Sri Lanka faces rising school dropout crisis

Nearly 265,000 students from Grade 1 to Grade 10 have dropped out of school over the past five years, according to the Bureau of Rehabilitation.

The Chair of the Governing Council of the Bureau of Rehabilitation, Professor Wasantha Subasinghe, stated that widespread drug addiction among young people has been a major contributing factor.

She made these remarks during a press conference held in Colombo today.

The need for an urgent programme to address school dropouts and prevent them from falling into drug use and other high-risk situations was also emphasized.