Colombo unable to fund import of printing paper, leaving millions of students unable to take part in term assessments
\nSri Lanka has cancelled school exams for millions of students after running out of printing paper, as the country contends with its worst financial crisis since independence in 1948.
\nEducation authorities said on Saturday the term tests, scheduled a week from Monday, were postponed indefinitely due to an acute paper shortage, with Colombo short on funds to finance imports.
\n\u201cSchool principals cannot hold the tests as printers are unable to secure foreign exchange to import necessary paper and ink,\u201d the Department of Education of the Western Province said.
\nOfficial sources said the problem could hold up tests for around two thirds of the country\u2019s 4.5 million students.
\nTerm tests are part of a continuous assessment process to decide if students are promoted to the next grade at the end of the year.
\nA debilitating economic crisis brought on by a shortage of foreign exchange reserves to finance essential imports, has seen the country run low on food, fuel and pharmaceuticals.
\nThe cash-strapped south Asian nation of 22 million announced this week that it will seek an IMF bailout to resolve its worsening foreign debt crisis and shore up external reserves.
\nThe International Monetary Fund on Friday confirmed it was considering President Gotabaya Rajapaksa\u2019s surprise Wednesday request to discuss a bailout.
\nAround $6.9bn of Colombo\u2019s debt needs to be serviced this year but its foreign currency reserves stood at about $2.3bn at the end of February.
\nLong queues have formed across the country for groceries and oil with the government instituting rolling electricity blackouts and rationing of milk powder, sugar, lentils and rice.
\nSri Lanka earlier this year asked China, one of its main creditors, to help put off debt payments but there has been no official response yet from Beijing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Colombo unable to fund import of printing paper, leaving millions of students unable to take part in term assessments Sri Lanka has cancelled school exams for millions of students after running out of printing paper, as the country contends with its worst financial crisis since independence in 1948. Education authorities said on Saturday the term […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-250476","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n