According to the government’s Dinamina newspaper, Deputy Director-General of Health Services Dr Hemantha Herath has stated that the recent teachers’ protests could have contributed to the spread of covid in the school system these days.
The newspaper, which was released today (29th), further states that after opening the schools, they, without complying with the health guidelines, point fingers at the government and the health sector.
However, the teacher-principal salary campaign ended on October 27 and ended after a final discussion with the finance ministry on November 10. Nearly 19 days have passed since then. Despite this, the teachers’ unions allege that the Deputy Director-General of Health Services is issuing statements that do not comply even with the official post he holds but as a government propagandist.
The unions further point out that the action taken by the government regarding the reopening of schools is not scientifically sound. Therefore a scientific programme was proposed to the government. Accordingly, it was proposed to start classes for students appearing for the Advanced Level, Ordinary Level and Scholarship examinations as the first phase. The government started schools arbitrarily without heeding the proposals of the teachers’ union.
However, the government took steps to start primary education classes in the first phase.
