Category: Daily Financial Times

Healthguard Distribution, the fully-fledged pharmacy distribution arm of Sunshine Holdings PLC, recently obtained both the ISO 9001:2015 and Good Distribution Practices (GDP) certifications for all seven of its regional distribution centers across Sri Lanka.

These certifications, awarded by Bureau Veritas Sri Lanka, is a testament to Healthguard Distribution’s unwavering commitment to the quality management standards across its importation, warehousing, and distribution operations.

ISO 9001:2015, granted by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), is a globally recognised quality management standard developed and published by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). The certification provides a model for companies of all types and sizes to use in building an effective quality management system.

Additionally, the GDP certificate symbolises Healthguard Distribution’s dedication to upholding quality standards in the pharmaceuticals supply chain. Bureau Veritas Lanka, accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Services (UKAS), has closely assessed and verified Healthguard Distribution’s processes, infrastructure, and practices to ensure compliance with industry best practices and regulatory requirements.

Healthguard Distribution CEO Shantha Bandara said: ‘Achieving ISO 9001:2015 and GDP certification across all our regional centers is a testament to our dedication to quality, safety, and customer satisfaction. These global accreditations reinforce our mission to deliver pharmaceutical products that meet the highest global standards while maintaining integrity and trust throughout the distribution process.’

The Integrated Quality Management System implemented by Healthguard Distriution ensures that its operations are customer-focused, meeting all client requirements as well as national and international statutory and regulatory standards. It also guarantees that pharmaceutical handling is conducted safely and in alignment with World Health Organisation (WHO) Good Distribution Practices guidelines, ensuring quality and compliance at every stage of the supply chain.

This achievement also underscores Healthguard Distribution’s commitment to the safety, efficacy, and integrity of every pharmaceutical product it handles. The company’s unwavering focus on quality management ensures that pharmaceuticals are stored and distributed with the utmost care, maintaining their potency and safeguarding patient well-being.

Leveraging on the strength of its diversified parent company, Sunshine Holdings, Healthguard Distribution is the first Distribution-as-a-Service (DaaS) pharmaceutical model to be rolled out by a Sri Lankan healthcare company. It serves as a regulatory-compliant island-wide distributor for all health and wellness products, meeting the requirements of relevant regulatory authorities and pharmaceutical manufacturers. The company provides a service that would eliminate complexity and help pharmaceutical and consumer brand companies focus on their core competence, thus ensuring the industry’s overall prosperity.

Looking ahead, Healthguard Distribution said it remains focused on expanding its sales and distribution capabilities and looks forward to partnering with both local and international pharmaceutical companies. With its extended capacities, island-wide reach, and enhanced service levels, the company is well positioned to support manufacturers seeking a reliable, compliant, and scalable distribution partner in Sri Lanka.

As we welcome the New Year, The Management Club conveys its heartfelt wishes to our members, their families, sponsor organizations, and the public. May the year ahead bring good health, renewed optimism, and continued success. We look forward to strengthening leadership, collaboration, and positive impact together in the year ahead. Wishing you a prosperous and fulfilling New Year.

Private sector lending rates remained elevated in 2025 as demand for credit improved even as returns on bank fixed deposits declined in line with benchmark Treasury Bill rates.

While the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) reduced its policy corridor by 25 basis points (bps) during 2025, the Average Weighted Prime Lending Rate (AWPLR) of the commercial banking sector increased by 17 bps year-on-year (YoY) to 9.07% in the week ending 2 January. In contrast, the Average Weighted New One-Year Fixed Deposit rate fell by 66 bps to 6.53% from 7.19% a year earlier.

The Overnight Policy Rate declined by 25 bps to 7.75% over the year, while the Standing Deposit Facility Rate and Standing Lending Facility Rate were also reduced by an equal margin to 7.25% and 8.25%, respectively.

However, overnight interbank conditions showed mild tightening, with the Average Weighted Call Money Rate edging up to 8.04% from 8% a year earlier, suggesting that short-term funding costs did not ease in tandem with policy rates due to growing credit demand.

The divergence became more pronounced in the second half of 2025. As at end-June 2025, the policy corridor had been lowered by a cumulative 125 bps YoY, with the AWPLR easing 67 bps to 8.11%. Over the same period, the Average Weighted New Fixed Deposit rate fell more sharply by 110 bps to 6.78%. Subsequently, lending rates firmed again, even as deposit rates continued to adjust downward.

Short-term Government securities, which serve as a benchmark for deposit pricing, recorded broad-based declines. The 91-day Treasury Bill yield fell 81 bps YoY to 7.74% as of 2 January, while the 183-day and 364-day Treasury Bill yields declined to 8.27% and 8.45%, respectively, reinforcing downward pressure on deposit rates.

At the same time, private sector credit demand strengthened significantly. Total private sector borrowings surged to a record Rs. 246.1 billion in October 2025, pushing outstanding domestic private sector credit to Rs. 9.76 trillion, up 24.1% from a year earlier. This followed strong borrowing in September and August, amounting to Rs. 236 billion and Rs. 227 billion, respectively.

