The Education Ministry lodged a formal complaint with police and launched an internal inquiry to establish how the blunder took place.

“We suspect sabotage,” Education Ministry Secretary Nalaka Kaluwewe said.

“We are in the process of implementing educational reforms, and this could be an attempt to stall them.”

The grade six English syllabus suggested pupils could find a pen-pal to improve their language skills via buddy.net – an online chat website titled the “Bad Boys Club”, which invites users to “show your kinky side”.

Homosexual activity is illegal in Sri Lanka, and the penalty for same-sex relations is up to 10 years in prison – although there have been very few prosecutions in recent years.