The Chief Incumbents of the Sabaragamuwa Pirivena (SP) institute affiliated to the All-island Sasanarakshaka Bala Mandalaya and representatives of the Provincial Council met at the Ratnapura Samurdhi building to discuss ways and means of improving the standards of the SP Daham Schools and Pirivana institutes.

The Sabaragamuwa Chief Minister Maheepala Herath said at the meeting that he had already prepared a plan to uplift the standard of education at Daham Schools and Pirivena institutions. As these subjects fall under the preview of the Provincial line Ministry, it was the responsibility of the administration of the province to improve these schools.

"The attitudes and habits of Western Culture has been instilled into the minds of the people including those live in rural areas. The worse was, how our children had been influenced by those ideas. To combat such socially and morally harmful effects, it is the paramount duty of Daham Schools and Pirivenas to mould the child’s behavioral pattern to drew them away from the harmful effects of such evil influences and prepare their mindsets to adopt moral and spiritual values in keeping with the sublime teachings of Buddha," said the Chief Minister.

Private tuition classes held in Sundays and Poya days discouraged students attending Daham Schools. It was the incumbent duty of the relevant authorities to take steps to ban the conducting of such classes on Sundays and Poya days.

The teachers of both Daham Pasalas and Pirivenas should be properly trained to enable them to be responsible teachers who could earn respect from their student population. The provincial administration had taken steps to train such teachers, he said.

The Chief Minister also promised to make available sufficient physical resources needed to improve these institutions and said, he had allocated Rs. 2 million to each school to overcome the difficulties they were experiencing to fund their requirements.

There are 75 Pirivenas in Ratnapura and Kegalle districts with nearly 750 teachers both lay and clerical. Nearly 8000 pupils both lay and clerical study in those institution.