According to CBSL data, domestic banking sector credit to the private sector in October amounted to Rs. 247.7 billion. Outstanding private sector debt from domestic banks during the first 10 months of 2025 stood at Rs. 9.76 trillion, up 25.8% YoY, while borrowings from overseas banks remained broadly unchanged at Rs. 583 billion.

The data indicate that while monetary easing has been transmitted swiftly to deposit rates and Government securities yields, lending rates to the private sector have remained relatively sticky amid strong credit demand and lingering risk considerations within the banking system.

The National People’s Power (NPP) Government’s main constituent party, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) yesterday issued a statement condemning what it described as military aggression by the US against Venezuela, asserting that the sovereignty of the Latin American nation and the right of its people to determine their leadership must not be violated, according to a press release issued by its Political Bureau.

The statement said: ‘We strongly condemn the United States of America’s military aggression against the independent and sovereign State of Venezuela and the abduction of democratically elected President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

As in any other free and sovereign State, the right to determine the future and the leaders of the country rests on the people of Venezuela. Power ful countries do not have the right to violate this principle.

Modern society and governance should be civilised. Democracy, human rights, and the sovereignty of States are universally accepted principles. Military aggressions and invasions against sovereign States in violation of these principles cannot be justified.

In that line, we believe that nobody will approve of the forceful military aggression against Venezuela by the United States of America.

Accordingly, we condemn the military invasion of Venezuela by the United States of America and stand for Venezuela’s sovereignty and independence.’

President Maduro is being held at a detention facility in New York after being apprehended during US military strikes on Venezuela over the weekend.

Maduro and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores, were transferred from Caracas to the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn, where US authorities say he will face charges linked to narcotics trafficking. Maduro has repeatedly rejected accusations that he heads a drug cartel.

In Caracas, the Venezuelan Government has declared a nationwide state of emergency and accused the US of carrying out an act of military aggression, as details continue to emerge over how the operation was conducted.

US President Donald Trump said Washington intends to take control of Venezuela’s governance ‘until a safe, proper and judicious transition’ can be achieved. He also said US oil companies would help repair Venezuela’s damaged infrastructure and generate income for the country.

Trump’s remarks have fuelled criticism that the intervention is less about supporting democratic change in Venezuela and more about securing access to its vast oil resources.

Global reactions to the US capture of the Venezuelan President have split sharply, with some Governments welcoming the end of his rule and others condemning the operation as a breach of international law.

Following US strikes on Venezuela and the detention of Maduro and his wife on drug-related charges in New York, close US allies such as the UK and Israel signalled political support. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said London ‘shed no tears’ over the fall of what it considers an illegitimate regime, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised US leadership. Argentina’s President Javier Milei also welcomed the move, hailing it as an advance for ‘freedom.’

In contrast, most Latin American Governments, along with Russia, China, and Iran, denounced the action as an assault on sovereignty. Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Colombia’s Gustavo Petro, and Chile’s Gabriel Boric warned it violated international law and risked regional instability. China said it was ‘deeply shocked,’ while Russia described the operation as ‘armed aggression.’

European leaders struck a more cautious tone. France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Friedrich Merz, and the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas reiterated calls for a peaceful transition that respects international law. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was deeply concerned the strikes set a dangerous precedent.

Within the US, criticism also emerged. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said military action without congressional authorisation and a clear post-conflict plan was reckless, even while describing Maduro as illegitimate.

In the last three years, Sri Lanka had been recovering slowly but steadily from its worst economic crisis that had crippled the country in 2022. That was not a sudden event but the culmination of a process that had been taking place in Sri Lanka’s economy from around the early 2000s. In the recovery process since the onset of the crippling event, the real Gross Domestic Product, though still lower than its peak in 2018, has been on a growth path moving to its historical annual average of 4.5-5%. The general price level as measured by both the Colombo Consumers’ Price Index and the National Consumers’ Price Index has been kept stable permitting prices to rise only by about 2% annually. The exchange rate has been brought down to Rs. 300 per US dollar from its high level of about Rs. 370 in mid 2022. Sri Lanka had been on a reform path prescribed by the International Monetary Fund, winning confidence of the bilateral, multilateral, and commercial lenders.

This has been due to the successful foreign debt restructuring program agreed with the bilateral and commercial foreign creditors. The country had accumulated a sufficient stock of foreign exchange reserves, providing a buffer for future import liberalisations that it had planned to implement after imports were drastically curtailed to prevent an unwarranted outflow of forex resources earlier. There are no more queues for essential items like fuel, cooking gas or other necessities. The new Government led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has vowed to continue with the IMF-prescribed reform program taking a 180º turn from its previous policy stance of ‘no-negotiation with creditors’ and ‘no-privatisation of state assets’. All these were promising signs for a better future until the country was hit by an unexpected natural disaster in the form of a cyclone, named Ditwah by referring to Detwah Lagoon in Yemen [2].

