Universities paralysed by teachers’ strike
July 5, 2012, 12:00 pm
by Dasun Edirisinghe, the island
Universities countrywide were paralysed for the second day yesterday due to the strike launched by lecturers demanding that the government allocate 6 per cent of GDP for the education sector, engages university teachers in the process of making decisions involving the higher education sector and grant a pay hike.
President of the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri told The Island that all universities, except Uva-Wellassa, Kelaniya and the medical faculties, joined the strike.
"There are no trade unions in the newly formed Uva-Wellassa University, but now they are in a process of forming a teachers’ union," he said adding they too would join the strike soon.
Dr. Devasiri said that 60 teachers of the Kelaniya University had requested their union’s main body to join the strike and the union had decided to call a special committee meeting to discuss the matter.
Sources said the meeting would be held next Wednesday and the teachers would decide whether to join the strike or not.
Dr. Devasiri said that so far there had been no response from the government over university teachers’ ongoing trade union action.
When contacted by The Island, Higher Education Ministry Secretary Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne said that they were studying the FUTA’s proposals, submitted at the meeting held on Tuesday at the Presidential Secretariat.
"We will provide a solution at the next meeting scheduled to be held on July 12," he said.
Meanwhile, the Association of Law Teachers of the University of Colombo (ALTUC) has decided to launch a strike from July 11, 2012 in support of FUTA.
In a media statement, the ALTUC said yesterday that it fully endorsed the demands put forth by FUTA:
* State expenditure on education, including higher education, should be increased. Only then will the state education system be able to provide a high quality education to students.
* Salary issues of academics should be resolved. Unless this happens, the university system will not be able to retain academics of high caliber, and this will impact negatively on research and learning.
* A Sri Lanka University Academic Service (SLUAS) should be established.
* A consultative process, including opinions of the academic community, should be followed when deciding on the liberalization of higher education.
* Autonomy of the university system should be guaranteed so that academics may function in an environment conducive to independent thought and meaningful research.
ALTUC has decided to launch a strike action with effect from 11th July 2012, in support of FUTA.
