News
No show by Western Province on banning teachers tutoring their school students
View(s):By Dilushi Wijesinhe
The Western Provincial Council (WPC) Education Ministry has withdrawn a circular that bans teachers from tutoring students from their own schools despite several other Provincial Education Ministries having adopted similar directives this year.
The measures are in effect in the Southern, Central, North-Central and Sabaragamuwa Provinces. But the Western Provincial Council withdrew its circular.
An official from the Western Province Governor’s Office explained that the provincial directives were all based on an old circular released in 2006 by the Ministry of Education. While four other Provinces have adopted it–at least 18 years after it was first issued–the Western Province suspended implementation until a policy decision is made applicable to all nine Provinces.
Before it was withdrawn, Deputy Labour Minister and teacher trade unionist Mahinda Jayasinghe criticised the WPC circular. At a press briefing on Wednesday, he argued that, rather than issuing such circulars, the authorities should prioritise restoring public trust in the education sector which he said had been undermined by the previous government.
The Deputy Minister told the Sunday Times: “What we should do is conduct the education in the schools properly. Then the tuition will automatically vanish. There are lots of problems. We should solve them all and, as a government, we are focusing on upgrading school education and teacher quality. We are devising such policies and some of these officers are issuing unnecessary circulars.”
Meanwhile Education Ministry secretary Nalaka Kaluwewa told the Sunday Times that neither he nor Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, who is also Education Minister, had been aware of the WPC Education Ministry circular.
“The circular that was issued by the Western Provincial Council has no connection with us,” he reiterated. “There was no consultation or discussions on it. They agreed to suspend it until they have a proper discussion with us, with the ministry.”
“Issuing instructions after 18 years and the timing of those instructions without consulting the Ministry of Education (MoE) is not accepted,” he insisted. “On the other hand, if there is a valid circular issued by the MoE, then there is no need to issue a separate circular by Provincial Ministries.”
Secretary of the Ceylon Teachers’ Union Joseph Stalin said that the main reason for these circulars to be implemented was teachers pressuring students to attend private tutoring sessions, often intimidating them if they refused. This has led to a surge in complaints from parents.
“Following these complaints, the Southern Province was the first to issue a circular that prohibited teachers from tutoring their own students, with the Central, Northern Central, Sabaragamuwa, and Western Provinces subsequently adopting similar measures,” he said.
Repeated attempts to reach Secretary of the WPC Education Ministry Nishanthi Jayasinghe, who signed the circular failed.
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