Batticaloa/Colombo - State schools in Sri
Lanka resumed classes on Monday amid tight security after the
Easter Sunday bombings, but many anxious parents kept their
children at home over fears of more attacks by Islamic
militants.
Two weeks after suicide bombings at hotels and churches
killed 257 people, soldiers conducted a security sweep of
schools on Sunday after state institutions were asked to re-open
on a staggered basis.
Mid-to-upper stream classes resumed on Monday, to be
followed by lower grades at a later date.
Despite the tight security and military patrols, most
classrooms were near empty on Monday. Private schools, including
Catholic institutions, remained closed.
"I have decided not to send my son to school until the
country returns to normal," said Sujeeva Dissanayake, whose son
goes to the state-run Asoka College in Colombo.
She and other parents were at the school to help provide
security.
"Until we are certain about the security situation outside
we will not send the child to school," Dissanayake said.
Few students are seen in an otherwise full classroom at a school which opened days after a string of suicide bomb attacks across the island on Easter Sunday, in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. Picture: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters
Authorities have blamed the Easter Sunday attacks, which
also killed 42 foreign nationals, on two little-known local
Islamist groups, the National Tawheed Jamaath (NTJ) and Jamathei
Millathu Ibrahim (JMI).
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the bombings.
At Royal College, an elite state school in Colombo, the
parking area usually filled with school vans on a normal day was
practically empty.
Only about 5 percent of its 6000 students were back in
classes, a school official said.
At a Hindu school in Batticaloa on the east coast, site of
one of the church bombings, parents helped to search schoolbags
at the entrance gate. Once inside, pupils sat in desks away from
road-side windows.
Soldiers on patrol arrive at a school in Batticaloa which opened days after a string of suicide bomb attacks across the island on Easter Sunday. Picture: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters
"Parents are not confident that safety has returned to
normal," said T. Yasodharan, principal of Sivananda College
where only 30 percent of its students showed up on Monday.
Security forces are on high alert after intelligence reports
indicated militants could strike before the start of the Islamic
holy month of Ramadan, which is due to begin later on Monday.
Muslim schools will be closed for the holidays.
A student's bag is searched by a parent as he arrives at his school in Batticaloa which opened days after a string of suicide bomb attacks across the island on Easter Sunday. Picture: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters
In Negombo, where 102 people attending Easter Sunday service
were killed in the deadliest bomb attack, authorities lifted an
overnight curfew imposed after clashes between two groups of
civilians.
A brief ban on social media platforms was also lifted, but
authorities said they would stay alert for threats against the
Muslim community in the wake of the April 21 attacks.
Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Ranjith, who has criticised the
government's handling of security around key establishments, has
asked for Catholic schools in the Western Province, which
includes Colombo and its suburbs, to be closed this week.