News
Govt. confident of reopening schools in two weeks; teachers divided over decision
Schools remain closed due to the pandemic and teacher's trade union action
Despite protests by teacher and principal unions over salary anomalies, the Government is confident that the reopening of more than 5,000 schools in two weeks will go ahead as planned with the implementation of strict health protocols such as masks, social distancing, and hand washing.
Education Ministry Secretary Prof. Kapila Perera said that with the help of school staff and parents, zonal officials were busy preparing schools for the students.
Although the issue over teachers’ salary anomalies remains unresolved after talks between ministry and the teacher unions ended in a deadlock, both parties are optimistic that it could be resolved within the next two weeks.
“A lot of teachers want to come back to school and take up their responsibilities as soon as possible,” Prof. Perera said.
Pointing out that public discontent was growing against the teachers’ trade union action, he said he was hopeful that most teachers would come to their posts when schools reopened.
He said that for this month and next month, the teachers who reported to work would be paid the Rs. 5,000 incentive allowance the Government announced as an interim measure until provisions were made in the November Budget for a permanent solution. However, teachers claim that this allowance had not been included in their September salary.
In recent weeks, reports emerged of pressure tactics being used to force teachers to return to work. The Sunday Times reported last week that police had started collecting personal details of teachers who organised recent protests.
Claiming that the information was necessary to curb the spread of COVID-19, Police had called Divisional Secretaries to provide information of the date of the protest, location, name and addresses of the organisers and the number of people who attended the protest.
Teacher unions said the move was aimed at intimidating teachers.
However, some teachers who want to return to work also claim they are being threatened with death.
A notice released by the Government Information Department warned against forcing teachers into the strike. Teachers who receive threats are requested to call 118 or 119 and lodge complaints. The announcement warned that offenders would be dealt with strictly under the Penal Code. The notice also added that the release of results for the Grade 5 scholarship exam and the Advanced Level was halted as there were not enough teachers to correct the papers and conduct the practical examinations of the aesthetic subjects.
The Education Ministry met teacher union representatives to discuss the way forward but no conclusion was reached.
Ceylon Teachers’ Union General Secretary Joseph Stalin said they left the meeting on an assurance that there would be a meeting between the unions and the finance minister. He accused the Education Ministry officials who attended the meeting of being “completely unprepared.”
Earlier this month the ministerial sub-committee that was appointed to resolve the salary anomalies presented a proposal calling for an increase of the salaries of the principal service III-I by 19.54 percent, principal service-II by 21.59 percent, principal service I by 25.95 percent, teacher service III-I by 13.52 percent, and teacher service III-IC by 16 percent.
However, the unions insist that the Government implement the Subodhini Commission proposals.
“We have been told that the allocation made for us will be distributed in four parts over four years, but what is the point of this?” Mr. Stalin asked, adding that they wanted the full amount in one payment, instead of being broken down and distributed over a number of years.
Asked whether teachers would be resuming their duties in two weeks, Mr. Stalin noted that the union was expecting an answer before the school reopening, which he described as an arbitrary decision without obtaining the views of the on-ground stakeholders like the teachers and principals.
“They should have made arrangements to open the Scholarship, Ordinary Level, and Advanced Level exams first so that their syllabus coverage could have been prioritised,” he said.