CHATURANGA PRADEEP SAMARAWICKRAMA 
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Colombo, June 27 (Daily Mirror) - Acting Education Minister Bandula Gunawardana today urged all teachers and principals to return to work tomorrow for the sake of the children, as most parents cannot afford international or private schools.
Addressing the media on the sick leave campaign by teachers, principals, teacher instructors, and piriven teachers, he mentioned that around 400 international schools in the country are continuing their studies without strikes.
“There are 95 private schools in the country, and the government pays salaries and provides other privileges for 57 of them. These schools educate about 150,000 children and employ 5,664 teachers. No issues have been reported regarding studies in the remaining government-approved private schools or the 57 private schools," he said.
“In 2022, a Cabinet sub-committee was appointed to investigate into the salary anomalies of government workers. According to the committee's report, a 14 percent salary increment (Rs. 3,750) was granted to teacher grades (3)2 in 2022, and a 26 percent salary increment (Rs. 17,720) was granted to teacher grade one. Considering the economic crisis, an additional Rs. 10,000 allowance was granted to the entire government sector, including teachers, in 2023 at the request of the President,” Minister Gunawardana said.
Later, an expert committee was appointed by the President to find solutions to the issues identified by the 2022 Cabinet sub-committee. The expert committee decided to address the existing salary anomaly issues in the 2025 budget, Minister Gunawardana said.
Therefore, Minister Gunawardana requested all teachers and principals to return to their duties from tomorrow for the sake of the innocent school children.
