{"id":68218,"date":"2017-07-26T21:51:03","date_gmt":"2017-07-27T03:51:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=68218"},"modified":"2019-04-20T13:01:14","modified_gmt":"2019-04-20T20:01:14","slug":"health-education-and-yahapalana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2017\/07\/26\/health-education-and-yahapalana\/","title":{"rendered":"HEALTH, EDUCATION AND YAHAPALANA Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA\u00a0 PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

Sri Lanka has a literate, educated, strong minded public. That is because of its \u2018free health \u00a0and education\u2019. These two sectors therefore need to be weakened and the country\u2019s spirit broken, if the West is to bring the island under control. In 2014 \u00a0it was observed,’ If we have this same stability for the next five years then it will be difficult to achieve this, but a weaker Sri Lanka is easy to dominate. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Yahapalana was therefore instructed to hit these two services as fast as possible.<\/p>\n

The budget allocation for education was reduced drastically from Rs. 185.98 billion in 2016 to Rs Rs.76.94 billion in 2017.\u00a0 This was a 58% reduction compared to the previous year, said critics.\u00a0 The budget has been reduced from 2.7% in 2016 to 2% in 2017. Western Province Council complained that its education allocation for 2017 was cut from Rs 1,092 million to Rs 183 million. Development projects for schools in Gampaha, Kalutara and Colombo have come to a halt. \u2018We believe that this had been deliberately done. Finance ministry has not responded to our letters\u2019. Ceylon Teachers Services Union\u00a0 observed that\u00a0 instead of strengthening public education, Yahapalana\u00a0 is encouraging setting up of private institutions.<\/p>\n

The Ceylon Teachers Services Union\u00a0 observed that\u00a0 Yahapalana\u00a0 government was trying to scuttle free education.\u00a0 Circular no 17 of 2016\u00a0 amended\u00a0 the previous circular of 2013\u00a0 and allowed schools to solicit donations from parents when admitting their children to Grade\u00a0 One. The Union objected to this. Yahapalana\u00a0 government also issued a circular authorizing the collection of funds from parents. Parents were allowed to make payments for school projects. Parents\u00a0 now had an additional burden,\u00a0 finding money for various\u00a0 school projects.<\/p>\n

Over a hundred students studying at Kingwood College, Kandy were barred from sitting for the term test owing to their failure to pay the\u00a0 full fees for\u00a0 the school development committee. They were\u00a0 ordered to stay away from the examination hall.\u00a0 The\u00a0 parents\u00a0 complained and the Kandy Zonal Education Director ordered the principal to allow the affected\u00a0 students to sit for the term test. The\u00a0 Director had pointed out that there is no connection between the term test and the non-payment of school development committee fees.<\/p>\n

Under President Mahinda\u00a0 Rajapakse, the\u00a0 government had\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 provided\u00a0 free school uniform material. Yahapalana stopped this and\u00a0 gave vouchers to purchase material from shops, instead. A press advertisement\u00a0 showed children in ethnic symbols, pottu and scarf, praising the school uniform voucher system (Sunday Times 13.11.16 p 17).\u00a0 A school principal who issued material instead of uniform vouchers was interdicted.<\/p>\n

Parents, teachers and principals\u00a0 had\u00a0 many complaints about this voucher system. Parents complained that the cloth provided by the voucher was not sufficient even for one uniform,\u00a0 also that\u00a0 the quality of the material is poor. The better quality available for purchase in the shops is not covered by the\u00a0 voucher, they\u00a0 added.<\/p>\n

To get this\u00a0 400 rupee voucher we have to spend two day away from work,\u00a0 we lose two days wages, they said. In addition the Principal and teacher must sign each voucher. The parent must also sign in the\u00a0 presence of the class teacher. Then\u00a0 lists have to be prepared.\u00a0 Earlier it took just two teachers to bring\u00a0 the uniform material into the school. Now parents need to lose two workdays and travel to and fro to get it done.<\/p>\n

