• To address longstanding salary and pension related disparities 

The Pirivena Education Act, No. 64 of 1979, as amended, is to be amended soon under the directives of the Ministry of Justice and the Attorney General (AG)’s Department in order to resolve longstanding salary and pension disparities that exist in the Pirivena education system, said the State Ministry of Dhamma Schools, Bhikkhu Education, Piriven and Buddhist Universities.

Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (28), State Minister of Dhamma Schools, Pirivenas and Bhikkhu Education Vijitha Berugoda said that issues related to pensions of Pirivena teachers are to be addressed by this new amendment, which is to be brought as soon as possible before the next Budget. He also said that the new amendment will reconsider the decision of collecting 12% of teachers’ monthly salaries for the pension, a practice which is not applied to ordinary school teachers or other Government employees.

“This 12% is collected only from Pirivena teachers. We know that their salaries are also relatively lower than others in the education system. So we have identified this as an issue in our system. That is why we are to amend the current Act under which these Pirivenas are controlled,” he said.

Speaking further, Berugoda said that discussions with the Ministry of Justice and the AG’s Department are to be concluded soon, and that the new amendment will be tabled in Parliament in the months to come. “The State Ministry of Piriven Education was established very recently. But since the State Ministry was established, we were very sensitive to this matter. We have held several discussions with former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the then-Secretary to the Ministry of Finance. But after that, we could not pay much attention to this matter recently due to the prevailing economic crisis. We discussed this matter even before Pirivena teachers raised concerns about this. Therefore, we hope to conclude these discussions as soon as possible and to reach a final decision in this regard,” he said.

Finance State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, Ministry of Justice Secretary Wasantha Perera, and the Pensions Department were not reachable for comment.