CTU opposes increase in Zonal Education offices
View(s):The Government move to do away with 315 Divisional Educational offices countrywide, replacing them with 200 Zonal Education (ZE) offices, came under heavy criticism from the Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU), which maintained that, adding more ZE offices to the Education system will not improve it.
The CTU said that, the 97 ZE offices in service at present, are under performing, and merely increasing the numbers is not going to improve its efficiency. CTU General Secretary Joseph Stalin said the ZE offices are responsible for Principals’ and Teachers’ appointments, transfers, pensions and maintenance of their personal files, but have not being doing their job efficiently, inconveniencing the Teachers and Principals under its purview.
Mr Stalin said that ZE offices need to be streamlined and made efficient to be an example, before more ZE offices are added to the system.
In the past, Teachers and Principals who sought official assistance from the ZE offices, have made several complaints against the service provided. There are around 241,000 Teachers and 15,000 Principals attached to the ZE offices. - CC