In 2006,\u00a0 the \u2018gray cloth\u2019 used for the uniforms\u00a0 was imported and local enterprises dyed it,\u00a0 critics said. This created new jobs and saved us money.\u00a0 In 2007 government imported thread and the\u00a0 local textile industries produce the cloth. That year, 10% of the total requirement was\u00a0 met. By 2013\u00a0\u00a0 the local industry met 100% of the requirements.\u00a0 Only 40% of the cost went on imports. In 2014, 1100 million\u00a0 of 1800 million worth of uniform material was\u00a0 from Sri Lanka. This provided jobs for 3000 people, too. \u00a0The\u00a0 Rajapaksa government called for offers from domestic textile producers every January. In\u00a0 January\u00a0 2015 however,\u00a0 this exclusively domestic enterprise was opened to foreign participation.<\/p>\n

Yahapalana government has made certain positive changes in the secondary school system. The government\u00a0 made 13 years of school education compulsory. An E-learning class room programme, \u2018Cloud Smart Classroom\u2019, was initiated at Jayawardenapura Kotte Boys School, Pitakotte\u00a0 as a pilot project.<\/p>\n

But several \u00a0other changes were opposed. Ceylon Teachers Services Union opposed the creation of additional grade 1 classes in Colombo saying that village\u00a0 schools will be further neglected. Ministry\u00a0 decided that printed text books should\u00a0\u00a0 be replaced by tablets. These will help teaching. But critics observed that since the number of \u2018A level\u2019 students (250,000) exceed that given in the budget (175,000) all pupils will not get free tablets.<\/p>\n

The Education Ministry issued plastic Geography text books for Grade Seven. The paper textbooks cannot be used for \u00a0more than one year, the plastic books could be used for five years, explained the Ministry.\u00a0 This was a health hazard announced the GMOA. No, it was not, said the Ministry. The GMOA claims are false and baseless. No complaints have been received by the Ministry except for the GMOA. It was also pointed out\u00a0 that\u00a0 the curriculum would have changed\u00a0 within the five years.<\/p>\n

One way of weakening education is by removing good teachers from the good \u00a0\u00a0schools. Teachers serving ten years in the same national school will be transferred, announced Yahapalana . Teachers in leading schools in Kandy and Colombo were\u00a0 among the first to be transferred. \u00a0There\u00a0 was a mass transfer of teachers from schools in Kandy. The best teachers of Dharmaraja and Mahamaya were transferred out. Dharmaraja and Mahamaya are the two leading Buddhist\u00a0 schools in Kandy.<\/p>\n

Royal College, Colombo was also affected. Royal is the premier government boys school in the country. There was a\u00a0 major \u2018purge\u2019 of senior masters at Royal. Eight members of the senior staff, including two Deputy Principals, two senior Games Masters\/Assistant Principals, a Section Head and a senior most teacher at the Primary section\u00a0 were either transferred or interdicted.<\/p>\n

Royal College\u00a0 principal , who had held office for eleven years was unceremoniously removed,\u00a0 and various allegations leveled against him. Most of the longstanding teachers have been transferred out for flimsy reasons, said the media. Good teachers who remain are being harassed by a few non-performers, while the authorities look the other way. Teachers are frustrated and de-motivated.<\/p>\n

Many of those transferred were teachers \u00a0appointed to sit on the admissions panels or assist in finalizing the 2017 Grade 1 entrants. They were reportedly held accountable for being unable to detect the fraudulent documents (i.e. registered deeds, extracts from the Land Registry, lease agreements drawn up by lawyers and voters lists certified by the Elections Commissioner) submitted by some applicants. Other \u00a0\u00a0reasons given for the transfers or removal from important posts were that these teachers had done ten years of service,\u00a0\u00a0 that they were obstructing school administration, among other charges.<\/p>\n

This purge of senior teachers at Royal raises concerns as to the real reason for the unplanned terminations. These teachers have played a major role in managing this institution and\u00a0 contributed to the outstanding success of Royal students in the last many years in studies, sports, community projects and other extra-curricular activities, said the media. Changes like this are \u2018the catalyst for the slow death of the school.\u2019<\/p>\n

