TUs demand meaningful discussions before extending school hours

If there is a genuine intention to achieve successful outcomes through the implementation of education reforms, it is essential to hold comprehensive and meaningful discussions with school principals and teachers and to act in a flexible manner, stated Nimal Mudunkotuwa, the General Secretary of the Graded Principals’ Association.

Mudunkotuwa further stated that if such discussions are not conducted and steps are taken to hold schools until 2.00 p.m. from January 5, they would be compelled to resort to trade union action.

Accordingly, he requested that a clear response be provided on this matter prior to January 5.

Mudunkotuwa also stated that the implementation of education reforms at Grade 6 has resulted in a serious crisis in the remaining five grades as well as in Advanced Level classes. He emphasized that discussions must be held with education trade unions and professionals in order to resolve these issues.

He further noted that education reforms in the country cannot be implemented successfully merely through discussions with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

The General Secretary pointed out that there are necessary procedural steps that must be completed prior to implementing education reforms, and that attempting to introduce reforms that should be implemented at a later stage without following the required preliminary processes would not lead to success.

Mudunkotuwa stated that extending school hours until 2.00 p.m. and increasing lesson periods to 50 minutes have proven ineffective and should be withdrawn immediately.

Although the Ministry of Education has informed that education reforms should be implemented for students admitted to Grade 6 with the reopening of schools on January 5, and for students admitted to Grade 1 later in January, he noted that this has now become a serious issue.

He further stated that although instructions were given to prepare school timetables for other grades, these have been amended four times to date through circulars.

Mudunkotuwa pointed out that in previous years, school timetables had already been approved by this time; however, this year the Ministry of Education has not provided the necessary support to obtain such approval.

The General Secretary stated that this situation has become a serious problem for principals and teachers, and that the required instructions for timetable approval have not been issued to zonal education offices and divisional education offices.

He also stated that implementing a syllabus designed for 40-minute periods within a 50-minute period framework poses significant difficulties, and that the Ministry of Education has so far failed to provide any guidance on how this should be implemented.

Furthermore, Mudunkotuwa stated that not a single module related to the reforms has been distributed to schools to date, raising serious concerns as to how teaching activities can commence with the reopening of schools on January 5.