COLOMBO : The Teachers-Principals Trade Union Alliance has informed principals and teachers to report for duty at schools on October 25, and not on October 21 and 22 when the primary sections of schools with less than 200 students reopen.
Speaking to reporters today (18), the trade unions leaders said that teachers and principals will not report to schools on Thursday (October 21) and Friday (22) when these schools open and that, however they will report for duty from October 25 (Monday).
Today marks the 99th day since teachers and principals’ trade unions started a strike action and withdrew from online teaching activities demanding solutions to issues over wage disparities.
Meanwhile the Education Ministry had decided to reopen the primary sections of schools with less than 200 students on October 21.
Accordingly, the Teachers-Principals Trade Union Alliance held a discussion today to decide on whether they would be reporting for duty when schools reopen on Thursday.
“We ask all principals and teachers to go to schools on October 25 and restart the education process,” President of the Ceylon Teachers and Principals Trade Union Alliance Yalwela Pannasekara thero said.
“But we will not stop our struggle. Even after resuming teaching, we will continue our strike [by not engaging in non-academic work such as overseeing extracurricular activities]. This decision was taken not under pressure but by thinking about our children,” he said.
School teachers and principals in Sri Lanka are on strike for the 99th day as of Monday, demanding that the government resolve long lasting salary anomalies in the two services.
The government proposed to increase their salaries in a four-year strategy, but upon the rejection of that proposal, the government later proposed to give the increments in two installments. The unions rejected this, too, and continued the strike asking for the salaries to be increased in one go.
For teachers in the lowest grade (3/2), the proposed total increment is 3,750 rupees and for grade 1/3 it is 1,250 rupees, all of which will be implemented next January as per the government’s two step proposal.
“Is this a big enough increment for teachers?” Ceylon Teachers Union Secretary Joseph Stalin told said.
However, he said, teachers will resume all education activities from October 25 onwards and ask the government to open all schools if possible saying the teachers will report to work.
“We have made a firm decision. We will continue the strike on October 21 and 22. And on October 25, it is we – not the government – who have decided to go to school on our own,” he said.
The government said that, initially, primary schools with a maximum of 200 students between grades 1 to 5 will be opened on October 21, will higher grades will be opened in three steps. The government hopes to open schools for all grades by November.