It is\u00a0 a remarkable coincidence that these varied number of reasons all happened in a very short period of time, said the media. The real and eminent danger to Royal College now is that all these vacancies will be filled by powerful people in the ministry with obvious animosity and malice towards Royal, sending unsuitable people to the school for their own purposes and agendas.<\/p>\n

The Grade One admission interview panel at Royal, \u00a0\u00a0included a representative of the Royal College Old Boys Union. But \u00a0In 2016, the Education Ministry amended the circular\u00a0 and past pupils were left out of the panel. The Ministry soon reversed the decision due to the public outcry against it. However, Old boys are now opting out of entering their children to Royal due to the prevailing atmosphere and the admissions for 2017 saw a 25 percent drop in the Old Boys category applications from the previous year, noted the media.<\/p>\n

School teachers and Principals play an important role in the delivery of education . One way of weakening\u00a0 the education sector was by harassing them. Yahapalana\u00a0 is doing this very well. Teachers can no longer have their children admitted to schools close to where they are teaching. Teachers recruited in 2015\u00a0 were given their letters of appointment\u00a0 in 2017\u00a0 with the word \u2018pensionable\u2019\u00a0 missing.<\/p>\n

Ceylon Teachers Union threatened to strike if the government did not grant promotions to the\u00a0\u00a0 7000\u00a0 (or\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 5000 , figure varies) principals in national and provincial schools in keeping with the Principals Service Minute. Principals have not been given their promotions in the last two years. The promotions were due in 2015.<\/p>\n

Education Ministry had awarded 3856 appointment letters for those who had passed the competitive exam of recruitment to\u00a0 Class 3 of the\u00a0 Principals service. But they have not been given appointments.\u00a0 Instead Yahapalana appear to be ready to grant appointment to the acting principals instead,\u00a0 complained\u00a0 teachers in 2016. These persons\u00a0 did not even sit the exams.\u00a0 They are political appointees. The teacher trade unions supporting the government were silent.\u00a0\u00a0 A cabinet committee is\u00a0 studying the issue, but they need more information said Yahapalana. Cabinet had wanted information on the acting principals in schools\u00a0 from the Provincial directors.<\/p>\n

Yahapalana explained the matter in this way. In\u00a0 2016, the government had, granted promotions to 4,000 Principals following exams, but only 500 of them have been able to assume duties. The rest have not been able to assume duties. There is a dispute with the Provincial Chief Ministers over the acceptance of the\u00a0 remaining newly promoted 3,500 Principals. The Chief Ministers have refused to accept the promotions and continue to allow Acting Principals to perform the duties. The appointments have already been made and these Principals now cannot return to teaching and therefore, their\u00a0 time is wasted. We will resort to trade union action if the problem is not resolved,\u201d\u00a0 said the teachers in July 2017.<\/p>\n

Yahapalana government is delaying to pay the salary arrears of principals and teachers. 35,000 teachers working in 350 national schools have not received their salary arrears\u00a0 due to them on promotion.\u00a0 Under the\u00a0 service minute of 2014, national school teachers were due for arrears from July 2008, but government is only going to pay from 2011. This too is being delayed, teachers complained in 2016. The\u00a0 authorities said that they were still awaiting funds from the Ministry. Payments\u00a0 are now\u00a0 done by zonal offices, causing further confusion and delay in payments.\u00a0 Repeated request are unheeded and\u00a0 teachers threatened to strike.<\/p>\n

Yahapalana has also hit Higher Education. Earlier all students who passed the\u00a0 \u2018A level\u2019 were able to apply for an\u00a0 external degree without restrictions. Yahapalana government\u00a0 issued circular \u00a0no 13 of 2016 which said \u00a0that the number of external students enrolled must not exceed twice\u00a0\u00a0 the number enrolled as internal students. \u00a0Yahapalana gave the flimsy excuse that all those who pass will then demand jobs. This is incorrect. Most are already employed.\u00a0\u00a0 Also only a small proportion of those who register actually complete the degree.<\/p>\n

