ROLE PLAYERS 2017 - Hon. Akila Viraj Kariyawasam


Hon. Akila Viraj Kariyawasam

Minister of Education, Srilanka

Hon. Akila Viraj Kariyawasam assumed the office as the Minister of Education with added responsibilities of Culture, Archaeology, Library Services and National Archives in January 2015. He is the Deputy General Secretary of the ruling United National Party and the leader of the Trade Union. He is also the media spokesman of the Party. He functions as the political leader of the Kurunegala district. He is a graduate of the University of Colombo specializing in Economics, Political Science and International Relations. He is also a lawyer by profession.

He was elected as a member to the Executive Board of the UNESCO in 2015.

An educational program under the guidance of Mr. Akila Viraj Kariyawasam , "13 years of schooling" has been launched to win the opportunities offered by the modern employment market and to ensure the educational rights of the children. A "Smart Classroom" program is being launched to bring the modern technology to the very classroom level.

At present, Mr. Kariyawasam is engaged to bring about a revolutionary change in the educational system of the country to avail educational services all strata of the society in the urban and rural sector. Through his tireless efforts a sizeable 6% of the national budgetary allocations is set aside for education.