Sri Lanka to distribute shoe vouchers to 747,000 children in December

COLOMBO, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's Ministry of Education will commence distribution of vouchers to buy shoes for 747,000 poor children from Dec. 4, a government official said on Monday.

Minister of Education Susil Premajayantha told parliament that the distribution of vouchers would end by Dec. 24, which would allow children to buy shoes to wear to school in the new year.

He also told parliament that the government is planning to provide sanitary napkins to female students free of charge starting next year.

There are 1.6 million primary school students and 2.4 million students above grade six, of whom 1.2 million should be females, the minister said.