The University Grants Commission\u00a0 complied with this circular. Now those who registered cannot continue and cannot\u00a0 recover their money.\u00a0 The\u00a0 worst affected are outstation students, said the media.\u00a0\u00a0 Some 14,000 who had applied at Kelaniya were affected. Yahapalana excuse was that\u00a0 Kelaniya was finding it difficult to cope with the numbers.\u00a0 They should try to enter Open University, said Yahapalana . But\u00a0 charges for Open University were more than for external degree. Some of those\u00a0 whose applications for external degree was rejected on the basis of the UGC circular have gone to\u00a0\u00a0 Supreme Court\u00a0 asking that this circular be squashed.<\/p>\n

Catholic Bishops Conference has urged government not to reduce the student intake for external degrees.\u00a0 It is a mistake to distribute the external degree progamme among all universities as\u00a0 some universities do not\u00a0 teach all the disciplines, the Bishops said.\u00a0\u00a0 Also restriction by district is \u2018beyond comprehension.\u2019 Limits placed on external degrees will mostly affect the poor students not the rich.<\/p>\n

This circular is a gross harassment to students who aspire to higher studies, the Bishops continued. The government should open up more possibilities for youth to follow external degrees. The freedom for education is something precious that student in Sri Lanka have enjoyed from the time of independence,. \u00a0Any move to restrict that will be seen as a grave injustice toward the right to education, which determines the quality of life also the future of the nation. There is enormous wisdom in the long standing traditions of education in Sri Lanka which should not be changed.<\/p>\n

Yahapalana has some sunny plans for the Health sector. Hospitals will be grouped into clusters, teaching hospital, general hospital,, provincial, base and peripheral unit. There will be a Family doctor for each\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 family. He will have data on the health of the family. Each doctor will serve 500 persons. The Health Ministry will make it compulsory for all patients seeking medical treatment at state hospitals to produce their medical reports issued by the Healthy Life Centers (HLC), at present there are 842 Healthy Life Centers countrywide for men and women and another 946 Suwanari centers for women. Sri Lanka will build the world\u2019s first hospital for Thalassemia patients.<\/p>\n

In reality Yahapalana\u00a0 is\u00a0 squeezing the Health services. Health Ministry\u00a0 budget allocation was reduced from Rs 175 billion in 2016 to Rs 160 billion in 2017. Capital expenditure\u00a0 was reduced from Rs 60 billion to Rs 40 billion. There is VAT on health services. This is quite unjustified and unconscionable specially when done to get a few million rupees, said\u00a0 C.R. de Silva. GMOA\u00a0\u00a0 said that abrupt structure changes have been carried out in the health services since 2015 and these will totally destruct the system in five or ten years.<\/p>\n

All Ceylon Nurses’ Union looked at\u00a0 the 2017 budget proposals relating to the health sector and said that the government is gradually moving the health sector towards privatization.\u00a0 There will be paying wards connected\u00a0 to the private sector in the state\u00a0 hospitals. Private medical laboratories\u00a0 would be allowed to function within hospital premises. These will increase the presence of the private sector in the free health system.<\/p>\n

The free health service is\u00a0 to be phased out and an insurance based service put in place. The Education Ministry\u00a0\u00a0 has decided that all school children aged 5-19,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 including international school children,\u00a0 \u00a0would\u00a0 be provided with\u00a0 a free health insurance policy worth Rs 2 lakhs per annum.\u00a0 This sum will be divided between indoor and outpatient treatment and will be for specified illnesses and treatments only. Hospitalization payment will be one lakh per event per student.<\/p>\n

The scheme will be sponsored by the Finance Ministry\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and executed by Sri Lanka Insurance\u00a0\u00a0 starting 2018. The Ministry will also negotiate with insurance companies\u00a0\u00a0 for further benefits for identified surgeries, but parents will have to pay the insurance. Critics objected to paying billions to insurance companies on behalf of children. They angrily observed that this will affect the free health service\u00a0\u00a0 and will also help to increase insurance penetration in the country.<\/p>\n

