NGOs, political forces behind teachers’ struggle – Wasantha Handapangoda

• Government has proposed one third of the proposed salary hike in this budget and the remainder in the next budget
• Sri Lanka Podujana Education Services Union said it would fully cooperate with the  reopening of schools on October 21 despite threats by some other  unions 

Sri Lanka Podujana Education Services Union, the teacher trade union affiliated to Sri Lanka Podujana, said it would fully cooperate with the reopening of schools on October 21 despite threats by some other unions.  

Its President Wasantha Handapangoda told Daily Mirror that the government had offered to rectify salary anomalies of teachers in two stages, but the JVP-affiliated Ceylon Teachers’ Union and the Ceylon Teachers’ Union headed by Joseph Stalin were demanding the pound of flesh.  
“They agreed to the salary hike proposed by the government at the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. Once they came out, they had a different tone. We believe there are forces such as the NGOs and the opposition parties behind it. Mr. Stalin was someone who supported the previous government. He did not try to get this resolved at that time. The JVP also cooperated with the previous government. The JVP union should have agitated like this to get it addressed at that time,” she said.  

She said this was an inhuman struggle by teachers.  

“Teachers haven’t launched such inhuman struggles in history at the cost of children’s education. This is something more than a teachers’ struggle. The government has proposed one third of the proposed salary hike in this budget and the remainder in the next budget,” 

she said.   

• Teachers haven’t launched such inhuman struggles in history at the cost of children’s education