Government schools, preschools, international schools, and tuition classes will be closed on Wednesday.

Following the decision to declare every Wednesday a special government holiday, primarily due to fuel supply issues in the country, and since this decision directly impacts the education sector, in addition to government schools, government-approved private schools and international schools also

Mr. Nalaka Kaluwewa, Secretary to the Ministry of Education, and the Deputy Minister of Education have requested relevant parties to keep schools closed on Wednesdays. Concurrently, the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs has suspended pre-school activities every Wednesday of the week until further notice, and the Commissioner General of Essential Services further stated that holding tuition classes and lectures on that day is also completely prohibited.

The government has no plans to start online teaching for government schools on Wednesdays, which are closed. However, university teaching can be conducted online on that day. It has also been pointed out that there is no hindrance if international schools or tuition classes opt for online teaching on Wednesdays.

Meanwhile, with the aim of ensuring the continuous functioning of the country's overall processes, four committees, comprising Ministry Secretaries and relevant officials, have been appointed and assigned responsibilities covering various sectors.

Accordingly, the committee on maintaining uninterrupted public services has been appointed under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, and the energy committee under the chairmanship of Minister Vijitha Herath. In addition, the committee for the distribution and monitoring of essential goods operates under the leadership of Minister Bimal Rathnayake, while the responsibility for providing welfare facilities to various social strata has been assigned to a committee chaired by Minister Upali Pannilage. The government has made this decision, and four special committees have now been appointed to study the current situation and streamline future activities.

Commissioner General of Essential Services, Mr. Prabath Chandrakirthi, points out that according to this new decision, every Wednesday will be observed as a holiday for government offices, judicial services, schools, and universities. However, the government has confirmed that this special holiday will not apply to institutions providing essential public services such as health, ports, water supply, energy, and customs.