GMOA declared that the proposed health insurance scheme will\u00a0 lead to\u00a0 an insurance based health care system. This\u00a0 system\u00a0 has failed even in developed countries. Other countries are giving up the system.\u00a0 Our country which has a highly acclaimed, time tested and cost effective health care system is doing the opposite, they said.<\/p>\n

GMOA further said, this will enable insurance companies to make money while destroying the government health service of the country. The insurance companies will ask the children to get all sorts of tests done. Sri Lanka\u2019s free health service has set an excellent example for the world by providing free healthcare for the children<\/p>\n

Yahapalana\u00a0 has introduced an Indian ambulance service, running parallel to the government ambulance service. GVK Emergency Management and Research Institute (GVK EMRI) , a private Indian\u00a0 concern has been allowed to set up an ambulance service\u00a0 for the western and southern provinces,\u00a0 with plans to extend this to the rest of the country. GVK will have the power to recruit personnel and will work with the private sector as well as\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 government.<\/p>\n

The project is funded by an\u00a0 Indian government\u00a0 grant of USD 7.55 million. Indian government will provide the capital\u00a0 for ambulances and pay staff for the first year.\u00a0 Yahapalana\u00a0 government will help by letting GVK import their vehicles and\u00a0 medical equipment\u00a0 duty free and provide space to set up their rapid response centers and provide work visas for the Indian manager and trainers.<\/p>\n

The proposal was\u00a0 put to\u00a0 the Cabinet\u00a0 by Prime Minister Ranil\u00a0 Wickremasinghe\u00a0 it. It is very unusual for a\u00a0 Prime Minister to put forward cabinet papers relating to a matter like an ambulance service said the Joint Opposition.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The proposal did not go through the Health Ministry\u00a0 observed GMOA.<\/p>\n

This Indian ambulance service has started operations in Hambantota, Matara and Galle, with a command centre in Rajagiriya.\u00a0 There\u00a0 are 88 fully equipped ambulances.\u00a0 20 more ambulances are expected, provided free of charge. This ambulance service\u00a0 is a \u2018high class emergency ambulance service\u2019\u00a0 with state of the art medical equipment. The ambulances contain the world\u2019s most advanced equipment.<\/p>\n

The emergency medical technicians have been trained at GVK EMRI in Hyderabad. 50 emergency response officers have been trained to run the command centre, to answer calls\u00a0 and so on. The company is not under any compulsion to hire Sri Lankans said the Joint Opposition.\u00a0 But Minister Harsha de Silva said that the 500\u00a0 employees\u00a0 are mainly Sri Lankan. There are three to four Indian specialists consultants helping the operation.<\/p>\n

GMOA was\u00a0 highly critical of this Indian funded pre-hospital care ambulance service. It could endanger lives not save them, said GMOA. In\u00a0 the government health\u00a0 service even junior doctors were not allowed to handle a cardiac monitor and defibrillator. Only qualified and expert doctors do this, but in this ambulance service, paramedicals were doing so. There is no information on who trained the staff and whether they are registered with the Health Ministry in India, observed GMOA. GVK\u00a0\u00a0 is an NGO.\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018It is a serious thing to hand\u00a0 an ambulance service to an NGO.\u2019 This has led to structural changes in the government\u00a0 health service as well.<\/p>\n

Under Yahapalana the government health service is a mess.\u00a0\u00a0 Yahapalana has not shown any interest or readiness to combat the prevailing Dengue epidemic. In March 2017 it was reported that in\u00a0 just 10 weeks dengue had rocketed past\u00a0 19,400 cases in the Western Province.\u00a0 The all island statistics for Dengue reported on 24. July 2017 was 103,144 cases and 292 deaths.<\/p>\n

