Sports minister, Namal Rajapaksa announced a sports school dedicated for cricket on the 3rd of October 2020 via his personal twitter handle.
The tweet said, “talented players will be able to develop their skills as well as complete their education successfully.” The tweet suggests that the said sports school will be set up within or in close proximity to Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Sooriyawewa, Hambantota.
The 34-year-old minister also extended his thanks to the Education Minister, Hon. Prof G L Peiris for his involvement with the project.
#Suriyawewa to have the first sports school dedicated to #cricket where talented players will be able to develop their skills as well as complete their education successfully. I thank Hon. Prof G L Peiris and the ministry of education for taking the lead & initiative on this. pic.twitter.com/E3iSiO2t56
— Namal Rajapaksa (@RajapaksaNamal) October 3, 2020
At the beginning of the first academic year in 2021, the first class of the said institution will consist of 40 male students and will be followed by the addition of 2 more classes, which will consist of 80 more students of both males and females.
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Minister Rajapaksa had been vocal about the functioning of the 25 existing sports schools in Sri Lanka at a discussion held at the Education Ministry on the 28th of August 2020. He pointed out the importance of restructuring these sports schools and was seeking the consideration of the Education Ministry for the proposals he made.
“The Education Ministry and Sports Ministry have to work together to develop school sports,” said Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa at the same discussion.