Low human casualties but high infrastructural damage

Cyclone Ditwah has caused massive destruction to the physical infrastructure of Sri Lanka’s economy though the reported human casualties at about 639 [3] had been much less than the number attributed to the Asian Tsunami of 2004 where it is reported that at least some 46,000 persons had perished in the Tsunami waves [4]. The lower human casualty rate implies that the country’s human capital stock remains intact, though a large number, estimated at 2.1million or about 10% of its population, has been affected needing urgent assistance [5]. Those who have been affected have mainly been in areas where agriculture has been the main occupation. Hence, cyclone Ditwah was expected to do serious damage to the country’s food production activities causing the prices of food items to rise to high levels. However, what was observed in the market was that prices rose initially but stabilised and finally receded to a low level. This implies that the dent in food production has been successfully absorbed by the Sri Lankan economy. According to the Central Bank Weekly Data, the prices of major categories of rice have increased by 4%, while main varieties of fish have declined by about 1% during December after the economy was hit by the cyclone in late November 2025[6]. Thus, as far as the human capital is concerned, it is only a matter of providing the necessary support to the affected population, to bring them back to the mainstream of the economy and make it move forward in full swing.

Initial damage assessment

The cost of the damage to the infrastructure of Sri Lanka due to cyclone Ditwah has not been assessed properly so far. A Global Rapid Post-Disaster Damage Estimation, in acronym called GRADE, by the World Bank Group has put the number to $ 4.1 billion[7]. This is made up of damage to infrastructure facilities like roads, bridges, railways, and water supply networks amounting to $ 1.7 billion, residential buildings and contents to $ 985 million, agriculture including paddy and vegetable crops, subsistence farming, maize, livestock, and agricultural infrastructure, to $ 814 million, non-residential buildings like schools, health facilities, businesses, large industrial facilities, and factories to $ 562 million.

However, the authors of the report have admitted that it has not considered the human aspect of the damage and qualified it as follows: ‘The assessment underscores how pre-existing socio-economic vulnerabilities-including poverty, limited access to services, and exposure to climate risks-are likely to amplify the cyclone’s impacts and slow recovery, particularly for women, children, older persons and female-headed households. Targeted recovery efforts will be essential to ensure support reaches the most at-risk communities’ [8]. In this sense, the deep-rooted vulnerabilities in the hardest hit districts have become more vulnerable, needing immediate attention by the Government to aid eliminate such vulnerabilities and help the affected communities to re-enter mainstream economic activities.

Need for continuous updating of the damage estimation

GRADE is in fact a rapid assessment done within a matter of just two weeks. Hence, it should be interpreted only as an initial early estimation of direct damage in selected sectors that have a significant bearing on Sri Lanka’s economy. Governments which are engaged in post-disaster recovery and rehabilitation should have something to start with. Hence, the initial estimation done by GRADE provides the beginner data set for the long-term plan to be formulated. As Chapter 3.0 of the report [9] has explained, it has used a disaster assessment model that collects data through field surveys, remote sensing, Government statistics, and independent data sources simultaneously, assessed the risks to physical infrastructure, compared with damage estimates with other such historical events to make them more acceptable, and validated the extent of the damage by cross-checking and updating results achieved. Theoretically, therefore, there should not be an objection to the methodology used by the World Bank Group for making a rapid damage assessment. However, these are estimations done to assess the damage at the national level. As time goes on, these aggregate estimates should be improved and corrected for the damages that have occurred at the lowest level of the economy, say at village level.

Borrowing more: way-out for the Government?

Cyclone Ditwah is a spanner placed in Sri Lanka’s recovery cog-wheel from the crippling economic crisis of 2022. Though the impact on the human capital stock can be corrected quickly, the rehabilitation of infrastructure that has been damaged by the cyclone involves massive expenditure both through local and foreign financing. Sri Lanka could meet the local part of the expenditure by using the current cash surplus – reported to be around Rs 1.3 trillion – which the Treasury holds in local banks. However, this is the year-end cash balance of the Treasury, and it has earned this with new money but by curtailing spending, specifically capital expenditure and postponing debt repayments to 2027 and beyond. Hence, once this cash balance is utilised, the Government will have to finance the necessary capital expenditure program by either increasing taxes or borrowing from the domestic market. Increasing the tax revenue beyond the current levels has two limitations. One is the slow growth of the economy in which citizens cannot be taxed any further without overburdening them. The present economic growth of about 5% per annum is the normal historical growth which the country can attain even if does not do anything. It is therefore equal to no growth or near zero growth. Hence, when more funds are extracted through taxation, it reduces private savings, investments, and long-term economic growth. Hence, the only path available to the Government is borrowing from domestic sources. However, this also has a limitation since it cannot borrow from the Central Bank to finance its expenditure under the new Central Bank Act. Consequently, borrowing should be done from non-Central Bank sources which include commercial banks and private individuals. In terms of the analysis by the English economist David Ricardo in 1818 [1], such borrowing too represents a burden for the people because they will have to pay more taxes in the future to service such public debt[10]. But it is a postponement of the tax liability to the future and does not cause public resent about the high taxes they pay in the current period. In these circumstances, borrowing from non-Central Bank sources to meet the funding requirements for the reconstruction of the economy damaged by cyclone Ditwah is the more plausible path available to the Government.

