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Teachers and Govt at loggerheads, students and parents in the crossfire

22 Jul 2021

BY Sumudu Chamara With educational institutions closed indefinitely due to the pandemic, online education has become the main, if not only, way to ensure a future for students around the country. However, they are currently at risk of losing even this last lifeline and being left unable to continue their education, with the situation that is currently evolving.  During the past few months, students as well as teachers have been criticising the education authorities’ lethargy in devising a proper mechanism to ensure that all students have the opportunity to attend classes either via the Internet or learn via television, as students in many parts of the island lack the facilities to attend online classes, while teachers have not been provided with those facilities. However, even those that could attend online classes are unable to do so now, as teachers have begun boycotting online lessons, citing among other grievances, the lack of facilities for both teachers and students to conduct educational activities online, and the problem of the teacher-principal salary anomaly not being resolved.  In addition, teachers and principals earlier announced that they had decided to withdraw from duties pertaining to sending applications for examinations online, including the General Certificate of Education (GCE) Advanced Level examination. They also withdrew from teaching activities at the regional learning centres recently established by the Education Ministry with the aim of facilitating students who find it difficult to attend online classes. There are about 2,160 such regional learning centres that employ nearly 30,000 teachers and principals, and the latter two groups had also withdrawn from those duties. Protests and demands To make matters worse, the spate of protests launched by teachers’ and principals’ trade unions almost two weeks ago, which involved boycotting online teaching activities on 12 July following the controversial arrest of Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) General Secretary Joseph Stalin over attending a protest against the Kotelawala National Defence University (KDNU) Bill, took a new turn this week, after talks with the country’s education authorities on Tuesday (20) failed to reach an agreement satisfactory to the teachers and principals. Yesterday (22), trade unions launched a massive protest in Colombo, as they pledged to continue their trade union actions until their demands are met. As part of the protest, they handed over a letter to the Presidential Secretariat demanding a prompt response from the President. When contacted by The Morning on Wednesday (21), CTU President Priyantha Fernando said that during Tuesday’s discussion, it appeared that Education Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris, Education Ministry Secretary Prof. Kapila Perera, and other officials had no understanding of the issues faced by the teachers. He added: “There was a Supreme Court (SC) decision in 2008 regarding the issue of the teacher-principal salary anomaly, which has existed for more than 24 years. Trade union representatives, during the discussion, requested Prof. Peiris and other officials to take relevant steps to resolve the salary anomaly, as stated in the SC decision. In addition, there is a report prepared jointly by the Education Ministry and teachers to resolve the salary anomaly; we also requested that the recommendations contained therein be implemented.” Even though Prof. Peiris had said that the issues would be discussed at the next Cabinet meeting, the CTU said that this was not a definite agreement. Expressing similar concerns, several teachers’ and principals’ trade unions who participated in yesterday's protest told The Morning that they had not received any positive response from the education authorities and the Government, and that further steps in connection with their demands are yet to be discussed. The Sri Lanka Professional Principals’ Association (SLPPA) lamented that despite several discussions, including the one held this week with the Education Ministry, the education authorities and trade unions have not been able to arrive at any satisfactory agreement thus far. The SLPPA further noted that these discussions gave them neither solutions to their problems, nor even suggestions as to how the issues would be addressed.  The trade unions further requested the education authorities that a committee report known as the “Subodhini Committee” report be put into action immediately to resolve the existing salary anomaly. The Subodhini Committee report is a report formulated by a committee formed by a previous Education Minister, comprising four Assistant Secretaries and the Chief Financial Officer of the Ministry.  