All FUTA demands granted sans pay hike

The Government has granted all FUTA demands except the pay hike. The pay hike was not agreed to since university professors and lecturers’ salaries were increased in October last year, said a spokesman for the Higher Education Ministry.

He said over four percent of the GDP is being allocated for the education sector. FUTA has ignored the fact that the government spends a large sum of money on free education at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. Communist countries such as Cuba which has a large public sector spends six percent of its GDP on education.

In an economy where almost all fast growing sectors such as industries, tourism, transport and many other services belong to the private sector, the public sector share of the budget is comparatively less. Therefore, the FUTA’s demand for an increased percentage of the GDP for education is not feasible.

However, the government has decided to increase the higher education allocation progressively, he said.

The joint memorandum by Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa and Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake issued on Wednesday night was prepared in consultation with FUTA representatives. The FUTA has refused to giveup its strike as it appears they have a hidden agenda, he said.

At Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting approval was granted for a joint memorandum presented by Economic Development Minister and Higher Education Minister.

As proposed by the ministers in their joint memorandum, the Cabinet has agreed to treat the university academia as a special category.

- LSAW