Taking the COVID-19 pandemic situation prevailing in the country into consideration, the pre-school teachers should be given a Rs.5,000 allowance by the Government, the Women for Rights Organization yesterday (04) said.
General Secretary of the Women for Rights Organization Samanmali Gunasinghe also said that Government should pay attention to children with special needs and pointed out that vaccination should be prioritized for teachers of special needs students.
Gunasinghe also pointed out that the Ministry of Education should fully intervene to maintain pre-school education as a service under a national project.Gunasinghe made these observations during a press briefing held at the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna headquarters in Battaramulla yesterday (07).
Gunasinghe noted, “Up to now the Government has not paid any attention to the pre-school education of the children who are waiting to take over the future of this country. A year ago, the Women and Pre-School Teachers’ Forum for Rights held a media briefing on many concerns regarding primary education. They also met with officials of all institutions that control pre-schools and explained in detail about possible problems in the pre-school system. A year later, we are facing the same or more problems.”
Gunasinghe said “today the pre-school teacher is under a lot of pressure. There are about 48,000 teachers in 28,000 registered pre-schools. What has happened to these people in the last two years? These registered teachers are paid only Rs.250. We proposed to the Government last year that it should be made at least Rs. 5,000. The Government said that Rs. 2,500 allowance will be given to these teachers but this also seems to be a lie. The living conditions of pre-school teachers are extremely tragic. Most preschools are rented on a monthly basis and are now unaffordable.”
Gunasinghe also said, “On the other hand, many classroom assistants who were under the guidance of preschool teachers have no livelihood as well.”