Teachers, principals sick leave campaign continues for the second day

By Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama

Against the attack of tear gas and water cannons to disperse the protesters, the Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) has decided to continue their sick leave campaign for the second day for today, CTU General Secretary Joseph Stalin said.

He told the Daily Mirror that yesterday’s trade union action was a success, with a large number of teachers, principals, piriven teachers and teacher instructors around the country gathering at the Fort Railway Station to support their demands.

“We will continue with our strike tomorrow and have decided not to participate in the second round of paper marking for the GCE Ordinary Level examination,” he said.

He told the Daily Mirror that yesterday’s trade union action was a success, with a large number of teachers, principals, piriven teachers and teacher instructors around the country gathering at the Fort Railway Station to support their demands.

“We will continue with our strike tomorrow and have decided not to participate in the second round of paper marking for the GCE Ordinary Level examination,” he said.

“Most schools operate without teachers today. We do not want to inconvenience the children, but we are asking for our rights. The responsibility for inconveniencing schoolchildren lies with the Education Ministry. It is not fair to use tear gas and water cannons to disperse us. We were there to seek our demands. If the government responds like this, we will continue with our strike,” he said.  Therefore, we have decided to continue our sick leave campaign tomorrow.  

The teachers, principals, teacher instructors, and Piriven teachers launched their one-day sick leave campaign yesterday to protest for the settlement of the remaining two-thirds of the salary anomalies for teachers and principals.