Urban Development and Housing Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said that a group of Trade Unions are working on a separate political agenda in their quest to control teachers. Although teachers have the right to advocate for professional rights, they should not hold the children hostage on the pretext of winning their rights.
The Minister requested the teachers to make their maximum contribution and commitment to the education of children without holding the children hostage.
Minister Ranatunga was addressing a ceremony organised to distribute school textbooks and uniforms to students of Udugampola Primary School, Minuwangoda for the year 2023.
“I personally believe that it is not good to get the teachers’ involved in various political agendas. My mother was also a teacher. Although we are a political family, my mother was never involved in politics. I always treated the teachers with due respect,” he said.
“The Minister of Education said in Parliament that a survey was conducted to find out how many children can read Sinhala letters in Grades Three and Four at schools. The survey has revealed only 30 to 40 percent of children out of 3,000 can read letters properly. Don’t parents feel a little afraid for their children’s education?, Minister Ranatunga said.
“The President also said that children should not be held hostage by teachers. Today teachers are controlled by trade unions working on a separate political agenda. Teachers have the right to advocate for professional rights. In the past, we remember teachers always standing up for the rights of children over their personal gains. We saw how teachers took to the streets to demand for salary increments during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the Minister added.
“Trade Unions must stand up on behalf of their representatives and protect their rights. But, It is not good for Trade Unions to put the children’s education at stake in order to fulfill their demands. These children are our future. Children studying at Government schools are only helpless as Private and International schools are not affected by the teacher trade union actions. There are instances where teachers give preference to private tuition rather than teaching in the schools.
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