Teachers of all schools within the Galle educational zone will conduct a sick note campaign on Monday (tomorrow) to protest against what they term state suppression of their profession.

A teacher attached to Hapugoda Maha Vidyalaya Galle, P. Widanage, was taken into custody last Wednesday by the Police accusing him of disrupting some evaluators in a paper marking centre. “If he actually committed such an act, the teachers would not protest regarding him being taken into custody,” Principals’ and Teachers’ Trade Union Alliance (PTTUA) Convenor Joseph Stelyn said. Stelyn added that this was just another step of penalizing the teachers.

“The district educational secretariat has notified the teachers that the sick leave campaign has been cancelled. But he has no authority to do that,” pointed out Stelyn. He said that the government is only trying to harass the teachers and force them to participate in paper marking sessions. “In the Galle District, the teachers who haven’t even applied for paper evaluation have received letters asking for explanation for not attending evaluation sessions. How can they call for explanation if those teachers have not applied?” questioned Stelyn.

“All these moves of the government clearly show that they are suppressing the teachers and preventing them from fighting for their rights. They have initiated repressing teachers from Galle. But we will not get discouraged. We will continue our struggle no matter how they try to suppress us,” asserted Stelyn. (LP)

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