News
Unions alarmed at schools being billed for water
Education sector trade unions have expressed fears that a decision by the National Water Supply and Drainage Board to make state run schools pay for water will ultimately be passed on to parents.
The chairman of the Water Board, Nishantha Ranatunga, accepted that water bills are being sent to schools but refused further comment. However, the Education Ministry distanced itself from the water charges.
Secretary Prof. Kapila Perera said that it was the Water Board that had issued the communique and the Education Ministry had no part in it. Prof. Perera declined to comment whether the ministry was consulted on the matter.
Already many schools have been issued with massive bills that have been backdated to January 2022.
The Ceylon Teachers Union said the divisional water board in the northern province had already sent out bills to 83 schools in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, and Mullaitivu districts and also to schools in the Vavuniya district.
It is learnt that the Treasury that had hitherto paid the bills and had refused to continue to pay. So the Water Board will collect dues from schools. School administrations said parents will have to be asked to foot the bills.
Ceylon Teachers Union General Secretary, Joseph Stalin, said he had written to the Education Ministry and to the Water Supplies Ministry questioning the move two weeks ago but had not received any response.
Schools, he said, are already spending extra money on items needed for maintaining health protocols, including soap, sanitizers, and face masks for children and will not have enough funds to pay for water.
Also, the use of water has risen considerably due to the hand washing requirement under the coronavirus disease prevention measures. Last year, and in 2020, the government fixed several sinks in all school compounds.
CTU secretary, Theeban Arokiyanathan, said that most schools in the Northern province and in rural Sri Lanka do not collect much in terms of school service fees and to ask parents to pay for water will be inconsiderate in view of the economic burdens they face. Students already pay Rs 600 annually as school service fees.
“But this has to be collected on a monthly basis,’’ he said.
Also, this would create a precedent to collect monies from parents for other activities, paving a path for unscrupulous people to cash in.
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