A photograph appearing recently in our sister paper ‘The Sunday Times’ showed how a teacher and some students of a remote school in Puttalam were conducting traditional rites to mark the opening of a class to conduct studies for the Advanced Level Examination. This was following a request made by these students to the Provincial Governor Wasantha Karannagoda to provide them with such a facility.

Requests being granted is quite rare and also not the norm in education circles of this country. Generally in Sri Lanka protests and strike action that’s carried out nudges the authorities and make them heed a call by those who make demands. If strike action receives media attention that becomes an added advantage.

In recent months teachers and their demands have received plenty of media attention. Initially, it was for salary hikes. And much of these demands were made to echo in public thanks to Ceylon Teachers’ Union Gen. Sec. Joseph Stalin. There are critics who underscore both the good and the bad about Stalin’s activities, but he is a strength in teacher-related activities and a force that the authorities cannot dismiss lightly.

What the teachers of the country fail to understand is that they play a major role in shaping the lives of people and that they are underpaid and their importance in society is undermined. Just recently we read in the newspapers that as many as 10,000 teachers are set to retire at the end of this year and out of them 7,000 are dispensing knowledge in Advanced Level classes. How on earth can such experienced teachers be replaced overnight even though the authorities plan to fill the vacancies through a recruitment drive?
One option available to address the issue of continuing to have experienced teachers is to extend the retirement age of teachers; say by three
to five years.

What the teachers of the country fail to understand is that they play a major role in shaping the lives of people and that they are underpaid and their importance in society is undermined

The government plans to recruit 20,000 graduates as teachers after conducting an examination. Such recruitment drives must be conducted watchfully because students and their parents have time and again shown concern about individuals not suitable for the teaching profession entering a school. This writer is stating so because plans are afoot to recruit as teachers individuals already employed in the public sector. There is a stock question asked from those who wish to serve as teachers, “you may be qualified in the subject, but are you qualified to teach”.

According to government sources, those wishing to enter the teaching profession have to undergo a one-year diploma course. However irrespective of following the diploma course selected candidates will be positioned as teachers from next March onwards. The government is eyeing those who are already graduates for the programme.

A recent government move that gave teachers step-motherly treatment came in the form of a circular which allows public sector employees to wear suitable attire instead of the traditional saree. But this opportunity was not granted to school teachers. This was probably due to the strong opposition aired against teachers wanting to deviate from wearing the saree. Among those who didn’t wish for a change in the dress code for female teachers were Buddhist monks and the Minister of Education Susil Premjayantha himself. The Minister had told the media that teachers might lose the respect of students of primary schools if they change their traditional dress code which is the saree.

While all these activities and happenings involving teachers make the news, we must also focus on how tuition classes are not only flourishing but also producing results. The teachers who are employed by these academic institutions have the freedom to wear smart casual and more than anything else have tailor-made programmes to cater from the brightest to the not so bright student. When the government and private schools place an annual advertisement for most academic years these private tutors and their tuition academies spend much on heavy advertising campaigns. If a school markets its annual intake for a new batch a private tutor can not only match that but also market each lesson; by providing nicely designed tutorials for
each class session.

Hence the school system which is struggling to fill the voids created by retiring teachers must act wisely and make teaching a lucrative occupation. Teaching should not be an option for a disgruntled public sector employee. One must get into teaching if you love dispensing knowledge and love
being with children.