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Teachers ask Dullas to probe ‘fake’ news

30 Aug 2021

  • Article published allegation about 400 Covid-positive teachers and 25 deaths
  • CTSU calls for arrest of SLPESU President
BY Buddhika Samaraweera A number of teachers’ trade unions’ (TUs) representatives have called on Mass Media Minister Dullas Alahapperuma to look into a news item published in a state-owned newspaper which quoted a trade union leader saying that about 400 teachers, who had taken part in the recent protests, had contracted Covid-19 and that 25 of them had died. The trade union representatives have, in a letter dated 30 August, requested Alahapperuma to look into the matter, claiming that the said news item about the protests, which were held demanding a solution to their issues including the teacher-principal salary anomalies, is completely untrue. The letter has been signed by Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) General Secretary Joseph Stalin, Ceylon Teachers’ Service Union (CTSU) General Secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe, All Ceylon United Teachers’ Union (ACUTU) Secretary Ven. Yalwela Pannasekara Thera, and other representatives of 16 trade unions. The article had quoted Sri Lanka Podujana Education Services Union (SLPESU) President Wasantha Handapangoda. The letter sent by the trade unions to Alahapperuma read that it is problematic that a trade union leader has made such a statement when such should be made by the health sector. It further states that the said news has created a hostile attitude among the people regarding the trade union actions launched by the teachers and principals demanding solutions to their issues. “We strongly condemn this false news item published in a newspaper that belongs to a state media institution coming under your (Alahapperuma’s) purview, whilst also noting that you represent the membership of the Cabinet Sub-Committee appointed to look into the issue of teacher-principal salary anomalies,” it added. Commenting on the same matter, Jayasinghe recently requested the Police to carry out an investigation into the said statement made by Handapangoda. Noting that the Police had recently arrested persons who were spreading false information and had taken steps to record their statements, Jayasinghe said that Handapangoda should also be arrested and questioned about the statement in question. “This is a completely false statement. So we are waiting to see what action the Police will take in this regard,” he noted. Handapangoda was not available for comment. Nearly 30 teachers’ and principals’ trade unions initiated a number of trade union actions including withdrawal from all online and physical teaching activities since 12 July 2021 and refraining from examinations-related duties, thereby demanding solutions to their issues including teacher-principal salary anomalies. Protests have been held in several parts of the country as an extension of such trade union actions. During such a protest held in front of the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo recently, more than 40 teachers and principals were arrested by the Police. However, rapid antigen tests (RATs) performed on them revealed that they were not infected with the Covid-19 virus. Subsequently, taking into account the rapidly spreading Covid-19 pandemic in the country, the teachers’ and principals’ trade unions, on 6 August, decided to suspend the protests and instead they commenced staging digital protests.


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