In defence of teachers’ struggle

by Dr. Sarath Gamini De Silva

I am a consultant physician, now retired after 35-years of government service. Both my parents were trained teachers and I made the most of what my teachers at Richmond College, Galle, and later those affiliated to the Colombo Medical School taught me. I am ever so indebted to them for all that I achieved in life. Hence, I fully understand the value of the service provided by my parents and teachers. I have been teaching medical students for 25-years and enjoyed teaching and training them to be good and honest doctors to serve the motherland. I value very much this aspect of my service, without any extra emoluments, even more than looking after the patients in the ward. Preparing the children and the youth to take over the future is the vital function performed by a teacher in whatever field.

I was a very active member of the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) in its heyday. It was a respected apolitical trade union concerned only with ensuring the basic rights of the doctors and maintaining a good service for our people. Unlike today, leaders of the Association, at that time did not harbour any political ambitions and were not deeply involved in issues beyond our field of knowledge, or service. I remember ignorant politicians were arguing then that as doctors were the recipients of free education, provided by the tax payer, they should be prepared to serve the people without taking trade union action for achieving their rights and better conditions of service. Our argument then was simple. Doctors and others who had a higher education are the ones who made the best use of what was offered free while the majority had wasted that opportunity. If we were to provide an honest service to the people the doctors should have peace of mind without any interference, political or otherwise. They also deserve an adequate remuneration not having to depend on private practice taking up a significant part of their day. We insisted that if what the doctors performed was considered a vital function, then the authorities should act to solve the problems that arose within the health service without delay as matters of urgency. During trade union action taken as a last resort after much deliberation, we did not hesitate to stop teaching medical students for a few days while providing an essential service in the hospitals. However, thinking back, I agree anyone seeking treatment should not have been denied relief. We were acutely conscious of the fact that less educated, unscrupulous politicians and their henchmen were making colossal amounts of money fleecing the public purse.

I mentioned the facts above as they are very relevant to the crisis in education services today. Teachers who are supposed to mould the life of the future generation of Sri Lankans are being shabbily treated. They are being humiliated by politicians. Some threaten to impale them; others are known to have made lady teachers kneel down as punishment. Many make very disparaging remarks about the teachers in various public forums and even in Parliament. Most of these petty-minded politicians appear to be worried that their very survival is being threatened. The situation is made worse by the poorly educated politicians shedding crocodile tears about the education of children and preaching how the teachers should function. Intimidating the teachers that way can only aggravate the situation.

The system of education in the country is in crisis. The COVID pandemic has kept all the schools closed down for over a year. A small percentage of the school children who could afford it receive so called on-line education. This has not been properly organised or regulated by the education authorities and is done mainly as a voluntary effort of the teachers at their own expense. The cost of essential equipment like computers and the cost of getting data are borne by the teachers themselves and by the parents. No effort has been made by the education ministry to provide affordable basic computers and other material for this purpose. Even after nearly a year with the total collapse of education, the Ministry of Education does not seem to have thought of planning to have a system in place to face any future problems of this nature. Throughout the years there has been a wide discrepancy in the facilities at schools in different parts of the country. Many underdeveloped areas suffer from lack of basic facilities in their schools. The ignorant politicians seem to believe that education will be complete when some uniform material is given free every year. Unregulated tuition industry is thriving thanks to this negligence.

I have seen how the education system functions in a few developed countries. The teachers are treated with much respect there. They are a happy lot, receiving salaries comparable to many other professions. Being content on how well the society respects them, naturally they take a personal interest to see that their pupils get the best out of the school. They have no fears of being ill-treated by the authorities or being threatened with transfers to difficult areas and the like. Peace of mind is essential if one is to provide a proper service, whether it is a school teacher or a doctor. I do not propose that the teachers and others in my country should receive a salary and other facilities comparable to those in developed countries. We have a long way to go to achieve that. The way authorities are bungling in every sphere of activity it is unlikely that we will get anywhere near those standards in the foreseeable future.

Teachers are poorly paid. A significant proportion of teachers get a monthly salary less than a police constable, a soldier or those in the clerical service. They have no special provisions even to get their own children admitted to a school of value, unlike many others who get concessions within their own fields of service. With the rapidly rising cost of living they are on a war path to get a salary rise that was promised 25-years ago, but never granted. The present rulers, returned to power with the promise of correcting all shortcomings of the past, cannot find refuge in blaming the past governments for this unfortunate situation. When money is being doled out in billions of rupees to petty politicians mainly to win the next round of elections as well as rampant corruption well known in the public domain, the government cannot claim that there are no funds to meet the basic demands of the teachers. I feel when their justifiable demands are falling on deaf ears the trade union action of the teachers is fully justified. While accepting that this would affect the children adversely, the prolongation of the dispute should be blamed fully on the authorities who refuse to give a patient hearing and believe in suppressing the teachers using bullying tactics with arrogance.

The argument that a substantial salary increase for the teachers will upset the entire salary structure in the state sector is not tenable. Many professionals including doctors, certain categories of engineers and some others have had their emoluments increased from time to time without any such considerations. The police and armed forces too have been given pay hikes on several occasions. Anomalies caused by such ad hoc actions by those responsible could not be an excuse to keep the teachers underpaid forever. Just appealing to the teachers to forget their own problems and keep on teaching the children as an honourable service is hardly the solution.

It is unfortunate that some other trade unions aligned with the government keep insulting the teachers’ unions and their leaders. Such actions probably promoted by those in power will only make matters worse. Grievances of teachers cannot be handled the same way as the unions of harbour workers and the like are dealt with. It is high time other unions openly supported this trade union action of the teachers. The parents of affected children too should be sympathetic to the plight of the teachers without looking for short term solutions. They should collectively apply pressure upon the politicians and others concerned to consider the demands of the teachers favourably. Attempts by various elements to instigate them to protest against teachers should be resisted.

All concerned should be interested in the welfare of the teachers to whom we have entrusted the future of our own children or grandchildren by receiving a proper education. It appears that social justice will not be achieved without a total overhaul of the present system of governance headed by corrupt politicians and their henchmen. I wonder what options are available to the people when democracy has failed a once prosperous nation.