The tug of war between the Government and the teachers and principals trade unions are hurting the education of children. The latest round of trade union action and mass ‘sick leave’ by educators, shuttered nearly 10,000 schools across the island. This follows the closure of schools in the wake of Covid-19, disrupting education for nearly two years in the recent past.

The current generation of school goers are likely the nation’s only group of students who have had their education process disrupted on a regular basis, post internal-conflict era – the conflict which came to an end in 2009. Experts have warned that the prolonged disruption to education – lack of exposure to the school environment, physical activity and community engagements, may create long-term negative effects for this generation. It may be that Sri Lanka is sitting on a ticking social time bomb which may play out in the future. Let us hope that it will not happen.

Given the gravity of the impact of disruptions to education; and the prolonged agitations between the Government and the educators, one wonders if both parties, equally responsible for the wellbeing of children and tasked with ensuring their ‘future-proofing’ have ‘dropped the ball’ on what should be their utmost priority. The weight of responsibility lies more with the Government, than the teachers and principal’s to correct the prioritisation back towards uninterrupted education for our future generation – human capital. Nevertheless, the educators must also meet the Government halfway in this matter. The urgency in hand is the wellbeing of the student and his or her education. Both the Government and educators must find common ground in the matter and soon. After all, what example are they showing the students about conflict resolution and prioritisation through the prolonged tit-for-tat disruptions?

Addressing the press earlier this week, the Ceylon Teachers' Union (CTU), warned that they will not be intimidated by the President's statement that he may have to declare the teaching and school administration as an ‘essential service’. There is already a shortfall of teachers in the public education system in Sri Lanka, what is the Government going to do, if they keep falling sick en masse? Sack the teachers in the system? The CTU and principals have argued that they are not asking for a new pay hike like some (Central Bank Employees for example), but for the restoration of the salaries that they have been deprived of for over 20 years. They charge that by 2021, the Government acknowledged the validity of their demands and provided a partial solution, but that it remains incomplete, adding that their current demand is for the remaining part of that solution to be implemented. 

It is no secret that teachers in Sri Lanka are some of the lowest paid in the region. As such, they have been calling for pay and allowance increments for over a decade. Nevertheless, teachers did get paid in full during the Covid-19 pandemic period, while the country was in lock down, and education largely moved on online. That process also left behind many students who could not afford to study online, or didn’t have the facilities to do so.

Despite ongoing trade union action over the last few weeks by teacher-principal unions, the educators charge that the Ministry of Education is yet to have a robust discussion with them. “We have been on a two-day strike, holding protests and displaying black flags in front of schools. The Ministry should have discussed our issues if they are interested in ensuring education for children, but they haven't done it yet,” a CTU leader said on Monday. They initiated a protest march from the Colombo Fort Railway Station to the Lotus Road in Colombo, where the Police dispersed the protest using tear gas and water cannons. In response to the Police's actions, the teachers and principals extended their strike to the following day.

While teachers and principals clearly have long standing grievances, and the Government has not been flexible enough to provide them with their demands, the student population of Sri Lanka suffers. There must be common ground found, and soon.