Managers for mega schools will close small schools: CTU
View(s):Appointing Managers to schools with large numbers of students will protect mega schools and close down schools with less students, Ceylon Teacher’s Union General Secretary Joseph Stalin alleged. He charged that the Education Minister is planning to obtain Cabinet approval to appoint Managers to schools with more than 1,000 students, and Managers along with Assistant Managers to schools with more than 2,000 students.
“At present, there are 10,165 schools in the country, of which 9,185 schools have less than 1,000 students each. There are only 192 schools with more than 2,500 students, and 785 schools with 1,001-2,500 students. Hence a majority of the schools will not have Managers. The Government’s plan is to only improve mega schools, while neglecting the others,” he said.
Mr. Stalin said the Ministry’s ‘Nearest school is the best school’ project will be a failure, as some won’t have Managers. “The previous government promised to improve 1,000 Secondary schools, and divided Primary and Intermediate sections in some schools. It was a failure, and still the popular school concept remains. This government is also planning to protect popular schools and enhance their standards, while ignoring smaller schools,” he added.
“We, as a Union, object to decisions like this, as they will be implemented without any assessment, and only encourage the mega school concept,” he said.