Sri Lankan school students ride a bicycle in Jaffna in this file photo. (Photo by AFP)
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo has called on the Sri Lankan government to ban tutorial classes on Sundays.
“I wrote to the president to ban tuition classes from 6.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. on Sundays,” said Cardinal Ranjith addressing a Catholic Teachers Day program at St. Joseph’s College Colombo on Nov. 3.
He said Christian children need also to attend Sunday school.
“Children do not have time to play or enjoy their childhood today because they run to tuition classes,” he said.
The cardinal said Buddhist children also fail to go to the temple on Buddhist holy days due to tutorial classes.
A Buddhist teacher, Ananda Rashown, who fights to ban tutorial classes said all religious leaders should pressure authorities to stop such classes on Sundays and Buddhist holy days.
“Anyone who conducts classes on Sundays should be punished,” he said.
Tutorial classes on Sundays have come in for strong criticism from teachers and some parents claiming it has an adverse effect on children.
However, others argue that a ban on tutorial classes takes away the right of people to work on Sundays and that the government has no right to enforce such a ban.