July 19, Colombo: Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party (UNP) is to present a private member's motion to parliament proposing that education be made a fundamental right.

UNP Kegalle District parliamentarian Kabir Hashim said that he would present the motion to parliament shortly.

He says that education should be made a fundamental right to enable anyone to seek legal redress in the event their right to education is violated.

The UNP MP noted that education sector currently functions under Constitutional directives.

According to Hashim, the government was taking steps to systematically destroy the free education system in the country by ignoring the sector and reducing budgetary allocations.

He charged that the government has closed down many schools in the rural areas.

During the UNP tenure in 2004, Hashim said that government had allocated 2.8 percent of the GDP for education and universities received 0.5 percent of the allocations.

However, under the present administration, universities received an allocation that is less than 0.1 percent of GDP, the UNP MP said.