News
School uniforms: Opposition grows over voucher system
View(s):Even a week after schools reopened in January 2016, the controversy over the school uniform vouchers continues with teachers complaining that the new system is subjecting the teachers and children to many difficulties.
The Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) last week claimed that in addition to focusing their attention on the school curriculum for the new term, teachers were burdened with the task of checking bills relating to the uniform vouchers distributed to students.
Last year, the Government decided to grant uniform vouchers to students scrapping the traditional practice of distributing uniform material to them. This decision was taken following various irregularities found in the granting of tenders, purchase and distribution of the material.
CTU General Secretary Joseph Stalin said that despite the Government’s claim that the vouchers have been handed over to school authorities in December 2015 before the closure of the schools, many schools had not received the vouchers on time. The school authorities claimed that the vouchers were received late and there was not enough time to organise their distribution.
Consequently, in the first week after schools reopened, teachers had been busy handing over the vouchers to students. Mr. Stalin said that many schools have received insufficient vouchers, depriving students in some schools of material. Moreover many schools are yet to receive the vouchers.
In addition, parents come back to school to get the school seal placed on the vouchers because shops have refused to accept them without the school seals. Principals claim that the Education Ministry circular insists only on the NIC number of the recipient and two signatures of authorised issuing officers in the school. They claim that there has been no mention of a school seal having to be stamped on the voucher.
Kotahena Central College Principal Parakrama Weerasinghe said that many parents had complained that the shops were issuing substandard fabric on the vouchers and that they had to pay aRs. 50 or Rs.100 more for the 65-35 tetron cotton material.
One of the conditions the Education Ministry had required is that parents produce the bills of purchases to the relevant school authorities. However, here too, they are confronted with a glitch as some of the computerised bills issued by shops are faint and barely legible.
When some parents produced such bills to the schools, the school administrations had refused to accept them and had instead asked for hand written bills. The shop authorities had refused to comply.Ironically, while many parents who had no NICs had to be turned away it is learnt that parents of children studying in popular national schools have not come forward to claim their vouchers. These vouchers are required to be returned to the Government before January 11. The distributed vouchers are valid till January 31.
Meanwhile the Sri Lanka Independent Teachers’ Union, (SLITU) General Secretary Wasantha Handapangoda said parents in rural areas are undergoing great difficulties to collect the vouchers. She said that while many had to forgo a day’s work to present themselves in schools, they had to also spend almost over Rs. 100 to collect them.
Ms. Handapangoda called on the Government to consider reverting to the old system of distributing uniform material to students.