Parents urged to send children to school today
Salary issues will be addressed in 2025 Budget
No matter who governs, there is no other way
Transport, Highways and Mass Media Minister, Dr. Bandula Gunawardhana, as Acting Education Minister, requested all teachers to report to work and dedicate themselves to educate children without engaging in trade union action further.
The Minister also said that he would request the parents to send all their children to schools as usual. The Minister made these remarks while addressing a special press conference to raise awareness regarding the ongoing teachers’ and principals’ strike at the Government Information Department, yesterday (27) .
He requested all teachers, principals to think of the future of future generation and report to work from today for the sake of these entire student community.
“Because the children who are asking you for their lives are the children of the common people who cannot go to international schools or private schools paying a huge sum of money. There are about 390 international schools in our country.
It is significant that the teaching and learning process of these private and international schools is carried out without any hindrance as there is no teacher strike,” he added.
He further said that there are 95 private schools in the country, and of them the government pays the teacher salaries of 57 schools whilst provides many other privileges. There are nearly 150,000 students in those private schools and 5,664 teachers are working. The students of these private schools don’t face any challenge for studying.
The Acting Minister further added that children of the common people who consider education as the only way to win life, are the most affected in this strike. Such children are educated in government schools. For that, salaries are paid from the tax money of the people who pay taxes in this country. Around Rs.3,048 billion in total revenue received by the Treasury last year (2023) from tax and non-tax channels without any difference in income levels on all people. The revenue is three trillion rupees. 4,700 billion rupees have been spent on recurring expenses. Then the government will get 3,048 billion from all channels. The government spends Rs.4,700 bn in a year for the day-to-day running of the government. Accordingly, the government has borrowed Rs.1,748 billion for day-to-day running. These figures are mentioned in the annual financial report audited by the Government Auditor General.
The government spends a considerable amount of money on government employee salaries, pensions, poor relief, loans taken include interest payments to local and foreign banks.
Within the last four decades, no government has been able to cover the recurrent expenditure. As there was no revenue, every government borrowed heavily both domestic and abroad money markets. While incurring capital expenditure, all governments borrowed to develop public facilities and to repay loans and pay loan instalments. When borrowing was insufficient, governments routinely issued a supplementary estimate and minted money through the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. Now the country was unable to do both.
Due to the declaration of bankruptcy from 2022 due to the inability to pay the loans taken, the foreign loan assistance received from other countries to Sri Lanka had been completely stopped until this week. No project loans or non-project loans are given for construction of roads, electricity, power plants and other development schemes.
As the Finance Minister President Ranil Wickremesinghe established has established a certain comfort zone under the extended credit facility with the International Monetary Fund. For example, the International Monetary Fund has agreed to give 700 million US dollars for the preparation of next year’s budget. The World Bank has agreed to provide 400 million US dollars. The Asian Development Bank has agreed to provide 300 million US dollars. “Without these, the country cannot be run,” he noted. “When there is such a huge financial crisis, we request all those who are agitating about these salaries, regardless of your political opinion, whoever takes over the government of the country, the government will only have to manage the tax and other non-tax income received from the public in an efficient way.
“Therefore, in 2022, a Cabinet sub-committee has been appointed and as an answer to the salary disparities in the teaching service, a fourteen percent salary increase has been given for the third and second grade of the teaching service, i.e. a salary increase of three thousand seven hundred and fifty rupees per month, and a twenty six percent salary increase for the first grade of the teaching service, i.e. Rs. A salary increase of Rs.17,220 per month has been given in 2022.In 2023, an allowance of Rs.10,000 has been given to all the government services, including the teacher service, in the current economic crisis. Since the other government employees did not get a salary increase in 2022, there is no problem in not giving the stipend of ten thousand rupees to the teachers in the year 2023 because the salary has been increased by 14 percent to 26 percent. At that time, the President has given instructions to treat all the public servants together and pay everyone a monthly allowance of Rs.10,000. Now it’s paying off,” he added.
The President has appointed an expert’s committee to resolve all these salary discrepancies. When complaints about salaries are presented to this committee, all of them will be resolved and provisions will have to be made from the 2025 Budget. No matter who governs, there is no other way, he pointed out.
Dharma Sri Abeyratne
