The Committee directed the attention of the officials towards the need of formulating a systematic legal framework regarding news reporting on children by the media and also towards formulating a formal program on child counseling aimed at providing counseling services to children undergoing depression, reintegrating them into society. The COPA Chair Prof. Tissa Vitarana further emphasized that a proper national policy should be formulated considering the above stated factors.
This was disclosed when the Auditor General's reports on the Department of Probation and Child Care Services for the years 2016, 2017 and 2018 and the current performance reports were submitted to the Committee on Public Accounts.
The committee members observed that no action had been taken over 485 complaints reported to the Department of Probation and Child Care Services and that the department had not inquired into the status or progress regarding the solutions given by the department on complaints received related to children.
The Hon. COPA Chairman Prof. Tissa Vitarana emphasized to the officials of the Department of Probation and Child Care Service that the national policies and plans in the field of children should be formulated immediately with a proper understanding regarding the existing situation.
It was also disclosed that the Department of Probation and Child Care Services has spent Rs. 4.98 million in 2016 on three research projects to inquire into the failure of socializing the children of the institution, the impact upon the children whose parents are abroad and their safety and on a review of child Participation within the Sri Lankan structure. However, The Committee observed the failure to design and implement adequate program projects to implement the recommendations and conclusions drawn from those research reports.
Due to this concern, the importance of establishing a research unit in the Department of Probation and Child Care Services to look into the problems of children and to conduct
research on matters arising was also proposed during the committee meeting.
The necessity of strengthening rural child protection committees and their status of being active for the purpose of obtaining information was highlighted whilst emphasizing on the importance of collecting data on children in rural areas.
The importance of having a probation office in every jurisdiction was also raised and it was suggested that children's clubs should be further created. The importance of resolving structural issues in policy making and the need to formulate direct and indirect policies to address any legal impediments applicable to probationary children was also stressed.
As there is no regulation for cyber-crimes against children, it is important to take immediate action to regulate them. As children are being educated online from home these days, the committee also focused on addressing the issues that may arise in the use of the Internet.
Hon. State Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna, Hon. Members of Parliament Tissa Attanayake, Niroshan Perera, Ashok Abeysinghe, Faisal Qasim, Mohammad Muzammil, B. Y. G. Rathnasekara, Weerasumana Weerasinghe, Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, Dr. Upul Galappaththi, and government officials marked their presence at the Committee meeting held.
