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Teachers hold ‘progressive’ talks with Dinesh Gunawardena

26 Aug 2021

  • New Minister agrees to take aboard suggestions 
  • Unions ready to end strike on 30 August if solution acceptable 
BY Buddhika Samaraweera A discussion was held between the representatives of teachers’ and principals’ trade unions (TUs) and Minister of Education Dinesh Gunawardena at the Ministry of Education yesterday (26), which the trade unions saw as a “progressive” discussion regarding the teacher-principal salary anomaly issue.  Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) General Secretary Joseph Stalin, Ceylon Teachers’ Service Union (CTSU) General Secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe, and representatives of several other trade unions were present.  Speaking to the media present following the discussion, Stalin said that the discussion was “progressive”.  He added that the trade union representatives had requested Gunawardena to take into consideration their suggestions when making his (Gunawardena’s) observations on the salary anomaly issue at the forthcoming Cabinet of Ministers meeting.  “At present, the Cabinet Sub-Committee (SC) appointed to look into the salary anomaly issue has submitted its report to the Cabinet. It was also reported that a final decision in this regard would be taken at the forthcoming Cabinet meeting. During the discussion with Gunawardena, we requested him to take into consideration our suggestions and to thereafter, submit his observations,” Stalin added.  He also elaborated on the proposals they had made to Gunawardena during the discussion.  “We suggested that the Sub-Committee’s report be acknowledged as part of the report of the ‘Subodhini Committee’ which was previously appointed to look into the salary anomaly issue. In addition, the Sub-Committee has recommended that a certain amount of the salary be paid in instalments, but we suggested that it be paid altogether,” he mentioned.  Claiming that the Sub-Committee had recommended that the teachers’ and principals’ services be made a closed service before November, Stalin added further that they had requested that the said recommendation be implemented as soon as possible.  Speaking further, he said that Gunawardena had agreed to make his recommendations taking into account the proposals made by the trade unions.  “He told us that due to the ongoing trade union actions, it is not possible to release the General Certificate of Education (GCE) Ordinary Level (O/L) examination results and that online teaching activities have been disrupted. There, we informed him that we are ready to abandon the trade union actions, even from 30 August, if an acceptable solution to these problems could be given, taking into account our proposals,” he explained.  Nearly 30 teachers’ and principals’ trade unions have embarked on a number of trade union actions, demanding a solution to the teacher-principal salary anomaly issue, the provision of facilities for teachers and students to carry out online education activities, and several other issues. The trade unions had decided to withdraw from all online teaching activities from 12 July until further notice, in protest over the lack of solutions to the said issues. In addition to online teaching activities, the teachers and principals have withdrawn from duties related to sending applications for examinations including the GCE Advanced Level (A/L) examination online. They have also withdrawn from teaching activities at regional learning centres recently established by the Ministry of Education. Also, nearly 5,800 teachers and principals decided to withdraw from practical examination-related duties of the GCE O/L examination that commenced on 26 July. In addition, they have also decided to withdraw from duties related to the GCE A/L and Grade Five Scholarship examinations that are to be held in November 2021.  Subsequently, a Cabinet Sub-Committee was appointed to look into the salary anomaly issue earlier this month and the report of the said Sub-Committee, comprising Minister of Mass Media Dullas Alahapperuma, Minister of Industries Wimal Weerawansa, Minister of Environment Mahinda Amaraweera, and Minister of Tourism Prasanna Ranatunga, was presented to the Cabinet meeting on 23 August. However, its discussion has been postponed until the next Cabinet meeting and Cabinet Spokesman Alahapperuma recently stated that the Government’s stance on the salary anomaly issue would be announced at the forthcoming Cabinet media briefing.


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