri Lanka's Educational Publications Department Commissioner General P.N. Ilaperuma said, Daily Mirror reported.

He told the Daily Mirror that there is also a delay in the distribution of printed textbooks to schools due to the current fuel crisis in the country.

"The present power interruption has made a significant impact on textbook printing." Printing of textbooks in the days before the Covid-19 pandemic was not an issue.

"Several sections of the state printing corporation and private printers have closed due to COVID pandemic. Therefore, the completion of the projects was delayed. However, 45 per cent of the school text books were printed at the state Printing Corporation," he said.

Some 38 million text books are to be distributed among the schoolchildren in Sri Lanka. He stated that 32.5 million textbooks would be printed this year.

The government has spent Rs 2,338 million on printing text books, including those books which have been given to the children. Textbooks were distributed to provincial book stores and directly to several schools for a total of 34.8 million (91.8 per cent). There are 31.6 million (97 per cent) text books to be printed.