Need for quick recovery

The initial damage estimation by the World Bank Group at $ 4.1 billion amounts to about 4% of the country’s GDP in 2025. Since the private sector is unable to meet this expenditure, it devolves on the Government to provide the necessary funding for the purpose. What this means is that the Government’s capital expenditure program should be doubled from the present 4% of GDP and that expenditure should be incurred as the topmost priority of the country’s capital formation. Any delay in rehabilitating the damaged infrastructure will also delay the country’s economic recovery initiatives. Hence, Sri Lanka’s avowed goal of moving into prosperity within a single generation will crucially depend on the early reconstruction of the economy’s crucial infrastructural facilities.

Mere damage reconstruction will not do

However, one important aspect of the post-recovery reconstruction of the damage caused by cyclone Ditwah is that it should not be limited only to the replacement of the damaged physical assets to their previous standards. There are two considerations here. One is the need for addressing the observed failures in the existing mechanisms and systems that aggravated the physical and human damages. The other is the socio-economic factors that need the attention of the Government in a comprehensive reconstruction process.

Need for engineering innovations

Reconstructing the physical damage requires seeing beyond the present standards that have made those physical assets more vulnerable to natural disasters. For instance, the damage to the road and rail networks includes failures on multiple counts. There is embankment failure in which road and rail construction leads to the loss of stability and structural integrity of a newly engineered earth slope leading to deformation, collapse, and disruption to transport operations. These failures occur when the soil’s shear strength is exceeded by the driving forces, because of a combination of environmental factors, material properties, and construction issues. The roads, bridges, and rail tracks that were damaged could not withstand the flooding forces of the heavy rains following the cyclone Ditwah. Roads were also damaged due to pavement scour in which the erosion and removal of road surface material or underlying soil caused primarily by the force of flowing water. This weak condition in the road construction caused the floodwaters to undermine the soil roadbed and embankments supporting pavement slabs, finally leading to the collapse of the road surface. In the case of bridges, the flowing waters had eroded the sediment around the piers of bridges and their surrounding abutments. When these two strongholds became weak due to fast running flood waters, the bridges concerned gave way by collapsing themselves.

Thus, the GRADE Report has observed: ‘Bridge damage is especially critical, as structural failure or load restrictions at river crossings result in network-level disconnection rather than isolated asset damage. The scale of observed damage impacts indicates exceedance of design flood levels, insufficient freeboard at crossings, and limited resilience to debris-laden flows, particularly in the Central Highlands and downstream catchments’ [11]. Thus, going for engineering innovations to maintain the global best standards are needed in the reconstruction of the damaged infrastructural facilities.

Gender issues

The World Bank report has not addressed the socio-economic issues that have arisen due to the cyclone Ditwah. The cyclone has hit about 1.2 million women, half a million of children, and a quarter million of older persons according to an assessment of the UNDP [12]. The affected women and girls had problems of having safe, convenient, and dignified access to water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities, commonly known as WASH access facilities, while those women dependent on daily wages were deprived of incomes to support themselves and their families. In addition, those who were engaged in home-based microenterprises were also deprived of their livelihoods. Rehabilitating these people and releasing them to the mainstream of the economy will be a giant exercise needing continuous support and financial aid. This is a must which the Government should initiate with village-based organisations that have a higher competency in handling those issues.

These are the unseen factors of cyclone Ditwah. In my view, they should be addressed as quickly as possible to put the economy back on track towards recovery and long-term growth.

If you want to change a country, change the classroom

Education is not simply about literacy or exams-it is the architecture of a nation’s future. The classroom is where values are seeded, identities are shaped, and competencies are built. Every reform, every textbook, every policy is a message about the kind of society a Government intends to leave behind.

That is why Sri Lanka’s recent Grade 6 textbook scandal is so alarming. A module intended to teach English contained a live link to buddy.net, an adult dating site. What should have been a harmless exercise in self-description became a digital doorway into predation. This was not a minor editorial slip. It was a breach of trust, a violation of child psychology, and a collapse of institutional safeguarding.

Governments must ask themselves: when they leave office, what do they leave behind? A generation empowered with critical thinking, empathy, and digital safety-or a generation scarred by exposure, exploitation, and mistrust in the very institutions meant to protect them?

The psychology of protection

At age 11-12, children are in Erikson’s industry vs. inferiority stage, where competence and self-esteem are paramount. Exposure to adult sexual environments undermines confidence, creating confusion and anxiety. UNICEF’s Safety by Design principle requires that educational materials anticipate and eliminate risks before they reach children. The buddy.net incident violated every safeguard.

Parents and children rely on trusted institutions-schools, teachers, textbooks-as secure guides. When those fail, the breach erodes trust and can trigger long-term insecurity. Protecting childhood is not an optional extra; it is the foundation of resilience.

Global policy shifts

Sri Lanka’s scandal is part of a wider debate. In late 2025, Italy’s Government under Giorgia Meloni banned LGBTQ topics in primary schools and required parental consent in secondary schools. Supporters argue this protects parental rights; critics see it as censorship. Hungary, Bulgaria and several US states have enacted similar restrictions.

The common thread is the contested nature of the classroom. Governments are redefining education as a battleground between parental authority, state policy, and child rights. The question is not only what children learn, but who decides.

