No Plans to Extend School Hours to 2.30 pm, Under New NPP Government!

After the NPP gained power in the previous presidential election and formed a temporary government till the parliamentary elections, numerous misleading posts about their policies and decisions began circulating on social media. These posts often distort or misrepresent the NPP's policies, creating confusion and misinformation among the public. Despite the NPP's official statements and efforts to clarify their stances, false claims regarding their governance and decisions continue to spread widely, fueling public debate and speculation.

Social Media Posts

Social media has been buzzing with claims that the school hours in Sri Lanka will be extended by one extra hour, from 1.30 PM to 2.30 PM, as part of an initiative by the new National People's Power (NPP) government. The message implies that students would need to spend an additional hour in school under this proposal. We decided to investigate the validity of this claim.

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Fact Check

Investigation Process

Mainstream Media Reports: We reviewed mainstream media outlets to verify whether any announcements or discussions about extending school hours had been made. No such recent reports were found in any reputable news sources. However, there were discussions in 2022 to extend the time as the academic year is getting delayed due to the pandemic, economic crisis, etc. However, at that time also, the government finally decided not to extend the school term. More details can be read here

NPP Policy Documents: To investigate further, we examined the NPP's election manifesto and policy documents. These documents do not mention extending school hours or implementing any significant changes to the school timetable. The NPP manifesto can be read here.

Contacting the Ministry of Education: We then reached out to the Ministry of Education's media unit to verify if such a policy was being considered or had been officially announced. The ministry confirmed that no official discussions have taken place regarding an extension of school hours and that no such decision or announcement has been made by the ministry so far.

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Conclusion

Based on our investigation, there is no evidence to support the claim that school hours will be extended to 2.30 PM as part of a new initiative by the NPP government. The Ministry of Education has not made any announcements or discussed such changes officially. Therefore, the social media posts circulating this claim are false.

Parents, students, and teachers are advised to rely on official channels for updates regarding school schedules and avoid being misled by unverified information circulating on social media platforms.