According to officials, Sri Lanka has cancelled exams for millions of pupils in the Western Province since the government ran out of printing paper and Colombo is short on funds to finance imports.
The term tests, scheduled for a week from Monday, have been postponed indefinitely, according to education officials, due to a severe paper scarcity as Sri Lanka grapples with its greatest financial crisis since independence in 1948.
“School principals cannot hold the tests as printers are unable to secure foreign exchange to import necessary paper and ink,” the Department of Education of the Western Province, home to nearly six million people, said.
Term assessments for grades 9, 10, and 11 are part of a year-long assessment process that determines whether students will be promoted to the next grade.
The country is running out of food, fuel, and pharmaceuticals due to a crippling economic crisis caused on by a lack of foreign exchange reserves to finance crucial imports.
The cash-strapped 22-million-strong South Asian country declared this week that it will seek IMF assistance to fix its rising foreign debt crisis and shore up its external reserves.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s surprising Wednesday request to negotiate a bailout was confirmed by the International Monetary Fund on Friday.
After Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa’s visit to New Delhi, the island nation received a $1 billion credit line from India to purchase desperately needed food and medication, sources claimed.
Colombo has $6.9 billion in debt to service this year, while its foreign currency reserves were around $2.3 billion at the end of February.
Long lines have formed for groceries and oil around the country, as the government has implemented rolling blackouts and rationing of milk powder, sugar, lentils, and rice.
Sri Lanka approached China, one of its biggest creditors, for assistance in deferring debt payments early this year, but Beijing has yet to respond.
