COVID, teachers strike and National economy

The unprecedented COVID-19 spike which is not represented by the official figures has eclipsed or suppressed the struggles by the principals and the teachers for the resolution of their salary anomalies which remains unresolved for the past 24 years.

Under growing pressure from the health sector and the general public teacher-principal unions suspended their protest march on August 7 at Pasyala and vehicle procession started from Kandy days ago – but they vowed to continue their boycott on online teaching and exam duties. Now with the hospitals spilling over with COVID patients and the confusion over the statistics on the pandemic patients and the deaths among them mounting, teachers’ struggle is no longer an issue for the media which is always running after hot topics.
Yet, the issue is a main topic for the families where at least one student is languishing without being able to continue their education. Their education started to hamper with the detection of the first local COVID patient in the country in March last year. Schools were intermittently opened and closed depending on the fluctuation of the gravity of the local pandemic situation. Finally, all their hopes were reposed on the on-line classes which solely depended on the availability of internet signals and the teachers who volunteered to it. However, now the teachers have boycotted those classes as well, as a protest to the government’s failure to resolve their long-standing salary issue.

In fact, it was the authorities who paved the way for this unfortunate development on July 8 due to their highhanded attitude towards agitations. When the teachers, students and members of several political parties demonstrated at the Parliament Junction against the proposed general Sir John Kotalawala National Defence University (KNDU) Bill police arrested the leaders of the demonstrators and produced them before the Colombo Magistrate. After the magistrate released them on bail the police again seized them and sent them to quarantine centres forcibly. This high-handed act changed the scenario, with the KNDU issue being obscured by the salary issue which had thus far taken a back seat to the former.

The irresponsible attitude of the authorities further came to light when they who cracked down on the demonstrators accusing them of being privy to spreading coronavirus, left more larger and longer demonstrations against that crackdown unobstructed, while the pandemic situation was worsening.

The government does not contest the demands of the teacher-principal trade unions and it had been clearly articulated in no uncertain terms by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, during a discussion he held with the representatives of the trade unions. However, action on the part of the government might push the trade union leaders to suspect the authorities’ bona fides. On the one hand they accept that the demands are reasonable, while on the other, they have appointed a ministerial subcommittee to go into them. The government’s position has been that the demands would be met with the implementation of the next national budget, while the trade unions insist on a clear cut assurance be given on the promise. 

Despite the government’s recent attempt to import luxury vehicles for parliamentarians, one has to take the government’s position that a pay hike in the form of meeting the demands is difficult at this juncture seriously. At a time when 6 to 7 people are dying an hour due to the pandemic, the government is still not agreeable to impose a total lockdown, fearing an economic catastrophe befalling the country.

The government lost a huge amount of tax revenue when it abolished some taxes and drastically cut some others in December 2019, keeping the forthcoming general election in mind. Former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank Dr. W. A. Wijewardena in an article published in the Daily FT had said that the immediate loss of revenue incurred by the Government due to these tax cuts ranged between Rs. 650 billion and Rs. 680 billion. Reuters last week put the current Sri Lankan situation in this way: “All the tell-tale crisis signs are there: bonds at nearly half their face value, debt-to-GDP levels above 100%, over 80% of government revenues being spent on interest payments alone and barely enough reserves to cover a few months of spending.”

Both sides may have strong arguments to prove their respective stances, but none would solve the problem of the students who are the next generation that is to take the responsibility of the country in another few years. As parents, not as government authorities and trade union leaders, both sides have a moral obligation to put their heads together and resolve the issue as soon as possible.