FUTA favoured?

• Govt. gives 37%-82% salary hike, says 4.5% of GDP already given to education, charges issues politicised but promises to continue discussions
  
   

By Uditha Jayasinghe  

After nearly three months of unrelenting trade union action, the Government yesterday extended the strongest olive branch yet to university teachers by increasing their salaries by as much as 82 per cent and predicted that this would increase dissent among the strikers’ ranks.  

Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake pointed out that the Government’s latest salary increase follows two hikes given since President Mahinda Rajapaksa came into power. However, there has been no pledge given regarding the demand by the Federation of University Teachers’ Association (FUTA) to allocate six per cent of GDP to education.

Under the new offer, a senior professor’s salary would increase to Rs. 140,721 while the lowest rank of probationary lecture will receive Rs. 55,775. The percentage of salary increase is between 82%-37% depending on the grade the university teacher is at.

In addition, Dissanayake noted that after multiple rounds of discussions involving President Secretary Lalith Weeratunga, Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundara and Economic Minister Basil Rajapaksa, the Government had agreed to establish university teachers as a separate professional service and even agreed to consider a quota system to allow two of their children into private schools.

“We presented a Cabinet paper including an agreement to allocate more funds for education. We wanted to put 6% in there but the Finance Ministry objected so instead we said that allocations will be made according to international standards. Yet even before they saw the cabinet paper, FUTA rejected it.”

The proposal included a 10-year plan to develop the higher education system and a Presidential Commission as well as a special committee to iron out a plethora of other issues, including minimising political interference in universities, said Dissanayake.

“Yet at every stage the talks have stalled because of FUTA changing their minds. I agree that university teachers need to be given better salaries, but they must also support us to upgrade syllabuses, promote English and IT education and produce graduates capable of professionalism and entrepreneurship.”

The Minister charged that there were “about 5% of academics abusing the system” and not allowing the sector to move forward with reforms. Termed FUTA’s refusal to mark A/L papers as the “worst crime” he predicted that the latest salary increase would motivate more academics from abandoning the strike.

Tallying up the expenses made by different departments in both the central Government and at provincial level he stressed that at least 4.5% of GDP is being spent by the Government.

“According to my calculations the Government spends at least 257,000 per student. In the latest Appropriation Bill the Higher Education Ministry has been allocated Rs. 30.8 billion, which is a Rs. 6 billion increase from the previous year. Political interference can be a positive thing. It was because of the legal empowerment done by this Government that students are protected from ragging.”

Dissanayake energetically emphasised that the FUTA was becoming more politicised as was seen by the participants of the march, which is expected to reach Colombo today. Yet he promised to continue talks to end the impasse once the demonstrations are complete.