Sri Lanka, Oct. 8 -- A circular issued by the Ministry of Education reveals that nearly 3,000 schools out of the 10,102 nationwide are classified as Difficult or Extremely Difficult schools. This represents 28.26% of all schools.

In this context, the Lanka Teachers' Union alleges that the government is preparing to temporarily close schools with fewer than 50 students and those where the cost per student is very high.

The Ministry of Education issued a new circular in April titled the "Circular and Compilation of Instructions on School Structure Matters," which set the minimum student count for a school to operate at 50.

The circular states that if a school's total student population is less than 50, that school can be merged with anot...