Schools in the western province of Sri Lanka have been forced to postpone the exams of their students because the country is running out of printing papers and due to a shortage of dollars it has become impossible to finance the imports. The information was provided by officials on 19th March 2022. Presently, Sri Lanka is going through its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948.
According to a report by The Sinhala News, final term tests for grades 9, 10, and 11 in Western province schools are postponed until after the April holidays as they have run out of papers needed for the exams. The tests were scheduled to start on 28th March 2022. The tests for grades 6, 7, and 8 will be held at the school level.
Western province Provincial Director of Education Priyantha Srilal Nonis wrote to zonal directors of education on Friday 18th March 2022. In his letter, Nonis said, “Third-party printers are finding it difficult to print school exam papers due to shortages and price increases in paper and other materials. Sri Lanka is going through one of the worst economic crises in the country’s history, with a severe dollar shortage leading to shortages in many imports including paper. Final term tests for grades 9, 10, and 11 would therefore have to be postponed to the next school term, and amended timetables will be provided.”
The economic crisis in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is facing a cash crunch and is on the verge of getting bankrupt. This week Sri Lanka announced that it will ask for an IMF bailout to resolve the foreign debts and increase the external reserves. The economic crisis has brought the foreign exchange reserves of Sri Lanka to the lowest level. It has therefore become very difficult to finance the imports of essential goods. The country is already running low on food, fuel, and pharmaceuticals.
The government has imposed electricity blackouts. Long queues are seen in the shops to buy groceries and oil. Sri Lanka, under a debt of US$6.9 billion had a foreign reserve of US$2.3 billion by the end of February.
According to a report by the Lanka Web, the construction of the China-backed Hambantota International Port is one of the major reasons behind this situation. The project was initiated by the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa who is the elder brother of the incumbent president Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Hambantota International Port is in the home district of the Rajapaksa brothers and the port project was started to spur economic development in that region against the advice of critics who warned against heavy borrowing to build the port.
The Sri Lankan government is currently struggling to pay back the $8 billion of the Chinese loan and investment. In 2017, the Sri Lankan government gave an 85% stake in the Hambantota International Port Complex to a Chinese state-owned company on a lease of 99 years to raise $1.2 billion.