SLPPA President Sugeeshwara Wimalaratne said: “The SLPPA too has put forward a number of suggestions. According to Public Administration Circular 3/2016, there are four grades; namely primary, secondary, tertiary, and senior. We have requested that principals be promoted from the tertiary category to the senior category, and that they be given a suitable salary.” When queried about the future of the discussions with the education authorities and the Government, he said that they would consider further steps after the Cabinet paper with regard to the demands of teachers and principals is presented to the Cabinet, while the protests would be staged to draw the President’s attention to their concerns. All teachers and principals trade unions, including those representing the Government, have extended their support to the ongoing protests, he claimed. Describing the nature of the salary anomaly at a media briefing in Colombo recently, Ceylon Teachers’ Services Union (CTSU) Secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe said: “The salary of a teacher (Grade I) who has been in the teaching service for a period of 15 years is just Rs. 44,950, and the starting salary of a graduate teacher is Rs. 32,200. The salary of a person who enters the teaching service after qualifying from colleges of education is Rs. 30,300. Are these salaries fair? Shouldn’t the teachers deserve more?” Meanwhile, the United Teachers’ Services Association (UTSA) also told The Morning that even though some suggestions were put forward at the said meeting, they are determined to continue with trade union action until they receive tangible solutions. The Association added: “At the meeting with Prof. Peiris and several State Ministers, a number of points such as the Subodhini Committee report, interim salary proposals, and establishing the teaching service as a closed service to rectify the salary anomaly, were discussed. Even though Prof. Peiris said that steps will be taken to amend and submit a Cabinet paper in this regard on 26 July, taking into account the matters that were discussed at the said meeting, that is not the solution we sought and we cannot solely rely on promises. Therefore, we stated we would express our stance after the Cabinet paper is submitted and informed that trade union action will continue until action is taken to implement a concrete plan.” He revealed that Prof. Peiris had promised to meet the teachers’ and principals’ trade unions next week, following the submission of the said Cabinet paper, and that the trade unions have decided to further intensify the ongoing trade union action. Authorities’ response Although The Morning attempted to contact Prof. Peiris and Prof. Perera to learn about what factors they would take into consideration when considering the demands of the teachers and principals, they were not reachable. Speaking on the matter at a media briefing, Trade Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardana had said that while the Government accepts that teachers should receive a salary increment, it should however be achieved through a wide discourse that includes the public as well. He stressed that if the Government is expected to give salary increments as soon as such demands are made, it will have absolutely no option but to take the necessary money from the public somehow. He noted that there is no other way to acquire the necessary funds, and that the issue is that the public is not in a position to pay taxes at this juncture. “What needs to be done is to make teaching a closed service to make sure that it does not affect other professions, appointing a commission to look into the salary issues, and making sure that the public receives an adequate service – because it is the public who ultimately pays for the salaries of the teachers,” Dr. Gunawardana added.  Meanwhile, speaking to the media last week, Prof. G.L. Peiris had criticised teachers’ and principals’ trade unions and urged them to withdraw from the protests, so as not to disrupt children’s education.  Many viewed the trade union action launched by teachers and principals as insensitive and obstructing the children’s future, which are valid sentiments, as disruptions to online teaching activities is the last thing a student would want at this critical juncture. However, we cannot make little of the struggles of teachers and principals. Due to having to shift to online teaching activities, the roles of teachers and principals have transformed – according to some trade unions, they are now working under more strenuous working environments and are compelled to use their own resources, digital devices, and Internet connections required to conduct classes online. In addition, the lack of signal facilities has affected teachers as much as it has affected students. It is the authorities who are answerable to the teachers’ and principals’ concerns, and in a context where students have already lost a lot of time due to school and private tuition institutions being closed intermittently for over one and-a-half years, trade union actions that disrupt children’s education should not even be an option. Needless to say, online education has become far more important compared to the initial period of the pandemic, as the situation is worsening and there is no assurance as to how long educational institutions would remain closed.  On one hand, any trade union action should be targeted at the authorities’ ignorance or lackadaisicalness, not by sacrificing people’s basic needs such as education, and on the other hand, even if the Government is not in a position to entertain all the demands put forward by the trade unions, it is responsible for ensuring that educational activities, including online classes, are somehow resumed – or it puts the future of an entire generation at risk.


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