Part-time English teachers in Vavuniya want permanency

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 July 2003, 04:25 GMT]
English teachers in the Vavuniya district, serving for many years as part time teachers, have demanded that in view of the shortage of English teachers Vavuniya, the Sri Lankan Department of Education and the Provincial Education Ministry should take action to make them permanent, and if no action is taken by the start of the third term, they would commence an indefinite strike, sources said.

In a meeting held at the Management Hall at the Department of Education in Vavuniya, the teachers explained the stand Tuesday.

The Vavuniya district parliamentarian, Mr. Rajah Kuhaneswaran, the secretary to parliamentarian Mr. Rizard Badiudeen, local journalists, education department officials and prominent local figures participated at the meeting.

In the two education zones in Vavuniya, North and South, though there is a need for 328 permanent English teachers, only 80 permanent teachers are currently serving. The teachers at the meeting said that 145 part-time teachers are currently serving in the two zones, and they are working almost full-time, but only get paid for two hours a day, for a monthly salary of only Rs.1600.

The teachers said that out of the 248 vacancies in the district for permanent teachers, 145 should be filled using the current cadre of part-time teachers.

The parliamentarians, prominent local figures and the Department of Education officials should consider their just demands and take action to help them, the teachers said and they warned that if no action is taken by the start of the third term, they would commence an indefinite strike.