Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam has decided that expectant schoolteachers need no longer wear sarees to school.

Previously schoolteachers were required to wear the traditional sarees, even during advanced stages of the pregnancy.

The Minister said the decision was made taking the comfort of expectant teachers into consideration.

The programme will come into effect tomorrow.

Statistics indicate that up to 10, 000 teachers apply for maternity leave annually.