• Claims move is to divert attention from resolving teacher-principal salary anomalies  

The Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) claimed that the Government’s move to establish an Education Council is an attempt to divert attention from the long-standing issue of teacher-principal salary anomalies.

CTU President Priyantha Fernando, speaking to The Daily Morning, said that although the Government presents the council as a body to improve the working conditions of those in the education sector, including tuition teachers, it sees the initiative as a deliberate attempt to suppress demands to resolve the salary anomaly issues.

“We have been calling for the establishment of a teachers’ council for years. Instead, the Government has chosen to set up an Education Council and decided to include all education sector professionals in it. We will not receive solutions for teachers' issues through such a mechanism. This is something that the Government is doing intentionally, and we completely reject it.”

The Secretary to the Ministry of Education, Higher Education, and Vocational Education, Nalaka Kaluwewa was not available for comment.

The comments came following the first meeting of the Ministerial Committee appointed to establish the Education Council, which was held last week at the Ministry. The committee was formed in line with the Government’s Policy Statement, with the stated objective of enhancing the overall quality of education. The meeting was attended by the Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education Minister and Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, Education and Higher Education Deputy Minister Dr. Madhura Senevirathna, and the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Sub-Committee on the Establishment of the Education Council and Deputy Labour Minister Mahinda Jayasinghe.