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Teachers urge adequate transport with all students summoned

14 Mar 2022

  • Warn fuel shortages and hiked fuel prices could derail education sector
By Buddhika Samaraweera With the Education Ministry having instructed the principals of all government and government-approved schools to summon all students to school as usual from today (14), the Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) has claimed that the failure by the Government to ensure adequate transport facilities for schoolchildren and teachers in the face of fuel shortages and hiked fuel prices would result in a collapse of the entire education sector.  Speaking to The Morning yesterday (13), CTU President Priyantha Fernando said that with the current shortage of fuel, rising fuel prices, and the rapid rise in the cost of living, everyone including parents and teachers are facing extreme hardships and the number of students attending schools has come down drastically in the last few days. “The Ministry of Education has decided to call all students to school as usual. We have no objection to that decision at all, but in the current situation, there is a serious problem with how to provide transport facilities for students as well as teachers. Therefore, the Education Ministry should immediately intervene and provide adequate transportation for students and teachers,” he said. He also said that a significant number of students come to school in vehicles transporting schoolchildren, adding that the Government should take steps to provide some relief to those who provide school transport services too. The Education Ministry, which had decided to call students to schools in batches from 7 March, has instructed the principals of all government and government-approved schools to call students to school as usual from today (14). A circular in this regard has been issued by Education Ministry Secretary Prof. Kapila Perera last week, giving necessary instructions to the principals and other authorities.  The country is currently seeing a shortage of fuel, particularly diesel, which has been caused by the deficit of US dollar reserves required for imports. Furthermore, both Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and Lanka Indian Oil Corporation (LIOC) hiked the prices of fuel late last week. Meanwhile, Fernando recently claimed that due to the restriction of private bus and schoolchildren transport services due to fuel shortage in the country, only about 30% of the number of students called to schools were attending schools. The Education Ministry circular also stated that if an issue with regard to the functioning of schools arises owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, it is possible to take necessary actions with the approval of the Zonal Director of Education. The schools islandwide that were closed from 7 February due to the General Certificate of Education (GCE) Advanced Level (A/L) examination were reopened on 7 March. However, the Education Ministry announced that students should be called to schools in batches at that time.


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