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Deadlock on teacher-principal salary issue: Students suffer, as stalemate continues

11 Sep 2021

  • No allowance if teachers don’t recommence online lessons: Minister
  • Exams delayed due to delay in reopening schools: Trade unions
By Sarah Hannan The ongoing teachers’ and principals’ trade union action reached its two-month mark today (12), as the Teachers’ and Principals’ Trade Union Alliance (TPTUA) rejected the Government’s proposal to allocate an allowance of Rs. 5,000 for the months of September and October until the budgetary allocations are approved through the upcoming budget reading in November. Cabinet Spokesperson Minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, speaking at a media briefing on Tuesday (7), said that during last Monday’s (6) cabinet meeting, the ministers discussed at length how the salary adjustments would be made. “Considering the economic crisis and the limited Treasury funds, the Government has decided to allocate an increment of 17-26% for different levels of the teacher and principal services. Although the trade unions have requested that the salary adjustment be made in one go, the current financial situation will not permit the Government to take such a step,” he stated. He also noted that considering the cabinet decisions that have been announced and the allowance the teachers and principals will be paid starting this month, the Government expects the teachers and principals to resume their online lessons and agree to return for examination duties for the upcoming national exams. Meanwhile, Minister of Education Dinesh Gunawardena has stated that the annual allocation to address the salary anomaly issue over a period of four years will require an annual budgetary allocation of Rs. 33 billion, out of which Rs. 32 billion would be allocated to adjust the salaries of teachers alone. “If teachers and principals continue to carry out their trade union action and don’t resume online lessons, the Education Ministry will have to halt their Rs. 5,000 allowance payments for September and October. The Cabinet of Ministers decided to allocate the allowance of Rs. 5,000 for two months to cover the expenses incurred when teaching children through online technology,” he added. Gunawardena also expressed his displeasure at teachers and principals deciding to stop delivering lessons online to their students for two months and going on strike. All attempts made by The Sunday Morning to reach Minister of Education Gunawardena and Ministry Secretary Prof. Kapila Perera proved futile. TU action to continue Commenting on the salary anomaly issue and the continued trade union strike action taken by the TPTUA, Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) General Secretary Joseph Stalin stated: “The Government should take full responsibility for the consequences of the continued teacher-principal strike action. It has now been two months, and the main reason behind the continuation of this trade union action is that the Government has failed to provide us with a reasonable solution regarding the salary anomaly issue that we highlighted.” According to Stalin, on 30 August, the subcommittee appointed to look into the teacher-principal salary anomaly issue presented a report to the Cabinet of Ministers with recommendations on how it could be resolved. Following this, the TPTUA had requested, through the ministers representing the subcommittee as well as the Minister of Education, to secure a meeting with Minister of Finance Basil Rajapaksa or President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. “We still have not received confirmation on whether we would be given a meeting with either the Minister of Finance or the President. There are discrepancies between the requests that we had put forth and the recommendations that were made by the subcommittee on resolving the salary anomaly issue. The situation gets worse when considering the manner in which the recommendations in the report are interpreted by Minister of Education Dinesh Gunawardena, Subcommittee Member Minister Wimal Weerawansa, and Cabinet Spokesperson Minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana,” Stalin asserted. Following the presentation of the report, Gunawardena had stated that the teacher-principal salary anomaly issue will be resolved in four stages, while Subcommittee Member Weerawansa had stated that the matter could be resolved in two to three stages or even once and for all. However, during the press briefing announcing the cabinet decisions, which was held on Tuesday, Dr. Pathirana confirmed that the matter will be resolved in three stages. Further clarification required “The matter will not be resolved by merely presenting a cabinet paper; they should also issue the corresponding circulars that would list out the agreements made between the Government and the trade unions, following further discussions on the terms that are agreed upon. Over the past 24 years, we saw several cabinet papers being presented, but no action was taken following these announcements,” Stalin elaborated. While the Government was ready to pay an allowance of Rs. 5,000 for the months of September and October, Stalin questioned what would happen in the months that followed. The cabinet decision had only hinted that the funds to resolve the salary issue would be allocated through the upcoming budget proposal in November, but there was no indication as to when the salary adjustments would come into effect, he explained. “Until we get acceptable clarifications for these matters, we have decided to continue with our trade union action. Meanwhile, the Government is trying to pin the blame on the trade unions for the delay in holding examinations. But the main reason behind the national exams getting delayed is the pandemic. Ministry of Health officials have clearly advised against reopening schools, as the pandemic is still raging on. So, if schools are not going to reopen, there is no way we could hold the practical exams for aesthetic subjects or commence any of the national examinations,” Stalin concluded.

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