The digital pandemic

The classroom crisis is magnified by the rise of online predation. Data from the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children shows staggering increases between just the first half of 2024 and the first half of 2025:

Predators exploit gaming platforms like Roblox, educational portals, and even school resources. The use of generative AI has become a “hidden pandemic,” where predators create fake explicit images of children using photos taken from social media or school websites to blackmail them.

Since 2021, at least 36 teenage boys have taken their own lives because they were victimised by sextortion. They are not statistics-they are sons, brothers, students who saw no way out when predators threatened to destroy their lives by sharing manipulated images.

A textbook link to an adult site is not just inappropriate-it is a gateway into this global crisis. The buddy.net incident in Sri Lanka created what experts call a “Digital Doorway” to several crimes: financial sextortion, deepfake abuse, and direct contact with predators on a site designed for adult sexual encounters.

Devices, data and the 4Cs

Governments are responding with device bans and stricter digital hygiene. By the end of 2024, approximately 40% of the world’s education systems had implemented some form of smartphone ban. France and the UK have introduced “bell-to-bell” bans, where students must surrender phones at the start of the day. UNESCO reports that removing smartphones improves learning outcomes and reduces “brain drain,” particularly for students already struggling academically. Beyond preventing distractions, these bans shield children from data harvesting by apps and reduce opportunities for peer-to-peer cyberbullying and the sharing of non-consensual images.

Educators now use the 4Cs risk framework to justify restrictions:

Content: Exposure to age-inappropriate or illegal material

Contact: Risk of grooming by adult predators

Conduct: Cyberbullying or creation of harmful digital footprints

Contract: Data harvesting and privacy violations by third-party apps

Sri Lanka’s textbook incident triggered all four risks simultaneously. The buddy.net link exposed children to adult sexual content (Content), potentially connected them with predators on a platform designed for adult hookups (Contact), could lead to coercion and sextortion (Conduct), and likely compromised their digital privacy through an unregulated site (Contract).

Institutional negligence and loss of trust

The outrage in Sri Lankan Government stems not only from the danger but from the breakdown of quality control. How could a panel of experts approve a textbook without a simple web check? The buddy.net site is not ambiguously named-it is an active website designed for adult men to find gay partners and hookups, featuring content related to ‘cruising’ and sexual encounters.

The scale of this near-catastrophe is staggering: 400,000 copies of the textbook were printed and ready for distribution. That represents 400,000 children-an entire generation of Grade 6 students-who could have been directed to an adult dating site by their Government-approved learning materials. The fact that the error was caught before full distribution does not absolve the institutional failure; it merely prevented a disaster from becoming a national tragedy. ( Website Linked in School Textbook Blocked as Education Row Sparks Political Fallout – LNW Lanka News Web )

How did this happen? The Ministry of Education has lodged a complaint with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), and the National Institute of Education (NIE) is conducting an internal inquiry. The head of NIE, Manjula Vithanapathirana, has resigned pending investigations. Yet these reactive measures raise a more fundamental question: Why weren’t safeguards in place to prevent this from happening in the first place? Isn’t it obvious that such a inclusion would have had directives?

The investigation now focuses on whether this was deliberate sabotage or catastrophic negligence – or an institutional cover up? Either answer is damning. If sabotage, it reveals that Sri Lanka’s curriculum development process is vulnerable to malicious actors who can weaponise textbooks against children. If negligence, it shows that basic quality control-a simple web search before printing 400,000 books-has collapsed entirely. If it ends up as a cover up then it is worse.

The Ministry of Education now faces a credibility crisis. Recent education reforms, regardless of their intent, are undermined when the very institutions implementing them cannot be trusted to keep children safe. The ministry’s accountability extends beyond this single incident-it must answer for the systematic failure of oversight that allowed an adult dating site to be printed in children’s textbooks.

The dangers of this inclusion

are severe:

1.Exposure to adult and explicit content: At age 11-12, children are cognitively and emotionally unprepared for such material. This is a direct violation of educational psychology principles.

2.Gateway to online grooming: The site is a social platform where adults interact. A child following a school-sanctioned link enters a space where predators can easily identify them as a minor and begin grooming.

3.’Digital Doorway’ to cybercrime: Predators on such sites often move conversations to encrypted apps like Snapchat or Telegram for blackmail. They can also scrape a child’s profile to create AI-generated explicit images.

4.Resource waste and erosion of trust: Rectifying the error requires recalling thousands of printed books and blocking the site nationally through the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL), wasting massive public funds and eroding public confidence in the education system.

This is more than a local scandal. It is a violation of UNICEF child protection principles and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Educational materials are legally and ethically expected to be ‘Child-Safe by Design.’ Directing children to an adult environment bypasses every standard of institutional safeguarding:

Violation of ‘Safety by Design’: UNICEF requires organisations to proactively eliminate threats before they reach children.

Violation of ‘Protection from Sexual Exploitation’: Under Article 34 of the CRC, children have the right to be protected from all forms of sexual exploitation.

Violation of ‘Best Interests of the Child’: There is no educational justification for a 6th grader to access an adult social network.

