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TU action puts education on hold 

18 Jul 2021

  • TU action to continue until issues are addressed 
  • Decision on exams by authorities within this week 
By Sarah Hannan  With education trade unions boycotting online lesson deliveries to students since last Monday (12), it is learnt that about 95% of the student population in Sri Lanka has lost access to education.  Calling a media briefing this week, the Government Teacher’s Association of Sri Lanka Senior Deputy Secretary Indika Paranawithana said that trade union action was launched by a collective of education trade unions to call attention to several requests.  “We decided to boycott online lesson deliveries to students and launch a series of protests over several issues that the Ministry of Education failed to address; such as the wage disparity within the education sector which has been ongoing for 24 years; the passing of a law, making online lesson deliveries compulsory without addressing the lack of basic facilities such as tabs and internet connectivity for both teachers and students; arresting trade union leaders during the protests citing quarantine laws and holding them in quarantine centres,” Paranawithana noted.  Paranawithana pointed out that successive governments that were appointed since 1997 have tried to politicise the issues of the education sector, and requested from the political parties in both the Government and the Opposition to look at these issues from the perspective of the teachers and the students of the country.  “Until the Ministry of Education addresses the issues that we have pointed out, we will continue our trade union action. We would also like to remind the parents and students that for the past 15 months, we delivered the lessons using alternative methods both online and offline to ensure that students had access to education regardless of the challenges. We will continue this trade union action to ensure that the future of this country’s education, the future of the teachers, and equal access to education is established,” Paranawithana explained.  Meanwhile, the Graded Principals Association Chairman Nimal Mudunkotuwa reiterated that 42 education trade unions will continue to follow trade union action even after schools commence in August until the Ministry of Education addresses the issues that have been highlighted.  Trade Unions also stated that they will refrain from participating in teaching activities in 2,160 regional learning centres that were established by the Ministry of Education to resolve the practical difficulties faced by students in receiving distant learning due to the lack of devices and network coverage.  Earlier this month, Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) Secretary Joseph Stalin stated that although 30,000 principals and teachers were assigned to conduct learning activities in these regional learning centres, they were not given guidelines on how to conduct learning activities.  Moreover, the teachers had noted that the expected number of students were not turning up for lessons due to inadequate travel facilities.  “The regional learning centres have been established, and students as well as teachers are requested to attend learning sessions, without ensuring the health and safety of both parties. Although the maximum number of students that were to be accommodated were 10, we have been told that in certain areas, a large number of students, parents, and teachers had gathered at these centres,” Ceylon Teachers Service Union (CTSU) Secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe noted.  Jayasinghe added that the lack of guidelines had prompted this situation and could even lead to another Covid-19 cluster created around such learning centres. The CTSU had requested the Ministry of Education and the relevant authorities to issue necessary guidelines and operate them in a manner that would ensure the health safety of the teachers and students. Apart from that, the Ministry had also overlooked how the teachers and students would travel to these learning centres with access to public transport being limited.  Trade unions also pointed out that at least 60% of the student population had lost access to online education due to the lack of network coverage, even when lessons were conducted using online methods.  In addition to refraining from online lesson deliveries during the period of trade union action, the teacher and principal trade unions have also informed that they would withdraw from submitting student applications for the upcoming examinations including the GCE Advanced Level Examination which is scheduled to take place in October this year.  When The Sunday Morning contacted Ministry of Education Secretary Prof. Kapila Perera for comment on whether a resolution would be reached over the requests put forth by the education trade unions, he stated that he was unable to comment on the matter, and said that the Minister of Education should be contacted.  However, all attempts made to contact Minister of Education Prof.  G.L. Peiris proved futile.  Meanwhile, on Friday (16), all education trade union leaders and activists that were held in quarantine since the previous week were released after their PCR test results returned negative for Covid-19. Trade unions stated that they are yet to receive word about meeting with the Education Minister and other relevant officials to discuss the issues in person and arrive at resolutions.  The collective of education trade unions has vowed to continue trade union action until a resolution is reached for all the issues that they have presented to the Ministry as well as the Presidential Secretariat over the past week.  Decision on exams this week  Minister of Education Prof. G.L. Peiris, commenting on the matter of holding national exams such as the Grade 5 Scholarship exam and the GCE Advanced Level exam, stated: “I called for a Zoom meeting with the nine provincial education directors, informing them to hold discussion with the zonal directors of education, principals, and teachers on whether we should hold the Grade 5 Scholarship exam and the GCE Advanced Level exam in October as planned or whether we would be postponing the examination dates considering the situation posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.”  Prof. Peiris added that during these discussions, everything will be taken into consideration on the feasibility of holding examinations on a suitable date and the decision will be announced in the coming week.  “Parents, teachers as well as students are eagerly awaiting the announcement of dates to hold these milestone examinations. We will be taking in suggestions as well as listening to the grievances of all parties concerned and a fair decision will be taken to ensure that our students would be ensured a brighter future by holding these examinations in a timely manner,” Prof. Peiris concluded.   


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