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NIE develops methodology to cover up for extended school closures

07 Nov 2021

  • Teachers threaten to boycott exams until salary issue resolved
By Buddhika Samaraweera Sri Lanka’s National Institute of Education (NIE) announced yesterday (7) that a new methodology is to be implemented in schools to make up for the extended school closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic. NIE Director General (DG) Dr. Sunil Jayantha Nawaratna stated that under the proposed system, essential sections of the syllabus would be prioritised, and a programme has thus been prepared to cover the loss in learning for the years 2020 and 2021. He said that the period from November this year to March next year has been allocated for this purpose, and that it might extend until April. Education courses will be conducted during that period, he said. Dr. Nawaratna said that this will be implemented from 1 November and that the principals and teachers of schools have been given freedom to decide how to cover the curriculum. However, there remain other issues as far as the education sector is concerned, as teachers and principals continue to demand a solution to their issues, including salary anomalies. In this regard, although the Ministry of Education has announced the dates for the GCE Advanced Level (A/L) and Grade Five Scholarship examinations, teachers’ trade unions have warned that they will not participate in the relevant examination duties unless an acceptable solution is given to the salary anomaly issue. Speaking to The Morning, Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) President Priyantha Fernando said that teachers and principals have decided not to participate in examination duties until an acceptable solution is given to their issues, mainly the teacher-principal salary anomaly issue. He further stated that the Ministry of Education and other relevant authorities have been informed of their decision in writing. “We have made it very clear to the Education Ministry and other authorities that we will not take part in the examination duties until our issues are resolved. Even if the Government is to hold these examinations in some way, we will not engage in paper-marking duties,” he said. Fernando further said that the salary increase recommended by the recently appointed Cabinet Subcommittee to look into the teacher-principal salary anomaly issue should be given at once. Accordingly, he noted that the budget proposal for the financial year 2022 to be presented to Parliament on 12 November would determine the course of future trade union action. Meanwhile, the NIE has carried out an estimation of the learning loss suffered by students across the island due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which estimated the learning loss for 2020 to be 55% within the Western Province and 45% in other provinces. So far in 2020, it has been estimated as 90% in the Western Province and 70% in the other provinces, noted the NIE DG.


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