Tamil children in the North are increasingly dropping out of school, reports IRIN news service.
The situation is mainly aggravated by lack of meaningful job opportunities, with poor families needing all able-bodied members to find odd jobs or agricultural work to make ends meet.
Rupavathi Ketheeswaran, a Kilinochchi public official told IRIN that the situation for the estimated 40,000 female-run households was particularly dire, and also for families with disabled members.
Despite the Sri Lankan government's repeated claims of bringing prosperity to the North in the years after the war, older children and young adults are motivated to drop out due to the scarcity of jobs requiring higher qualifications. Potential for work is further restricted by the Sri Lankan army's heavy involvement in trade and business in the Tamil homeland.
Sivalingam Sathyaseelan, a secretary to the NPC's Education Minister told IRIN:
“They have to settle for manual labour jobs if they remain in the region, so why not take them [out of school] now?”
“There are no private enterprises, [and] very few government offices in the villages. The only thing that is there, is construction of houses or farm work.