Fri Jan 02 15:25:07 UTC 2026: Summary:

A new English syllabus for 11-12 year olds in Sri Lanka directed students to a gay chat website, causing a scandal. Homosexuality is illegal in Sri Lanka, leading to a criminal investigation and internal inquiry into the “sabotage.” The syllabus was vetted multiple times but the error was missed. The website has been blocked, the offending page removed, and the head of the National Institute of Education has resigned. The syllabus was prepared with the help of AI, which also contained spelling mistakes.

News Article:

Sri Lanka Launches Investigation After School Syllabus Directs Students to Gay Chat Site

Colombo, Sri Lanka – January 2, 2026 – A criminal investigation is underway in Sri Lanka after a government-issued English syllabus for 6th-grade students (ages 11-12) mistakenly directed pupils to a gay chat website. The incident, which occurred in a country where homosexual activity is illegal and carries a potential 10-year prison sentence, has sparked outrage and accusations of sabotage.

The Education Ministry has lodged a formal complaint with police and initiated an internal inquiry to determine how the error occurred. “We suspect sabotage,” said Education Ministry Secretary Nalaka Kaluwewe. “We are in the process of implementing educational reforms, and this could be an attempt to stall them.”

The controversial syllabus suggested students find a pen-pal through an online chat website to improve their language skills. Following the discovery, authorities swiftly ordered the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission to block access to the site on local internet providers. According to Kaluwewe, the 165-page syllabus was vetted by three separate teams, including English professors, none of whom caught the error. The page containing the referral has since been removed from all 400,000 copies of the syllabus before distribution to schools.

Further compounding the situation, the syllabus also contained several spelling mistakes, attributed to its preparation with the assistance of artificial intelligence platforms.

The head of the National Institute of Education, Manjula Vithanapathirana, the organisation responsible for the syllabus, has resigned pending the outcome of the investigations. The incident comes amidst ongoing debates surrounding the decriminalization of homosexuality in Sri Lanka, which faces strong opposition from conservative Buddhist and Catholic clergy. The new term starts on Monday.

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