The service is failing in other areas too. The media reported in\u00a0 August 2016 that heart surgery at\u00a0 the National Hospital, Colombo had reduced since the two theatres and the ICU have been shut down for repairs. It was to be repaired within two weeks or so, but would be delayed till December. Only one theatre was working. Patients have been there for months, some from far flung areas. All beds were occupied and\u00a0 patients were also\u00a0 placed on the\u00a0 floor.<\/p>\n

Bandaragama government hospital\u00a0 had no eye surgeon in February 2017.Eye surgeries were done there earlier. Oncologists refuse to use a new controversial Russian cancer drug imported by the Health Department . It was for the\u00a0 aggravated stage of the illness\u00a0 when patients will in any case die.\u00a0 Health\u00a0\u00a0 authorities said this drug was a big saving compared to other drugs. Government Nursing officers Association complained\u00a0 that\u00a0 the tender for Specialist nurses Training Facility has not been awarded though the money had been allocated.<\/p>\n

There were 44 Eye Care units in the country\u00a0 but there was a severe shortage of the\u00a0 phaco machines needed for cataract surgery. The hospitals had only 22 phaco- machines \u00a062 more machines were needed.\u00a0 The cataract operations in state hospitals had been done with the use of phaco machines loaned by the private sector. The private sector had provided this to strengthen and expedite the number of cataract operations the free health service was able to perform annually.<\/p>\n

But due to a statement made by Minister of Health the private sector withdrew some of the machines it had lent. There was a severe shortage of phaco machines \u00a0in hospitals\u00a0 and doctors had halted surgery.\u00a0 This resulted in some hospitals with eye care units being unable to perform any cataract surgeries. the National Eye Hospital usually\u00a0 performed 80 to 100 cataract surgeries per day. Now however, the number had dropped to 23.<\/p>\n

There was another complication. The statement by the Minister of Health had been about taking legal action\u00a0 against doctors and hospitals\u00a0 if they\u00a0 performed surgeries with lenses from the private sector. Government\u00a0 eye doctors could\u00a0 operate only on patients who get free lenses from\u00a0 the Health Ministry Vision 2020 programme.. Doctors point out that even if the Health Ministry was able to supply the needed lenses for the cataract surgeries the 44 hospitals with eye care units would not be able to perform the operations without the Phaco machines. Steps should also be taken to analyze the circulars which had been issued regarding the provision of lenses in government hospitals, they said.<\/p>\n

Yahapalana has angered the doctors. In 2016,\u00a0 Yahapalana\u00a0 cut their vehicle permit, and did not grant schools to\u00a0 doctors\u2019 children\u00a0 when\u00a0 doctors were transferred or returned from abroad. Their children were also denied admission to Grade One. Yahapalana said it had sent Report to Education Ministry in connection with Grade One school admission of doctors\u2019 children, but doctors rejected this..Doctors said\u00a0 all children had not got schools. Only\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 20 out of 138 children had got schools. GMOA threatened trade union action.<\/p>\n

In January\u00a0 2017, GMOA said\u00a0 the Doctors Transfer List for 2017 was\u00a0 still not ready. The list should have been published\u00a0 last December. The Ministry\u00a0 said the GMOA was preventing the transfers. GMOA said this was nonsense. The GMOA has\u00a0 participated in the transfer process for years and it is only this year that GMOA had clashed like this with the Health ministry. By now the doctors would have been in their new stations. Directors who\u00a0 implemented the orders of the Public Service Commission and Health Ministry and sent doctors on transfer are now in\u00a0 <\/strong>difficulty\u00a0 since they do not get the next set of doctors. Some state hospital face closure due to this. Ministry said the real reason is the shortage of new doctors.<\/p>\n

(to be continued)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA\u00a0 PIERIS Sri Lanka has a literate, educated, strong minded public. That is because of its \u2018free health \u00a0and education\u2019. These two sectors therefore need to be weakened and the country\u2019s spirit broken, if the West is to bring the island under control. In 2014 \u00a0it was observed,’ If we have this same stability for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68218\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}