• Committee to be appointed to rectify errors 
• Jaffna islands’ teachers lose hardship allowance   
• Schools electricity allowance hiked by Rs. 12,500 

Acknowledging issues in the recent school classification revision that led to teachers in remote island schools in Jaffna being deprived of their hardship allowances, the Education Ministry stated the classification criteria would be reviewed and that steps would be taken to resolve the matter.

When contacted by The Daily Morning, Ministry Secretary Nalaka Kaluwewa said a new circular had been issued and that certain changes were introduced based on a marking scheme prepared using criteria proposed by Provincial Councils (PCs). “The changes were made in line with a marking scheme. The PCs only proposed the relevant criteria. However, we also see that there is an issue there,” he said.

He said that the Ministry had decided to examine the matter through a committee to determine what went wrong and how it could be corrected. "A committee will review the process and identify the errors. They will then recommend the actions that should be taken, and we are ready to implement the necessary corrective measures based on their recommendations."

It was reported recently that teachers serving in several remote island schools in Jaffna had lost their hardship allowances following a revision to school classifications. Ceylon Teachers' Union General Secretary Joseph Stalin said that teachers working in schools located in Islands such as Delft, Analaitivu, Eluvaithivu and Nagadeepa had been affected by the decision. He said that 23 teachers from three schools in Analaitivu, 13 teachers from two schools in Eluvaithivu, 92 teachers from eight schools in Delft and 46 teachers from three schools in Nagadeepa had lost their hardship allowances after the schools were removed from the list of difficult schools under the relevant school classification system.

Allowance for national school electricity bills set at Rs 25,000

Meanwhile, the Ministry stated the fixed allowance offered by the Government for national schools to pay electricity bills was increased from Rs. 12,500 to Rs. 25,000. Kaluwewa said that national schools receive a fixed allowance of Rs. 25,000 for electricity bills now. If for any reason the bill goes higher than that, he said that the schools have to manage it by themselves. When queried, he said that all national schools, despite their scale, receive the same amount.

His remarks come as Frontline Socialist Party Propaganda Secretary Duminda Nagamuwa recently said that schools are the hardest hit among those affected by the electricity tariff hike. He alleged that earlier, there was a relief package under which electricity was provided to schools, but that now, it has been removed.