Breach of Digital Literacy Standards: When a textbook-the most trusted source-provides a dangerous link, it destroys a child’s ability to distinguish between ‘safe’ and ‘unsafe’ digital spaces.

This is a psychological breach of trust, exposing children to adult environments at the exact developmental stage when they are forming identity and competence. And it is a loss of institutional credibility, showing how fragile oversight has become in the digital age.

What happens next: Breaking the cycle of institutional failure

The buddy.net scandal demands more than investigations and resignations. It requires systemic reform to ensure this never happens again-in Sri Lanka or anywhere else. Governments cannot afford reactive crisis management when children’s safety is at stake.

Essential reforms must include:

1. Mandatory digital hygiene protocols: Every URL, QR code, and web reference in educational materials must undergo verification before approval. This is not optional-it is baseline child protection.

2. Independent third-party vetting: Curriculum materials should be reviewed by external child safety experts who are not embedded in the ministry’s internal processes. Fresh eyes catch what familiarity misses.

3. Regular audits and red-teaming: Educational materials should be subject to periodic ‘hostile review’-asking not ‘what could go right’ but ‘what could go wrong?’ This includes testing all digital links annually, as websites change ownership and content.

4. Training for curriculum developers: Every person involved in creating educational materials must complete certified training in child safeguarding, digital literacy, and age-appropriate content standards.

5. Transparent accountability frameworks: When failures occur, the public deserves clear answers: Who approved this? What checks were missed? What consequences follow? Without transparency, trust cannot be rebuilt.

6. Integration of digital safety into curricula: Children must learn to identify unsafe websites, recognise grooming tactics, and understand their rights online. If textbooks can fail them, they need the skills to protect themselves.

These are not aspirational goals-they are minimum standards that every education system must meet in the digital age. The cost of implementing these safeguards is negligible compared to the cost of failing to protect even one child.

The exodus: When parents lose faith in the system worldwide

When institutions fail children, parents make a choice. And increasingly, across every continent, that choice is to leave the system entirely. This is not an American phenomenon-it is a global reckoning.

The numbers tell the story of a worldwide crisis of confidence:

In the United States, homeschooling enrollment surged 51% from 2.5 million students in 2019 to over 3.7 million in 2024-2025, growing at 5.4%-nearly triple the pre-pandemic rate. The United Kingdom now has over 111,700 homeschooled children as of autumn 2024, representing a 40% increase over three years, with some regions seeing a 71% increase in secondary school students moving to home education. Australia’s homeschooling population exploded to over 45,000 students in 2024, with Queensland alone tripling its numbers since 2019. Even in Poland, where homeschooling was relatively rare, the numbers skyrocketed from 10,976 students in 2019-20 to 54,936 by February 2024-a 400% increase in just four years.

The global homeschooling market itself-valued at $3.59 billion in 2023-is projected to reach $8.95 billion by 2032, growing at 10.68% annually. This isn’t niche anymore. This is mainstream exodus.

The reasons parents cite are damning: The number one driver globally isn’t religious instruction or academic preference-it’s concern about the school environment, including safety, drugs, and negative peer pressure. In the UK, the most reported reasons for electing home education are ‘mental health’ (14%) and ‘philosophical or preferential reasons’ (14%). Translation: parents no longer trust schools to protect their children’s wellbeing.

The data mirrors a cascading trust crisis: 59% of school parents in the U.S. now say K-12 education is headed in the wrong direction, up from 52% in 2021. Dissatisfaction with traditional schooling systems, overcrowded classrooms, and concerns about child safety are driving parents in India, China, Australia, France, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Russia, and beyond to explore alternatives.

This is a cross-cultural, cross-continental movement. It is happening in countries with strict regulations (like Poland and parts of Europe) and in countries with relaxed frameworks (like the UK and Australia). It is happening among secular families and religious ones. It is happening in wealthy nations and developing ones. The common thread is universal: institutional failure breeds parental flight.

Even in Sri Lanka, where homeschooling remains less common than in Western countries, the community is growing-particularly among families seeking personalised education and greater control over their children’s learning environment. The cultural shift may be slower, but it follows the same inexorable pattern: when trust erodes, parents seek alternatives.

Sri Lanka’s textbook scandal is exactly the kind of institutional failure that accelerates this global exodus. When a Government-approved textbook directs children to an adult dating site, it doesn’t just confirm Sri Lankan parents’ worst fears-it sends a signal to parents worldwide: The system designed to protect children is fundamentally broken. Quality control has collapsed. Oversight has failed. And children are the collateral damage.

France bans smartphones in schools. Italy restricts curriculum content. Hungary tightens regulations. But none of these policy fights address the deeper rot: Governments are debating what to teach while failing at the most basic obligation-keeping children safe from predators, whether those predators are lurking online or printed in textbooks approved by education ministries.

The homeschooling surge isn’t about rejecting education-it’s about reclaiming responsibility when institutions prove they cannot be trusted with it. It’s millions of parents across dozens of countries saying in dozens of languages: ‘If you won’t protect my child, I will.’

And they are acting on it-at a scale and pace that should terrify every education ministry on Earth.

