FUTA awaits phone call from Basil

August 6, 2012, 10:14 pm

by Dasun Edirisinghe, the island

 Striking university teachers are awaiting Minister Basil Rajapaksa’s call for the next meeting as a sequel to last Wednesday’s discussion.

FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri told The Island that at the end of the discussion they had agreed to meet shortly.

He said that the FUTA members had met Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe on the invitation of the UNP in Parliament yesterday.

"Not only us, but also all trade union members of the education sector participated at the meeting which discussed issues related to the entire education sector," Dr. Devasiri said.

The senior academic said that the labour commissioner, too, had summoned a meeting last Thursday.

The FUTA demands that six per cent of the GDP be allocated to the education sector, they be consulted when taking decisions on the higher education system and their salaries be increased substantially.

Dr. Devasiri said that they would not stop the strike until all their demands were met.

When contacted by The Island for comment, Secretary to the Higher Education Ministry Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne said the discussions would be continued.

He said that the issue was now being handled by the Presidential Secretariat.