School teachers to return to work on Oct 25; TU campaign to continue
COLOMBO – The alliance of trade unions representing school teachers and principals who have been on strike for over three months demanding higher pay said on Monday (18) they will resume duties next Monday (25), but will continue with their agitation, primarily by refraining from non-academic work.
Spokespersons for the Ceylon Teachers’ and Principals’ Trade Union Alliance, Yalwela Pannasekara Thera, told reporters that teachers will not report to work on October 21 and 22 when schools are officially scheduled to reopen after months of closure due to the COVID-19 epidemic.
“We ask all principals and teachers to go to schools on October 25 and restart the education process,” the Thera said but vowed to continue with the struggle. “We will not stop our struggle. Even after resuming teaching, we will continue our strike [by not engaging in non-academic work such as overseeing extracurricular activities],” he said adding that the decision was not taken under pressure but by thinking about the children.
As of Monday, school teachers and principals had been on strike for 99 days, demanding the government resolve long-lasting salary anomalies in the two services.
The government initially proposed to increase the salaries of teachers and principals in a four-year strategy, and later promised to give it in two installments. The unions rejected both proposals, continued the strike asking for the salaries to be increased in one go.
For teachers in the lowest grade (3/2), the proposed total increment is Rs 3,750 and for grade 1/3 it is Rs 1,250, all of which will be implemented next January as per the government’s two-step proposal.
“Is this a big enough increment for teachers?” Ceylon Teachers Union Secretary Joseph Stalin asked, but said teachers will resume all education activities from October 25 onwards and requested the government to open all schools if possible saying the teachers will report to work.
“We have made a firm decision. We will continue the strike on October 21 and 22. And on October 25, it is we – not the government – who have decided to go to school on our own,” he reiterated.
The government has said re-opening of schools will be phased out with primary schools containing a maximum of 200 students between grades 1 to 5 opening on October 21, and higher grades opening in three steps. The government hopes to open schools for all grades by November.
“Only around 3,000 schools have fewer than 200 students. And for that they need around 10,000 teachers,” said Stalin.
“We will go for our union action with the fourth step being initiated. We have planned a campaign including strikes, protests and parent meetings while continuing the education of children,” he said.
-economynext.com