Conclusion: Protecting childhood as legacy

Education is legacy. It is the one institution that outlives Governments, shaping the citizens who will inherit the nation. When classrooms fail, children pay the price-confusion, exploitation, and erosion of trust in the very institutions meant to protect them.

Sri Lanka’s scandal is a wake-up call. In a world of rising cybercrime and contested curricula, Governments cannot afford negligence. Protecting children means respecting their psychological stages, safeguarding their trust in institutions, and designing education that nurtures rather than endangers.

Resilience without strategy is erosion. And in education, erosion begins the moment we fail to protect the child.

If you want to change a country, change the classroom. If you want to destroy it, neglect the child.

(The author began his career in the banking sector, where he built an illustrious track record before transitioning into education in 2007. Since then, he has held senior leadership roles including Regional Director of CIMA and Executive Director of IIHE, while also serving as a lecturer for MBA programs across both local and British universities. Bradley has contributed directly to national education policy, serving on two Education Reform Commissions under Minister S.B. Dissanayake and Minister Susil Premjayantha. His work bridges practice and policy, combining strategic leadership with a commitment to shaping classrooms as engines of national transformation. He could be reached via email at [email protected])

The secondary Bond market opened last week on a positive footing, with yields initially easing on the back of residual buying interest carried over from the latter part of the previous week. However, this momentum tapered off, as participation thinned and market activity turned cautious amid back-to-back primary Treasury Bill and Bond auctions, leading to limited follow-through in secondary trades and yields edging back up.

Mid-week conditions remained subdued, with market participants largely adopting a wait-and-see stance amidst the successive primary market auctions. Secondary market activity was limited, as focus shifted toward assessing post-auction signals. In this context, secondary Bond yields were seen adjusting upwards, particularly following the weekly Treasury Bill auction, which recorded across-the-board increases in weighted average rates for the second consecutive week, prompting a measured re-pricing across the curve.

However, sentiment improved toward the latter part of the week, as renewed buying interest emerged, triggering a recovery. This movement was most evident in the belly of the yield curve, particularly across the 2028-2033 maturities, where yields declined on the back of firmer demand. Market activity and transaction volumes improved during this phase.

The recovery extended into the final session of the week, supported by sustained buying interest, with yields closing lower on the day. Overall, despite the muted conditions observed earlier in the week, secondary market activity ended on a firmer note, with improved sentiment and healthier transaction volumes toward the close. In conclusion secondary Bond market two-way quotes closed the week broadly steady week on week.

In terms of the secondary Bond market trade summary: last week, the 01.05.27 maturity traded at 8.92%-8.89%, while the 15.09.27 maturity traded at 8.95%.

Moving into the 2028 tenors, the 15.02.28 maturity traded at 9.05%. The 01.05.28 maturity initially traded up to 9.20% before trading down the range of 9.20%-9.15% towards the latter part of the week. The 01.07.28 maturity traded up to 9.25% before easing to trade down to an intraweek low of 9.14% at the close of the week. The 01.09.28 maturity traded at 9.18%, while the 15.10.28 and 15.12.28 maturities were seen trading at 9.20% and 9.22%-9.20% respectively.

Further along the curve, the 15.09.29 maturity traded up to 9.80% before easing back to 9.75%, while the 15.10.29 maturity saw its yield ease from a high of 9.75% to a low of 9.70%. The 15.12.29 maturity traded up to 9.87% before trading down the range of 9.86%-9.75% at the tail end of the week during the recovery rally.

The 01.07.30 maturity traded up to 9.91% post-auction T-Bill auction before trading down the range of 9.87%-9.80% as the market recovered and retraced downwards. The 15.03.31 maturity traded at 10.00%. The 01.10.32 maturity traded up to 10.40% before easing to trade back down to 10.35%. The 01.06.33 and 01.11.33 maturities traded at the rate of 10.50% at the close of the week.

Meanwhile, the Bond auctions held on Tuesday (30 December 2025) raised Rs. 43.18 billion, representing 78.51% of the Rs. 55 billion on offer, across two available maturities. The 01.07.2037 maturity was fully subscribed at a weighted average yield of 10.90%, raising the entire maturity-wise offered amount of Rs. 25 billion at the first phase in competitive bidding. The 01.07.2030 maturity was issued at 9.80%. However, the maturity was undersubscribed at the 1st and 2nd phases.

This was followed by the weekly Treasury Bill auction held last Wednesday, where weighted average yields recorded an upwards movement across the board for a second consecutive week. Accordingly, the weighted average yield on the 91-day bill rose by 19 basis points to 7.74%, the 182-day by 32 basis points to 8.27%, and the 364-day by 26 basis points to 8.45% respectively. Only an amount of Rs. 57.39 billion was raised in total, out of a total offered amount of Rs. 120 billion, translating to a 47.83% subscription ratio.

Meanwhile, the foreign holdings of rupee-denominated Government Securities recorded a net foreign inflow, amounting to Rs. 938 million. Consequently, total holdings increased to Rs. 141.36 billion during the week ending 1 January.

The daily secondary market Treasury Bond/Bill transacted volumes for the first four days of the week averaged at Rs. 15.19 billion.

