Teachers’ attendance not ’must’ this week: Edu Minister

Except for academic staff and security force officials, teachers are not required to report for duty in schools today where the activities in the main educational zones are on mute, since this week is considered a school holiday, according to Education Minister Susil Premajayantha.

He said the schools in the outer provinces will  also follow the same procedure. But principals and teachers are permitted to report for duty in those schools upon request from the relevant zonal authorities. Most of the schools in the rural areas do not need public transport to reach schools.

"If any teacher who needs to travel a long distance to get to those rural area schools, can communicate with the respective school principals and express their situation related to travel issues. In such a situation, there will be no action taken against those teachers who are unable to report for duty at their respective schools," he said.

The Education Ministry considers this week as voluntary duty week by principals and teachers, Minister Premajayantha said.

However this particular order of duty would continue only for a week. Further assessment would enable us to give a clearer picture on the ground situation by Friday, the minister added. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)