In the money market, the total outstanding liquidity surplus in the inter-bank money market increased steadily to Rs. 134.48 billion as at the week ending 2 January 2026, from Rs. 111.66 billion recorded the previous week. The weighted average interest rates on call money and repo were recorded within the ranges of 8.03%-8.04% and 8.05%-8.06% respectively while the Central Bank of Sri Lanka’s (CBSL) holding of Government Securities was registered at Rs. 2,508.92 billion as at 2 January, unchanged against the previous week’s closing level.

Forex market

In the forex market, the USD/LKR rate on spot contracts was seen closing the week depreciating to Rs. 309.75/309.85 as against the previous week’s closing level of Rs. 309.65/309.75. This was subsequent to trading at a high of Rs. 309.40 and a low of Rs. 310.25.

The daily USD/LKR average traded volume for the first four trading days of the week stood at $ 59.60 million.

India has agreed to play two additional Twenty20 International matches during the Sri Lanka tour in August as part of an effort to support the welfare efforts of the people affected by the Ditwah cyclone.

Sri Lankan Cricket President Shammi Silva addressing a press conference at SLC headquarters yesterday said that the Indian team had agreed to play two T20 International matches in the last week of December, on 27 and 29, to support the victims of the ‘Ditwah’ cyclone but due to the commercial value being low at that time, it was decided to play it after the two Tests in August.

Silva said that the two T20Is were not part of the Future Tour Program (FTP) and thereby had to be played during a period where the matches would be of high value.

Sri Lanka are due to recommence their World Test Championship program for 2026 with a two-Test series in the Caribbean in June-July. It will be followed by India’s tour to Sri Lanka for two Tests in August which are also part of the WTC, and will include the two T20I matches.

Silva expressed his gratitude to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for agreeing to play the two additional T20I matches.

SLC had earlier decided to donate the profits accrued from the three-match T20I series against Pakistan in Dambulla starting next week to the ‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka’ program.

Sri Lanka’s rupee weakened against the US dollar in 2025, posting an annual depreciation of 5.6%, reversing the strong gains recorded over the previous two years.

The decline follows a sharp recovery phase in 2023 and 2024, when the currency appreciated by 12.1% and 10.7%, respectively, supported by tight monetary policy, import controls, improved external balances, and inflows linked to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-supported reform program.

The 2025 depreciation contrasts with the stabilisation trend seen after the currency crisis of 2022, when the rupee collapsed by 44.8% amid severe balance-of-payments stress, depleted reserves, and a suspension of external debt servicing.

Prior to the crisis, the rupee had shown a persistent weakening bias. It depreciated by 7% in 2021 and 2.6% in 2020, while recording a marginal appreciation of 0.6% in 2019.

Market analysts note that the 2025 movement reflects a more flexible exchange-rate environment, gradual normalisation of import demand, external debt-related outflows, and reduced intervention, rather than disorderly pressure.

They add that currency performance in the coming period will hinge on reserve accumulation, export growth, remittance inflows, capital flows, and progress on debt restructuring, alongside global dollar conditions.

The rupee began to moderately depreciate in early 2025. The recent post-Ditwah IMF staff paper said the exchange rate depreciated in early December but remains range-bound.

The IMF said the current account deficit could widen by around $ 700 million, or 0.7% of GDP, over the next 12 months.

IMF staff noted that Sri Lanka entered the disaster period with stronger macroeconomic fundamentals, after reforms had supported a recovery and restored stability. Gross official reserves had risen to about three months of imports, and inflation had remained low before the cyclone.

On this basis, staff project growth returning to potential at around 3.1% in 2027, with inflation easing back towards target and the current account deficit narrowing as tourism and agricultural exports recover and emergency-related imports subside.

Humanly, we can only be awake about 16-17 hours a day. This has not changed much with time. What has changed is the explosion of choices in how we spend those hours-food, entertainment, socialising, travelling, and countless sub-choices within each.

This abundance carries profound implications for the way we live today:

We are over-consuming almost everything, leaving behind a trail of idle or underutilised assets-from cars to wardrobes, appliances to apps.

To sustain this consumption, we must work harder and more competitively, which in turn increases stress. The alarming rise in lifestyle-induced non-communicable diseases is evidence of this vicious cycle.

Even if we wish to slow down, the system resists. Commercial organisations must show year-on-year growth in revenue and profit. Governments, too, chase economic expansion, borrowing more to prop up economies. Industries-from healthcare to arms and ammunition to media-thrive on pushing us to consume, fight, or sensationalise more.

By virtue of being part of this economic and commercial system, we are locked into perpetual growth. Yet it is unlikely that our environment can sustain this trajectory. Mother Nature continues to send grave signals, though some global leaders are yet to warm up to it!

The questions remains: How long can we continue this way, and what will compel us to change?

Personally, I long for a reversal toward a simpler, more sustainable way of life. The system may work against it, but that cannot be an excuse for the individual who wishes to make a change. It is about striking balance-ensuring that ambition stops short of greed, self-esteem stops short of destructive ego, and the quest for comfort stops short of materialism.

May the New Year bring enlightenment, and the courage to choose sustainability over excess.